New Hampshire Supreme Court Overturns Barnstead’s Public Safety Bargaining Unit Certification

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Town of Barnstead, overturning a decision by the state’s Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) that allowed police and fire department employees to form a joint bargaining unit.

In its ruling, issued on March 26, 2025, the court determined that the PELRB erred in approving the bargaining unit, which included 14 employees from Barnstead’s police and fire departments. The Town of Barnstead appealed, arguing that these employees did not share a “community of interest”, a key legal standard for forming a collective bargaining unit under New Hampshire law. The Supreme Court agreed and reversed the PELRB’s decision.

Case Background

The case originated in February 2023, when the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 93 petitioned to form a bargaining unit representing 14 full-time employees across Barnstead’s police and fire departments. The Town objected, arguing that the differences in job duties, training, work schedules, and command structures between police and fire personnel made a single bargaining unit inappropriate.

Despite the Town’s objections, the PELRB approved the bargaining unit. The Town subsequently appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, asserting that the PELRB’s decision did not properly apply the “community of interest” standard.

Supreme Court’s Rationale

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the PELRB incorrectly determined that the employees shared a sufficient community of interest to justify a combined bargaining unit. The court emphasized that:

• The police and fire departments have distinct job responsibilities, chains of command, and working conditions.

• The PELRB’s reasoning—that all employees worked in public safety and followed similar employment policies—was insufficient to establish a community of interest.

• A previous case, Appeal of Town of Newport (1995), had already set a precedent that grouping firefighters with other municipal employees was inappropriate due to substantial differences in job functions.

The court concluded that simply having similar employment policies under the Town does not override the fundamental differences between the police and fire departments.

Implications for Barnstead and Other Municipalities

With this ruling, Barnstead’s police officers and firefighters will not be able to negotiate as a single unit. If they wish to unionize, they will need to form separate bargaining units.

This decision could also impact other towns in New Hampshire, particularly those facing similar labor disputes over whether police and fire personnel can collectively bargain under one union.

While the AFSCME sought to include all public safety employees in one unit, the court’s ruling means that municipalities must ensure that any bargaining unit meets the strict “community of interest” standard.

The full court opinion can be viewed here: https://www.courts.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt471/files/documents/2025-03/2025014barnstead.pdf