The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that the city of Boston had acted illegally in 2002 when it changed the rules for paying overtime to city police officers without bargaining with the police union. The city had tried to reduce overtime payments to officers by changing the minimum hours to 171 over a 28 day period, rather than the traditional 40 hours per week. As a result of the ruling, Boston will owe officers hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost overtime pay.
See "SJC rules for police in case on overtime", Maria Cramer, The Boston Globe, March 16, 2009