July 23, 2010
Here's a quick update on some pending cases affecting NH public sector unions and employees/retirees:

 SEA retiree under 65 case : This is a case challenging the Constitutionality of portions of HB2 that require a 65$ or 130$ dollar monthly deduction from NHRS pension checks for retired State employees, under the age of 65.  We filed the brief today at the NH Supreme Court, read it at our downloads page. Opposing briefs are due Aug 24 and oral argument will be scheduled several weeks after that.  Stay tuned!

 SEA Community College Case :  In this case, the SEA successfully sued the State to require the Community College System to obey the rehire preferences contained in HB2.  The State has appealed the case to the Supreme Court : State's brief is due Aug. 12 and the SEA brief is due Sept. 7.

 PFFNH V LGC  :  In a series of cases filed against the LGC (see the downloads page for details), PFFNH is challenging the redaction efforts made by LGC in documents PFFNH successfully sued to get under 91-A.  A further hearing is scheduled in Superior Court on Aug. 2.  As well, PFFNH is challenging the legality of the LGC in its use of health insurance money it receives (more the 340 million dollars annually!) . That case is scheduled for hearing Nov. 1.

 Coalition case :  This is another Constitutional challenge involving the legislative changes effected by hb1645  to the definition of 'earnable compensation' in the NHRS statute.  This case is winding its way through the Superior court with hearings expected to be scheduled this fall.  Documents are available on the downloads page.

 Trooper decision :  Unfortunately, today the NH Supreme Court overturned a PELRB victory earned by NHTA on behalf of two Troopers unfairly criticized over the use of benefits guaranteed under contract.  The ruling is here. While this case does confirm management's right to comment upon performance issues, importantly, this narrow decision does not mean in any way that when adverse action is taken based upon adverse references in evaluations (discipline etc), the employee cannot grieve that action :  they certainly can!

May 24, 2010  Here's a quick update on some of the cases pending that affect New Hampshire's public sector labor community:

Coalition case :  This is the challenge to the changes made by HB1645 to the retirement law (RSA 100-A) and mainly focuses on the change in the definition of "earnable compensation", the change in the COLA guarantee, and the change to the medical subsidy escalator.  Recently, the Coalition amended its lawsuit to include related claims regarding the 250 million dollar diversion from the Special Account to the fund's corpus and the HB653 drastic change to the funding mechanism for the Special Account.  Read the Amended Petition as well as the Coalition's motion for summary judgment on the downloads page.  Scroll down to the "Retirement Coalition (NHRSC) Lawsuit" section. 

PFFNH / LGC :    Today the PFFNH filed yet another 91-A lawsuit against the LGC based on the refusal of LGC to provide documents and minutes (sound familiar) that relate to the LGC's finances and our claim that they unlawfully divert health insurance payments to other, unrelated purposes.  Also, the lawsuit raises the legal question as to whether the LGC may reorganize in a manner not expressly authorized by state law.  Read the lawsuit filing on the downloads page.

Also, the committee of conference meeting on HB1393, the amendment on which provides the Secretary of State the needed and expanded oversight of the LGC, is scheduled for this Wednesday (LOB 302 1PM).

SEA/ Under 65 case :  this is the case challenging the legislative attempt (HB2) to deduct from current State employee retirees' pension checks up to 130$ per month to extract a health insurance copayment.  The Supreme Court has recently accepted the case for hearing before the full court to review the decision of the trial court that , although HB2 impaired vested rights, the deductions do not amount to a "substantial" impairment.  Stay tuned for the briefing schedule to be issued soon. There's more on this case on the downloads page.

Friday March 12, 2010  Yesterday PFFNH sued the Local Government Center and HealthTrust in an effort to secure the return of millions of dollars of health insurance payments the LGC has diverted since 2003 for the purpose of funding a workers' compensation program and other endeavors unrelated to the cost of providing health insurance to public employees - both active and retired.  As a result of winning two previous right-to-know lawsuits against the LGC in the NH Supreme Court, PFFNH now knows that the LGC has skimmed 1% of health insurance contributions (which in 2008 totaled over $340 million dollars) beginning in 2003.

