Union sues volunteers over creek cleanup

[Grojlach]

Union beefs over creek cleanup

BEAVER - Members of the Blackhawk High School recycling club had civic duty in mind last fall when they pulled hundreds of filthy tires from a creek at the Buttermilk Falls natural area in Homewood as part of a community cleanup effort.
Now, a Beaver County employees union is demanding to be paid for the work.
Fifteen members of Service Employees International Union 585/688 have filed a grievance against the county, which owns Buttermilk Falls, saying the cleanup would have been part of their work duties and should have been offered to them before it was farmed out to volunteers.
The grievance, which is headed to arbitration, asks for a total of $958 in back pay for the 15 employees of the county's public works department. In addition, the county and union would have to ante $1,000 apiece to pay the arbitrator.
David Tolfa, the shop steward, cited an agreement between the county and union that calls for union approval before volunteers are permitted to work on county-owned property. Buttermilk Falls along Route 18 in Homewood has been designated a county park. Tolfa said the county, which had plenty of advance notice, never discussed the project with the union.
"They want to bring in all these people to do volunteer work, and that's what they're paying us to do," he said. "What they're doing is taking work away from the employees."
He added that the union has no problem with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts performing community service projects, because they are national institutions and do the work to earn merit badges.
"What we were upset about is this is a union shop, and there was no discussion going on," Tolfa said. "They just basically went out and did it."
The commissioners, who refused to pay the employees for work they never performed, said the grievance is unreasonable. They said they were not notified of the cleanup project in advance, but added that they generally approve of community groups performing work on county property for obvious reasons.
For one, it saves county taxpayers money, they said during a work session Wednesday. Second, the Department of Public Works would not normally assign employees to dredge tires from a creek.
DPW Director James Camp said he couldn't remember that happening in the 30 years he has worked in the department.
"None of our people would have gone up there to do that," Camp said. "If I would have put up a volunteer sheet for them to sign, nobody would have signed it."
Commissioners Chairman Dan Donatella noted that volunteers routinely remove rubbish from county roads and stage an annual cleanup of garbage from around the Ohio River and its tributaries.
"Now are they taking away somebody else's work?" he asked. "This was a community service issue performed by a nonprofit group, and we want to support that. We don't understand why they filed this grievance."
Homewood Councilman Alan DeSanzo, who has long advocated a park at Buttermilk Falls, organized the tire cleanup. The tires, he said, would still be in the creek if not for the club's help.
"Gosh, we were extremely appreciative of their efforts," DeSanzo said. "They did a wonderful job and we couldn't thank them enough."

Source: Beaver County Times

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Demanding to be paid for work they never did pretty well sums everything I have against unions in general. The fact that the head of Public Works stated that none of his employees would have done the work if given the opportunity just adds emphasis to my point.

[pritchke]

Yip, can't add anything that Cerek has not said. If we were waiting for the greedy union workers to do it we would still be waiting.

[ 08-26-2003, 02:19 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Timber Loftis]

Ditto and ditto. Do you hear this, politicians?? WE DON'T LIKE UNIONS!!!

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by pritchke: Yip, can't add anything that Cerek has not said. If we were waiting for the greedy union workers to do it we would still be waiting.

Of course, now that we know how willing these union workers are to do this type of work, I'm sure they could find other creeks, rivers and tributaries for them to muck out.

And since they are going to be paid for their work, there wouldn't be any need to wait for a nice sunny day. Might as well just do it on a rainy day, since they would be getting wet anyway.

[ 08-26-2003, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Cerek the Barbaric ]

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

And people still wonder why U.S. companies are moveing production over seas. Look at the caliber of employee unions bring to the table.

[khazadman]

But the thing is Hunter, union membership is now down to an all time low of about 13% of the workforce.

And what is the #1 reason for the continued existence of the unions? The money they steal from the members to donate to the dems. #2 is to protect lazy and incompetent workers from having to actually work or face the consequences of their incompetence.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by khazadman: But the thing is Hunter, union membership is now down to an all time low of about 13% of the workforce. And what is the #1 reason for the continued existence of the unions? The money they steal from the members to donate to the dems. #2 is to protect lazy and incompetent workers from having to actually work or face the consequences of their incompetence.

you know, this is the problem. If 100% of the work force was unionized, the system would be okay. Each union would fairly represent its workers, the company would fight for itself, and negotiations would turn out fairer for all. It's the disparity between the $60/hr UAW d**khead and the $8/hr auto mechanic that is causing problems inthis country.

[Sir Kenyth]

Be careful what you wish for! No union rights equals less worker rights. I don't belong to a union, but I beleive unions are generally a good thing in principle. Think about it this way. The county wouldn't have thought it worthwhile enough to "pay" someone to do the work that was done. If county employees are being layed off or not getting enough hours, that would be the reason they made the complaint. It would be a valid gripe if contracted work is being given out to another non-union group who gets less compensation. The county benefits from the contract by having a work force available at all times for a set price with them as a priority. The county can't just break the contract on a whim and expect it to be followed by the other side. Now, exceptions can be made if both sides agree. That didn't happen. Remember, most businesses will completely decimate the workforce and run the business into the ground before they even touch the upper level executives. A lack of worker rights is why foreign labor is so cheap, and why profit minded corporations want to get in on the action. They like the profits generated by a cheap work force! Abolishing unions will put us on an even playing field all right. It'll force your wages down to be competetive with the other countries. Unions help force the spread of wealth and woe to all levels in the business. Otherwise, they get all the wealth, and you'll get all the woe! On the other hand, can unions be their own worst enemies sometimes? Yes.

[Skunk]

county benefits from the contract by having a work force available at all times for a set price with them as a priority. The county can't just break the contract on a whim and expect it to be followed by the other side. Now, exceptions can be made if both sides agree.

That's a fair comment - there is a principle at stake here - the county should have stuck to the terms of the contract. Having said that, given the nature of the dispute, if I were the head of the Union I would have sued for the lost wages (plus any damages) to make the point - and then donated the money to the charity of the High School's choosing...