Ohio Justices Mull Juvenile Court Union Contracts’ Validity

Two Ohio Supreme Court justices probed Tuesday why a Cleveland-area juvenile court, when entering union contracts with hundreds of its employees that it now wants to disregard, agreed to language that says the contracts remain in effect until other ones replace them.

The contracts between the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, Juvenile Division and its staff state that the court “agrees to recognize the Union and abide by the terms of the Agreement” until new agreements are reached, the unions disavow them, or the members decide the unions may no longer negotiate on their behalf.

While the court system’s attorney, ...