In addition, the class action lawsuit seeks the return of over $68 million dollars in excess earnings and surplus the LGC has amassed over the last 7 years. This money - which is above and beyond the money needed to pay for claims, administration, catastrophic insurance, and reserves - by law (RSA 5-B:5, I(c))must be returned to member cities and towns and not retained by LGC to fund other programs, as well as high salaries and benefits. Oh yes, a big chunk of that money also belongs to active employees who contribute large sums for health insurance and retirees who have to pay 100% of their health insurance tab. 

Did the LGC ever tell retirees that they were funding a workers' compensation plan ?

Did the LGC ever tell an active employee (or their city or town) that the health insurance payment they make is used by LGC to fund a new workers' compensation program - even though they do not participate in that program ?

Did the LGC tell anyone they were keeping $68 million dollars in a 'rainy day' or 'pandemic' fund because that is what the LGC Board believes to be best - even though the LGC Board is not accountable to the employees or taxpayers who foot the bill?

The LGC responds by saying the firefighters don't understand and that the $68 million dollar rainy day fund is necessary to stabilize the cost of health insurance.  The LGC is right in this respect : we do not understand how it is that the LGC can decide to ignore the law and refuse to turn back excess earnings and surplus; we don't understand why the LGC needs to over charge for health insurance in order to keep premiums stable; we don't get how the $600,000.00 in NHMA dues pays for the $7 million dollar payroll of LGC ; and we don't understand why the LGC is suing the State for the return of $27 million dollars in their 'unfunded mandate' lawsuit while they have accumulated over $130 million dollars of public money in net assets which they themselves refuse to return.

It gets better : the Secretary of State is expected to issue its report in the next two weeks. You can follow the case filings and coverage on the downloads page. Stay tuned!

In other news, Manchester's tax cap case has reached the NH Supreme Court - "Keep Manchester Moving" , a coalition arguing that taxing authority cannot be wrestled from Manchester elected officials filed its brief last week.  Read it here.  Good luck , labor is closely watching this and the other tax cap initiatives around the State.

March 5, 2010.  The State Employees' Association won a significant victory in Merrimack County Superior Court establishing that the Community College System of New Hampshire must comply with the rehire preferences granted to laid off State employees in House Bill 2. Read the decision here. Monitor coverage here.

Also today, speaking of HB2, it was reported that the Local Government Center will in fact file a lawsuit against the State challenging the reduction in the amount the State pays on behalf of municipalities. Hmmm... the LGC wants the State to return some  27 million dollars to New Hampshire's cities and towns....  what about the hundreds of millions of dollars of public money they hold in their bank account? Stay tuned!

Finally, the PELRB ruled that Governor Lynch did in fact commit an unfair labor practice by publicly commenting on the status of contract talks while the State and SEA were negotiating under ground rules that forbade such conduct. Read the decision here.  The PELRB also curiously ruled that the Governor did not commit a similar violation when he sent State employees an email at work urging them to vote for a tentative agreement that was ultimately rejected by the Union. The SEA is considering an appeal.Monitor coverage here.

February 12, 2010.

Here's a snapshot of where the pending lawsuits are involving New Hampshire's Labor Community :

PFFNH v. LGC

Following the decisive victory at the New Hampshire Supreme Court, the LGC did provide some, not all, of the information the Firefighters have requested.Taking the LGC up on their new promise to be more open and cooperative, PFFNH has issued renewed requests and await a response. The press reports have been impressive , and the Union Leader (yes, the Union Leader) even thanked PFFNH President David Lang in today's editorials!  See more on the downloads page, including today's filing requesting that the Superior Court take up the remanded issue of attorney fees.

SEA v. State (Retiree health insurance case)

This important Contract Clause, Constitutional challenge to the State's ability to pass laws that take away vested rights of retired public employees will be heard next Thursday. The SEA today filed a responsive pleading with the Court that summarizes our position and it , and other documents, are posted on the downloads page. A decision in this case will have an impact on other cases filed by Labor, such as......

NH Labor Coalition v. State

This case was filed by both Union (SEA, PFFNH, AFT, NEA, NEBPA) and non Union Association groups (NHPA, School Administrators, Fire Chiefs, Police Chiefs, Retired Teachers) challenging the changes made by HB1645 to existing pension benefits : including the definition of earnabe compensation as well as  the COLA and medical subsidy benefit. A pre-hearing conference was held in Court on January 15 and deadlines for case submission on summary judgment were determined.  As well, today we filed the objection to the Retirement System's Motion for Partial Dismissal.  The pre-hearing order, our filing today, and other public documents are available here.

