Some Park Ridge labor union members protested at City Hall Monday in the hours before aldermen approved spending more in legal fees related to a dispute with the city employees’ union.
Ed Maher, a spokesman for Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, said the action was sparked by Mayor David Schmidt’s Oct. 27 comment that if the legal budget gets too high because of the dispute, then the city could lay off a public works employee.
Maher said Schmidt vetoed a deal that would have resulted in the city spending less than it has spent on legal fees since.
“He’s the one with the veto pen,” Maher added. “Certainly his threat brought the entire issue to a head. He’s trying to take a pound of flesh from city workers for a cost that he’s responsible for.”
Schmidt said at the meeting he could not reply because of the ongoing legal negotiations.
“We’re in the middle of an arbitration,” he said over shouts from the audience. “I can’t talk about it. When it’s all over, I’ll be happy to let you know how I feel.”
Aldermen meeting as the City Council’s committee of the whole gave unanimous preliminary approval for an additional $14,276 in fees to the law firm representing Park Ridge in its dispute with Local 150.
City Manager Shawn Hamilton said the dispute with Local 150 is the “main driver” of the legal fee budget increase.
During the Council’s Oct. 27 committee meeting, Hamilton noted that five months into the current fiscal year, the city had spent almost $59,000 of its $60,000 budget for the city’s labor attorney and that he would begin making monthly requests for more money as the fiscal year goes on.
Aldermen discussed whether trying to re-open contract talks would be less expensive, but Schmidt said the city should not “start caving in to labor unions” because of worries over legal fees. Doing so, he said, would surrender control over contract discussions.
“And if we end up with a $70,000, $80,000 hit because of this that we just can’t afford, then frankly, I think you lop off a public works employee. That’s what you do. You find money in the budget for it,” Schmidt said.
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The city and Local 150 have been at loggerheads over the most recent contract since April 2013, when Schmidt vetoed it. While his veto was overridden, the union alleged the city had ratified different language regarding health insurance coverage. The city and union subsequently each filed “unfair labor practice” charges against the other with the Illinois Department of Labor.
In February, aldermen narrowly approved a renegotiated contract that would have dropped those allegations and shifted some health insurance costs from the city to the union – a change Hamilton said would have saved the city almost $76,000 through April 2017.
Schmidt vetoed that version in March and this time, his veto was sustained. As a result, the mutual “unfair labor practice” charges were reinstated.
A three day hearing on those charges was held last week. Both Hamilton and Maher said the sides have until Jan. 31, 2015, to file any final briefs, after which a final decision isn’t expected for several months.
About 175 members of Local 150 held an “informational picket” at and near City Hall, 505 Butler Place, from 4 until 7 p.m., and then packed the Council Chamber for several minutes. The picket was part of an ongoing public education campaign, Maher said.
During the regularly scheduled open questions segment, Doug Karowsky, a crew leader in the water and sewer division of Park Ridge Public Works Department, asked Schmidt why he prefers to spend more in legal fees than the city would have saved by accepting the revised contract.
Schmidt did not answer, citing the ongoing arbitration but added that the City Council could look at staffing levels when it begins discussing the 2015-16 budget early next year.
“Now I know how Scott Walker feels,” Schmidt said after the workers left, referring to Wisconsin’s Republican governor who was the subject of protests and a recall attempt after he worked to limit collective bargaining rights for many public employees.