County union effort begins

Only two turn out at organizing meeting Tuesday

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Union officials, referring to a letter sent to employees last month by the county administrator, have publicly accused the county of trying to intimidate workers from unionizing.

On Tuesday, union officials met with two county employees at Ledo Pizza restaurant in La Plata to discuss their plans. News of the meeting was widely circulated on the Internet, but few responded. To union organizer Juanita G. Luiz, the situation was déjà vu.

‘‘We’re not surprised,” Luiz said. ‘‘This is the hardest part, getting past the fear. ... It’s something we absolutely relate to.”

‘‘The small showing of employees shows the fear they are under,” agreed organizer Dennis Phelps.

Luiz and Phelps said employees are afraid after County Administrator Paul W. Comfort wrote a June 30 memorandum warning employees not to engage in union activities on county time.

‘‘... The county commissioners will not be enacting the required legislation to enable county employees to organize and communicate through a designated third party,” Comfort wrote. ‘‘Please remember that current county policy generally prohibits solicitation on county property and non-work related activities by employees on county time (which would include union organizing activities).”

The letter caused a backlash by union members at Monday night’s 4th & 5th District Democratic Club in Cobb Island. Commissioners’ President F. Wayne Cooper (D) was the club’s guest speaker. During the question-and-answer session following his speech, union members pounced.

‘‘The administrator of the county put out a letter basically threatening [county employees] if they start a union,” Phelps said, raising the issue. ‘‘It really disturbs me that my tax money is going toward producing an anti-union intimidation letter.”

‘‘No one has officially approached the commissioners about a union,” Cooper said. He also claimed, ‘‘I don’t remember exactly what was in [the letter].”

‘‘Who is the boss, the commissioners or the county administrator?” asked another man. Cooper answered that the commissioners are in charge.

Ed Mohler, retired president of the Maryland AFL-CIO, pressed Cooper to take ownership of the statements in the letter, saying, ‘‘The letter exists. What is your position on this issue?”

Cooper repeated that the commissioners have not yet been approached by a union and added, ‘‘[There are] pros and cons to both sides. I have no problem listening to people.”

‘‘Unless [Comfort] is trying to commit suicide politically, he apparently had permission,” Mohler retorted.

In his letter, Comfort stated he is proud of his relationship with county employees.

‘‘Employees can freely take advantage of management’s ‘open door’ policy, which includes the commissioners’ office, my office and human resources,” Comfort wrote. He said he holds monthly lunch meetings with managers, encouraging them to air their problems. ‘‘Discussions at these meetings allow supervisors to openly discuss employee issues, sometimes directly with the county commissioners who attend the meeting.”

However, according to the county employees present at Tuesday’s lunch meeting, they feel that county leadership has closed more doors than it has opened.

‘‘I think they’ve cordoned themselves off from the media and the employees,” said one worker, who asked not to be identified.

The worker’s complaints were similar to those that have appeared on Internet boards and e-mails over the past two years. Employees are concerned about rapid changes being made by the current commissioner board. Over the past two years, the commissioners have passed resolutions banning casual Fridays, eliminating the compressed work schedule, reducing retirement plan vendors and putting restrictions on the use of county cars.

Under Cooper, the last two boards have overseen the replacement of every single department manager as well as several key division managers. The county recently outsourced the staffing and management of its Capital Clubhouse ice rink to a private corporation and is mulling the privatization of the county’s Elite Gymnastics program and garbage disposal.

Cooper said last week that he sympathizes with worries about job cuts caused by government privatization.

‘‘But, we’ve got to either do that or raise taxes,” Cooper said.

He said there have been regular attempts to unionize some or all county employees since before he was elected in 2002.

‘‘It’s reoccurring constantly,” Cooper said. ‘‘It’s nothing new.”

He said he could have understood a unionization effort during his first year as commissioner, when the county employees received no salary increases or raises. However, this year, Cooper said county employees received a 5.5 percent cost-of-living increase and raise. He said the commissioners would not recognize or negotiate with a new union.

Union leaders recognize that the county must pass legislation in order for a union to be able to collectively bargain for employees. However, for now, Luiz said, ‘‘Protection of the employees is the No. 1 priority.”