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Union Radio Ads Promote Pride of City Employees: Officials Say Move Not Part of Negotiations

Posted on: Saturday, 28 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Jon Gambrell, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Jan. 28--As the largest union representing city of Bellingham employees continues contract negotiations, leaders have taken to the airwaves to combat negative views of municipal workers.

The American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees Council 2 will run a series of radio ads in the coming days, featuring a male public works employee and a female library employee.

In the ads, airing on KGMI-AM 790 and KISM-FM 92.9, employees describe the pride they have in their jobs. The ads try to address "an awful lot of public employee bashing" on local radio stations, said Vinnie O'Connor, staff representative for the union in Bellingham.

"Not only were they bad, people were starting to believe it," O'Connor said.

The ads come as the union, which represents about 325 city employees, remains in negotiations for a new contract. The last contract expired Dec. 31.

O'Connor said the timing of the advertisements, planned before the November elections, had nothing to do with current negotiations. Both he and Jo Zeimet, the city's human resources director, said the two sides agreed to not involve third parties - namely the press - in the negotiation process.

"The negotiations are progressing in a positive and constructive manner," Zeimet wrote in an e-mail Thursday. "We do not feel that these pieces are related to contract negotiations."

For now, O'Connor said the ads would only run for a short while and the union didn't have a "long-term media plan."

"We're your neighbors," O'Connor said. "We're proud of our jobs and we love this community."

Reach Jon Gambrell at jon.gambrell@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2263.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.

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