SEA v. State (bumping rights)

This is another Contract Clause challenge to the State's attempt to suspend bumping rights for laid off State workers with 10 or more years of experience. We say, as did the Legislative Committee (JLCAR) that took up the measure in 1992, suspending these vested rights without just compensation violates the Constitution.  This case is scheduled for a pre-hearing conference March 22. You can track the progress of this case on our downloads page.

JUA case  (Tuttle & a. v. NHMMJUA & a.)

Labor has been closely watching this case which involves the State's attempt , via HB2, to 'grab' up to 110 million dollars out of a medical malpractice trust fund established by the NH Insurance Department. This fund is made up wholly of private funds paid by medical malpractice policyholders (Doctors, e.g.) but the Governor, on advice of then Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, believed that the money could be transferred to the State's General Fund because the JUA was created by state law. Not so, said a majority of the NH Supreme Court, ruling that the Contract's Clause of the Constitution prevents the State from enacting laws that impair vested rights.  Sound familiar?  The State decision was handed down January 28th but the State battles on and has filed a motion to reconsider (available on our downloads page). So, while this case is being used by the Governor to threaten more layoffs , it is welcome news from the Court that the Contract's Clause is, in fact, a powerful and legitimate constraint on Legislative power. This holding will help our other pending cases !

February 21, 2010 The Pew Center issued its report on the status of public pensions across the country with the headline that , collectively, the unfunded liability number has reached the trillion dollar level.  The report is here.  The report does underscore what NH Labor leaders have been repeating to lawmakers :  the unfunded liability problem was caused by the downturn in the market and legislative tactics that have for years allowed employers to pay much less than they actually owe.  Yet, increasingly it is the employees that are looked at to solve the problem.  In fact, the PEW report lists factors that make a fix more difficult, in their view; all of which have been the subject of legislative action in New Hampshire : age of retirement (HB590), COLA's (HB1645), sharing excess returns (HB653), 'double dipping' (HB1576), and 'spiking' (SB108).

This report has received a great deal of press (See Union Leader article here) and it will , no doubt , only feed those lawmakers eager to blame the employees and seek further reductions in benefits. Stay tuned!

Also last week, the SEA's Constitutional challenge to HB2 and its requirement that current retired State employees will have their vested pension benefits reduced by up to 130$ per month was argued before Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Richard McNamara.  The two hour hearing was spirited, to say the least : the SEA arguing that pension checks, once earned and vested, are protected by the contract's clause and NH constitutional provision pt. 1, Art. 36-a. The State counters that the pension checks are not being reduced but merely garnished. The Retirement System claimed that they 'have no dog in the race' but spent a considerable amount of time arguing against the retirees.  Look for a decision in the case in a month or two.

January 29, 2010 Today, the New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed with the PFFNH that the LGC must comply with the right-to-know law.  Hopefully ending an eight year legal battle, the Court confirms what the Firefighters have been saying all along : the LGC is a quasi-governmental agency and is not above the law.  The decision is here. As well, congratulations to the Court monitors and assistants for reaching a tentative agreement with the Judicial Branch - Attorney John Krupski headed up those talks for the SEA.

January 24, 2010.  On Friday, the Merrimack County Superior Court issued its 'Orders of Notice' and granted the SEA's request for an expedited hearing on its lawsuit which claims that the State is not following the law that gives preferential 're-hiring' rights to laid off State workers. A hearing has been scheduled for February 5th and we appreciate the Court's sensitivity to the timing issues this case presents.  After all, when one is not re hired as they should have been, they often move on to other opportunities.  As well, the fast track treatment also speaks to the Court's initial view of the merits of the case.  A related case is also before the Court on the claim that failing to re hire simply because the new job would mean a promotion violates HB2.  Arguments were heard on that case last Friday and a decision is likely to be issued soon. You can follow these cases through the documents posted on the downloads page.

Also in the news , the US Supreme Court issued its much awaited decision on a free speech case .  This decision permits corporations (and Unions) to ignore campaign financing laws and to spend millions on attack ads in the closing days of campaigns. As corporations can easily outspend Unions, this case is seen as quite a blow.  Read the case (all 183 pages!) here.

