Politics & Government

Public Works Employees Not Satisfied With Overtime From October Snowstorm

A grievance alleges that town employees were denied work in the aftermath of Winter Storm Alfred.

Despite logging significant overtime hours in the aftermath of Winter Storm Alfred last fall, the town's Public Works union has filed a grievance contending that they were not allowed to work enough overtime in the aftermath of the storm. 

The grievance has been denied by both the Public Works Department's immediate supervisor, Director of Public Works Mark Carlino, and General Manager Scott Shanley, and the matter is now headed to state-mediated arbitration. 

In a grievance complaint filed Nov. 15, 2011, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 4, Local 991 President Thomas Stough alleged that the town was in violation of its contract with the union because it had private "contractors performing maintainers work" that the contract between the town and the union stipulated was supposed to be done by union employees. 

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Stough wrote that union employees were seeking "pay and any and all wages lost and make whole affected employees." 

Carlino and Shanley both denied the union's claim. In his letter denying the grievance, Shanley cited the "management's rights" section of the contract and noted the "unique nature of the demand for services." 

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plowed through Connecticut over Halloween weekend, 2011, causing massive destruction and widespread, lengthy power outages in its wake. Almost 95 percent of Manchester was without power during the storm, and many sections of the town remained in the dark for almost a week, while afterwards. The town hired an outside firm to handle the bulk of debris collection, the Florida-based AshBritt, at the cost of about $3 million. Total costs from Winter Storm alfred could wind up costing the town about $6 million, but of that only $255,860 amounted to ; Public Works employees earned the bulk of the overtime at $213,000. 

In his letter denying the grievance, Shanley stated that the severe cleanup work required after Winter Storm Alfred was beyond the town's ability to handle on its own. He noted that Public Works employees worked 140 percent more overtime from Oct. 30 through December of 2011 than they worked over the same time period the previous year, but that even with the extra hours were only able to collect 15,000 cubic yards of debris, or just 11 percent of the total. Shanley noted that AshBritt was able to collect 135,000 cubic yard of debris over the same time period. 

"This does not speak to the lack of hard work or importance of the work done by town crews," Shanley wrote. "It speaks to the magnitude of the natural disaster and the need for specialized outside help." 
Stough declined to comment on the grievance. AFSCME Spokesman Larry Dorman said that the grievance pertained to "the town of Manchester sub-contracting out work that belonged to the union." 

Dorman said an April 4 date has been set for the claim to be arbitrated by the Connecticut State Board of Arbitration and Mediation. 

"They're looking into this, and hopefully they can find a resolution," Dorman said of the April 4 arbitration date. "Typically, with these charges you want the employees made whole for lost work. You also want to have an understanding that the employers won't do that again." 

But the town seems unwilling to back down on the matter as well. In his letter denying the grievance, Shanley called the union's claim "embarrassing." 

"The union's claim that 140 percent more overtime this year than the year before is not enough is, frankly, embarrassing," Shanley wrote. "We experienced an unprecedented autumn storm that called for town government to do what it could to assist and relieve its residents and taxpayers." 


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