2018 - Chelmsford Fire Fighters, Local 1839 and PFFM vs. Town of Chelmsford

In 2018, Attorney Barrault secured a decision from the Massachusetts Joint Labor Management Committee ordering an increase in fire apparatus staffing on behalf of the Chelmsford Firefighters Union. This was the second time Attorney Barrault was able to secure an increase in funding, the first being for the Woburn Firefighters Union in 2013. The neutral arbitrator agreed with Attorney Barrault and the scientific evidence relayed by Boston Deputy Fire Chief Jay Fleming, an expert in fire department staffing, and rejected the Town of Chelmsford’s argument that the Union pursued this measure purely to increase overtime. The Arbitrator directed the Town to incrementally increase staffing, starting with one additional fire fighter on an apparatus at none of the Town’s five fire stations.