January 15, 2010. The Derry Firefighters, IAFF Local 4392 , won a decisive arbitration victory concerning incentive pay.  This decision establishes favorable arbitral precedent for Labor Unions on issues of past practice and contract interpretation.  Read the decision on our downloads page (scroll down to our 'other cases' section). Congratulations to Local 4392 and Attorney John Krupski.

The State Employees' Association continued its fight for those that lost their job in the recent rounds of layoffs. Today they filed a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court because the State has refused to apply the provisions of House Bill 2 which require the State to rehire laid off State employees to vacant positions within State government. Read the filing and keep up to date on the case at our downloads page (scroll to 'SEA HB2/rehire lawsuit' section).

January 4, 2010.  Big wins for Pennsylvania and California unions fending off State attempts to furlough State workers. In California, a trial court judge issued an order (mandamus) overturning the Governor's decision to furlough workers as violating the clear mandate of existing State law. In Pennsylvania, Unions were successful in preventing the State from 'furloughing' state workers on the basis of a state law that requires a passed budget in order to issue paychecks. Not so, says the Judge : the FLSA requires payment for work performed and this federal law 'preempts' (or supercedes) State law to the contrary.  This big FLSA victory is on our downloads page (scroll down to the 'other stuff' section). 

December 29, 2009. Effective January 1, 2010, the Local Government Center plans on dramatically changing the prescription drug benefit negotiated into many contracts statewide. Many municipal employees have received letters from CVS/Caremark on these "required" changes and we have prepared a strategy and response to attack this unlawful maneuver.  Read our Legal Alert here.  We are advised that these changes are not being implemented for State employees.  Stay tuned.

Also, the NHRS has issued its latest CAFR.  Read it here. 

December 15,2009.  Judge Larry Smukler has ruled against the Local Government Center's attempt to block the Secretary of State's investigation into LGC's management of its health insurance trust fund. The ruling now clears the way for State investigators to access information underlying the allegation that LGC uses health insurance money to finance unrelated ventures instead of returning those excess funds back to New Hampshire cities and towns as required by RSA 5-B:5,I(c).  The ruling is on the downloads page.  Stay tuned, much more to come!

December 11, 2009. With the actual language of hundreds of new bills released yesterday and the 2010 legislative session kicking off with a House session January 6th, much of 'what's new' is on the legislative front (See our updated legislative alert page for more). But first, here's an update on other happenings of interest to New Hampshire's public sector labor community.

The lawsuit filed by the New Hampshire Retirement Security Coalition (NHRSC) is winding its way through Merrimack County Superior Court. This Constitutional challenge to HB1645 , including the drastic changes to the definition of 'earnable compensation', will see some action in January with a preliminary pretrial conference scheduled for Jan 25th.  Hopefully, we can postition the case to be heard in a fashion similar to the SEA's case (under 65, retiree case) where through motion practice (no trial) a decision is likely much sooner.  We filed a comprehensive reply brief in the SEA case recently and we are hopeful that a successful resolution there will pay big dividends in the NHRSC case.  The hearing on the SEA retiree case has been postponed from Dec. 17 to Jan 18: more details (and the filings) are available on our downloads page.

The Waiting Game continues: we still await a decision from the NH Supreme Court on the PFFNH  right to know case against the Local Government Center (LGC), which was argued to the Court on October 8th. (argument available here ). As well, Judge Smukler has yet to issue a ruling in the Superior Court case where the LGC has refused to to release similar information requested by the NH Secretary of State.  These two cases are on the  'any day now' watch list.

Speaking of the LGC, New Hampshire Public Radio did a story this week on the recent disclosure by LGC that they do, in fact, use money paid into their health insurance trust fund (HealthTrust, the fund that provides health insurance for just about every New Hampshire City and Town) for other purposes : an allegation raised by PFFNH over the last several years.  In addition, LGC has now released documents (available here) that prove what PFFNH had suspected all along.  The story is available on our downloads page , scroll to "PFFNH v. LGC- HealthTrust" and look for the NHPR December 10th piece.   Hmmm, the making of yet another lawsuit....we'll see!

Finally, still no word as well on the JUA case - a case challenging HB2's  attempt to confiscate private funds and a case with significant potential ramifications to the other "contract clause' cases now pending. And, the US Supreme Court issued a decision recently that may help in New Hampshire, where certain agencies (PELRB?) seem to believe they can act through rulemaking (and otherwise) to subvert their legislative grant of authority.  See our downloads page for more on both these developments.

