The board also recently dismissed a nearly identical complaint filed by the city’s building and construction trades union.
Dayton’s fire union also filed a unfair labor practice charged with the board but decided to withdraw it after reaching a settlement agreement with the city.
Jerry Dix, president of the Dayton Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 44, said the dismissal was not surprising but the police union filed an amendment to its complaint that was not addressed by the State Employment Relations Board’s findings.
He said things are in a “holding pattern” until the amended complaint is considered.
The employment relations board said its investigation into this complaint found that some provisions of the city’s initial proposed policy would have impacted union members’ wages, hours and terms of employment.
The unions accused the city of violating the law by imposing testing policies that unilaterally change terms of members’ employment without needed approval through collective bargaining.
But the board said the city revised its policy to remove any monetary burdens on employees and to allow testing to take place while workers are on the clock.
The board said the city met with its unions to get feedback and that led to a revised policy, and it bargained for management’s right to provide a safe workplace.
City officials continue to maintain that the testing requirements are a workplace safety measure that do not require union approval.
The city’s settlement agreement with Dayton Fire Fighters Local 136 provides members with emergency paid leave if they contract the virus or must be quarantined due to exposure, city officials said.
Fire department staff who are unvaccinated or who have not disclosed their vaccination status must take part in COVID testing twice a week to be eligible for the emergency paid leave.
The police union was offered a similar settlement, but its members soundly rejected it, city officials said.
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