SB2: December 2008 Archives
December 11, 2008
SARAH SCHMIDT
MEREDITH — Formal proceeding to unionize two town departments began earlier this year, but the question of who can join in is yet undecided. Last week, the
who might be considered to have supervisory powers in the unit. The employees who may join a union include 27 members of the Public Works Department, including Assistant Director Al Bolduc, and five of the six employees at the Water and Sewer Department. “The petition is filed, and the discussion right now before the PERLB is about the “community of interest,”” said Jay Ward, SEIU political organizer, speaking on behalf of the association. “The employees are contending that Public Works and Water and Sewer are a community of interest.” Ward confirmed that Bob Hill, a Water and Sewer employee, was one of the first to bring forth the idea of organizing the town’s employees into a bargaining unit. After 17 years as superintendent of the Water andSewer Department, Hill was demoted to the position of operational manager in January, in the wake of the water shortages and treatment plant malfunctions in the summer of 2007. Hill declined any comment, and is currently on paid administrative leave, according to Interim Town Manager Brenda Vittner, who said a “personnel issue” had spurred the action. Town attorney Mark Broth and SEIU official Jeffrey Brown cross-examined several town employees, focusing on the “community of interest” between the Public Works and Water and Sewer Departments. From the testimony the employees gave, the PERLB will have to decide of certain people are ineligible to join the union because of supervisory duties over fellow union members, and if the community of interest between the two departments is strong enough for the employees to form a combined collective bargaining unit. Along with Hill, Public Works Director Mike Faller was subpoenaed to answer questions at last week’s hearing. Faller said that he spoke to the interaction between the two departments, directed by the Capital Improvements Committee, in order to keep things efficient. Faller also testified that in 2007, then-Town Manager Carol Granfield had requested that he set up an organizational plan to merge the Public Works and Water and Sewer Departments, in the wake of the aforementioned
2007 problems at the water treatment plant. “I put together a plan, but I don’t know what became of it,” said Faller, who said that the plan was dropped as Granfield resigned and the town hired on a new Water and Sewer Department Superintendent, Brian Carroll. Neither Broth nor Brown could not be reached for comment. The PERLB will have 90 days to make a decision on the composition of the collective bargaining unit.Once they make their decision whether or not the Water and Sewer Department employees are kept in the unit, the unit will go straight into negotiations with the Public Works Department. “Mostly, it’s to have more of a say on the job,” said Ward. “It’s all about the voice in the workplace. They have some great ideas, and they want to be part of the futureof Meredith.”