October 30, 2009. The New Hampshire Secretary of State has gone 'all in' responding to the LGC 's weak attempt to explain how it's trying to respond to the State's subpoena seeking production of documents regarding the money flow of taxpayer/employee health insurance premium dollars. Read the media coverage on our downloads  page.  LGC is on the run and look for more developments over the weekend as today's deadline for production of those records has come and gone. See Monitor Article "Agency Ignores Subpoena".  Stay tuned!

The SEA  has filed suit challenging the suspension of 'bumping rights'.  Read the petition on our downloads page. The claim is the same as other Union challenges to recent legislative attacks on labor : government must keep its word.

Finally, the COLA commission met last week and has decided (rightfully so) to hold off any formal action until the lawsuit filed by labor's Retirement Coalition is resolved.  Our downloads page has a section on this case.  And congratulations to Attorney Richard Molan for , once again, being recognized as one of New England's 'Super Lawyers' for 2009  ; oh yes, Attorney Krupski's victory streak continued last week with another victory, winning a firefighter's job back following a wrongful termination -- the decision is on our case studies  page.   Look for more over the weekend!

Ocotber 18 , 2009.  The vote is in - members of the State Employees' Association have rejected the tentative agreement which called for 19 furlough days and the Governor has responded , not by offering any new ideas , but by simply carrying out his threats of layoffs. SEA leaders have appeared on recent WMUR Close Up episodes and did a great job of explaining that there are more options than just furloughs versus layoffs; see the SEA website for more. And, speaking of options, SEA and SEIU legal teams are taking a hard look at possible legal challenges to the layoffs since the mandate to save 25 million dollars has already been reached!  Stay tuned.

The SEA filed motions in Merrimack County last Friday asking that the judge rule in favor of the SEA retirees (under age 65) who have been unfairly taxed by provisions of HB2 that reduces their pension checks by up to 130$ per month.  See our downloads page for the details.

The Local Government Center remains in the news : today Maura Carroll , LGC's interim executive director , offered a response to the Concord Monitor's recent (and excellent) editorial excoriating the LGC for its continued attempts to evade the right-to-know law. The LGC response goes something like this : (1) the LGC should not have to give out financial information regarding its "business" (HealthTrust) of selling health insurance coverage to NH cities and towns because that would put the LGC at a competitive disadvantage in relation to their "competitors" (whoever they are??); and (2) the LGC has never attempted to change RSA 91-A in order to escape the law's reach.

Huh?

First, the HealthTrust issue was resolved several years ago when the PFFNH prevailed before the NH Supreme Court -- the current issue, which the LGC response ignores, involves the LGC's claim that the NHMA (its lobbying arm) is not covered by RSA 91-A and that the LGC (the parent company) does not have to reveal salary information of its employees as  is required of all other public bodies.  The Monitor editorial has it right : the current legal challenge launched by the LGC is yet another attempt to evade the law!

Second, memories are running short at the LGC if they really believe that they have never lobbied the legislature to exclude the LGC from the right-to-know law.  As detailed in our legislative alert page, HB53 was championed by the LGC in the current and 2009 legislative sessions -- this bill, as introduced, would have stricken from the definition of a "public body" any "agency or authority" of government ; this language in current law was precisely why the Superior Court ruled that HealthTrust was covered under 91-A. (See our downloads page for more).

The LGC response, while attempting to answer the question about the costs of its lobbying and legal services and whether they are funded , in part, by health insuranc premiums (more on that to follow), ignores the related questions raised by the NH Secretary of State who is investigating this very issue.  See Union Leader coverage here and the Telegraph's take here.  Incredibly, the LGC failed to appear at a scheduled hearing to answer these questions. Stay tuned!

Finally, the PFFNH and SEA should be congratulated for their efforts on the Retiree Health Insurance Commission.  The Commission met last week and appears to be close to proposing a 'Retiree Medical Trust' model suggested by these labor groups.  See the Union Leader and Telegraph  articles for more. 

Ocotber 11, 2009. New Hampshire public sector labor news has been very active in recent days ...  Here are some of the highlights :

State Employees -- The voting has closed on the new proposed contract which pits layoffs against furloughs.  The results are expected to be close and we'll post here the outcome following the count which takes place Monday afternoon, following a rally sponsored by the SEA  at the State House.  Monitor coverage on the vote here. Kevin Landrigan of the Nashua Telegraph makes his prediction here.  Stay tuned!

