Overtime Issue Stalls Columbia Labor Talks

By Umble, Chad

Columbia Borough has rejected contract recommendations of a labor fact-finder, continuing the borough’s stalemate with some of its employees. The Service Employees International Union 668 represents 25 borough employees in departments including wastewater, highway, planning and codes.

The union’s five-year contract with the borough expired Dec. 31, 2007, and while the two sides now agree on wage increases, a major sticking point remains how the borough handles overtime.

In a new contract, the borough wants to be able to adjust schedules so that work on Saturday and Sunday is not always paid at overtime rates.

To help resolve the contract dispute, Janet Rigler, a fact- finder with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, considered a variety of issues and recommended a solution on July 28.

The union accepted the recommendations, but the borough is rejecting them.

In her recommendations, Rigler wrote that the borough has not looked at ways to minimize overtime other than changing employees’ schedules.

The union agrees.

“They’re trying to save pennies on our back, and it is just not going to work for us,” said Harry Howard, a wastewater treatment plant employee and the union’s chief shop steward.

“If you’re understaffed, it could lead to overtime. But that is a manager’s problem, not an employee’s problem,” Howard said.

Sandra Duncan, president of Columbia’s borough council, said the union has been too resistant to any kind of flexible scheduling, which she says is needed to cut costs.

“The borough is really not trying to make it harder on them, we’re just trying to make it fair,” Duncan said.

Duncan said that once the borough formally rejects the fact- finder’s recommendations, it will trigger a public meeting on the issues, which she expected to happen within a month.

Although Duncan said the contract negotiations have now gotten tight, she remained optimistic that the issues will be resolved.

“I feel that the union doesn’t want to strike. I feel the union wants to work with us,” Duncan said.

Howard is not as optimistic, saying that although these negotiations have not yet gone on as long as many others, there seems to be more distrust now.

And, Howard said he was disappointed that the borough didn’t accept the fact-finder’s recommendations, which included lower wage increases and higher health insurance contributions than the union wanted.

The recommendations were not binding, but Howard said they would have been a good resolution.

“I thought it was a good deal on both sides,” he said.

(Copyright 2008 Lancaster Newspapers. All rights reserved.)

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