Labor Board Leans Against Tiverton Department Heads' Union

Tiverton’s department heads do not have the right to unionize, the state Labor Relations Board reportedly decided at its June 12 meeting.

Although a final vote on the issue will not be cast until the board’s Aug. 28 meeting, Town Solicitor Andrew Teitz said the board did direct staff to write a draft decision in favor of the town.

According to Teitz, whether or not department heads have the right to unionize depends on whether their supervisory position has the right to effectuate policy.

“[Department heads] hire and fire employees and make policy discretion that we believe separates them from other personnel,” said Teitz in an interview on Tuesday. “We contested their right to unionize at a labor hearing board meeting in June and they directed legal counsel to draft a decision in favor of the town.”

While the decision is tentative, Teitz said it is unlikely that the board would flip-flop its opinion.

Robyn H. Golden, administrator to the Labor Relations Board, would not provide comment as to the extent of the board’s recommendation, but said minutes of the June 12 meeting would be posted on the board’s website within the next month.

Nine months ago seven town of Tiverton department heads with the Labor Relations Board to organize a bargaining unit under Council 94 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

“People just want to have a voice,” said John Burns, a union spokesman who represented Tiverton’s department heads at the June labor board meeting. “There is nothing specific that they are aggrieved with.”

Burns declined to comment on the board’s preliminary disposition, stating he would reserve his remarks until a final decision was reached in August.

Of the seven department heads cited on the Sept. 6, 2011 petition to unionize, six have been working with no contract for as long as three years. Those listed in the petition are  Stephen Berlucchi, Tax Assessor Dave Robert,  Director Janice Gomes, Wastewater Management Superintendent John Lincourt, Building Official Gareth Eames, Town Planner Chris Spencer and  Toni Lyn McGowan.

By law, the fire and police chiefs cannot be members of a labor union.

McGowan is the only department head with a contract, which expires this month.

The push to unionize was born in the midst of a Town Council effort to draft a for department heads that would streamline certain aspects of hiring such as date of hire, duties, contract expiration, contract term, vacation per year, carry over allowances on vacation, the number of sick days and percentage of paid health insurance on family and on the individual.

Councilwoman Joan Chabot led the effort.

“We’re spearheading a lot of initiatives,” she said in June 2011. “We want to get some consistency between the contracts.”

According to Teitz, town is against the unionization of its management because it will allow more flexibility and opportunity for the town. Under a bargaining unit agreement, the town would not be able to adjust compensation packages relative to the needs of the person they are trying to hire, he said.

Progress with the town’s model contract for department heads has been put off until after a decision is reached on the issue of unionization.