The SEA won a significant overtime arbitration case last week on behalf of members working at Corrections.  Attorney Krupski successfully argued that a long standing overtime administration policy could not be changed without the SEA's consent.  The arbitrator also awarded back pay for lost overtime opportunities - a remedy not often granted and one that could amount to a major leauge sized back pay award. The decision is under the SEA section of our downloads page.

The SEA class action lawsuit on behalf or retirees (under 65) will heat up this week.  The SEA will file a motion for summary judgment on Wednesday urging the Court to order the State (and Retirement Sysytem) to stop reducing their pension checks under the guise of health insurance copayments.  The State's papers will be due in early November and the Court is expected to hear arguments on the case on December 17th.  The downloads page will have updates on the filings as they happen.

The PELRB is at it again?  The SEA has twice now won victories at the Supreme Court upholding the contract bar rule but our labor board has , for a third time now, allowed an election challenge to occur outside the statute's bounds .  There's more on this saga on the downloads page but expect another round of appeals to the Supreme Court. 

PFFNH / Local Government Center -- As reported here last week, the Secretary of State's office is investigating the LGC over allegations that health insurance premiums are being used for purposes not related to providing health insurance.  This news followed the unflattering report that charges were dropped against an LGC employee arrested after a serious information breach occured at the LGC. (Story here). Investigators called the LGC security policies "sloppy" and "careless". Oh yes, there was also the LGC loss at the Legislature on HB53  (See Sept 27th update on legislative alert page).

The bad news continued for the LGC last week as the PFFNH's right to know case was argued before the State's Supreme Court. The LGC attorney had a very tough time explaining to the Court how it could be  that 2 of 5 LGC subsidiaries (including the NHMA) could avoid 91-A when all other LGC entitities are covered under the law, are owned and managed by a public body (LGC) and utilize public money to finance their ventures?  The downloads page has a section on the case -- the oral argument is a must view!

Troopers / NHTA  -- The State has recently filed a case with the PELRB seeking to decertify the NEPBA units comprised of former Highway Patrol employees.  Now that Safety has reorganized and eliminated the Highway Patrol division (those officers are now 'regulatory Troopers'), the State argues that the NHTA unit should now include these employees.  NEPBA has responded alleging that Safety has unfairly spoken about its  plans directly with these regulatory Troopers.  NHTA is watching this closely and a hearing has been scheduled before the PELRB on October 21st.

Finally, Trooper Jill Rockey was confirmed last Wednesday by the Executive Council  for a seat on the NHRS Board of Trustees.  You go Jill! 

Make sure to check  out the newly revamped downloads page and the legislative alert page has been updated as well.

October 7, 2009
The LGC has made public in a recent filing with the Merrimack County Superior Court, that it is under State investigation for allegedly violating State Statute (RSA 5-B) .  The allegations include questions regarding LGC keeping 7 million dollars of health insurance money for "future administrative needs".  Under State Law, excess health insurance premiums must be returned to the participating New Hampshire cities and towns. Watch for press accounts soon.  More to follow and the documents are available on our downloads page.

Sept. 25.  Jill Rockey , State Trooper extraordinaire and NHTA secretary was recently nominated to sit as a Trustee on the Retirement Board as nominee from the New Hampshire Police Association.  Congrat's Jill !

Sept. 1, 2009  The Troopers' Association have cleared the good name of a longtime member. Read the decision on our downloads page under "Trooper cases".

August 20, 2009. In these tough economic times, often public side unions invoke Constitutional protections preventing States from reneging on promises made in collective bargaining agreements. In a case that supports the recent lawsuits filed in New Hampshire by labor, a federal court again rules that the Constitution cannot be ignored by politicians. The Court ruled :

"The Court further recognizes that Prince George’s County, like other counties and municipalities, is struggling with budget deficits and is searching for alternatives to layoffs in the midst of a global recession.
While adequate deference must be accorded to the fiscal decisions of government officials, the Court cannot merely give lip service to the fundamental principles that undergird the Contract Clause of
the United States Constitution.  To do otherwise, even in these severe economic times, would sanction the County running roughshod over the Unions, who in good faith negotiated a binding
contract with the County."

 Read the full decision here.   Likewise in New Hampshire, labor will fight so that promises made are promises kept!