Jun 14, 2008 By Steve Ferris 3 min read

The union representing Uniontown’s sanitation workers has filed a grievance aiming to stop City Council from proceeding with its plans to turn over the garbage collection service to a private contractor, a union official said. The grievance was filed last month after council voted to award a three-year contract to Veolia Environmental Services of German Township, said Richard Caponi, director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 84.

The current three-year contract, which gave city sanitation workers 4 percent pay raises in each year, would have expired on Dec. 31, 2009.

Veolia’s contact calls for the company to begin collecting trash and recyclables on July 1.

“We have filed a grievance. We believe they improperly voted to contact out that service,” Caponi said.

Union representatives and Mayor Ed Fike will meet Monday to discuss the grievance.

“We’re going to meet with them,” Fike said.

Fike declined further comment on the grievance.

The grievance, which seeks to settle the dispute through arbitration, alleges council failed to follow a contact provision obligating council to meet with the union and explain why retaining an outside contractor is being considered, Caponi said.

He said the two sides might have been able to settle their differences through the “meet-and-discuss” contract provision.

“They were obligated to meet and discuss. They failed to do that,” Caponi said.

Council never notified the union that hiring a private contractor was being considered and didn’t notify the union that it was going to be replaced with a private contractor until after the grievance was filed, he said.

“They didn’t notify us until after the grievance was filed,” Caponi said. “They never notified us by letter. They never notified us by phone. They never notified us. We learned about it through the newspaper.”

The union realizes its contract with the city is an expensive one and the members were willing to negotiate, he explained.

“We could have worked something out. We would have looked at it. We understand it’s a costly thing,” Caponi said. “That’s the frustrating part. A lot of this could have been resolved.”

Among the topics the union would have liked to discuss, Caponi said, was the city’s garbage billing, collection and delinquent bill collection processes.

The city reportedly has about $700,000 in delinquent garbage bills.

According to this year’s budget, which was prepared by the prior administration, the sanitation department’s projected revenue is $854,400 and anticipated expenses are $877,254, creating a $22,854 deficit.

The revenue includes $120,000 in delinquent collections.

Expenditures include $36,487 in lease payments on two trucks and paying Goodwill Industries $36,000 for collecting recyclables.

The city charged residents $12 a month for garbage collection and Veolia will charge $11.99 a month for collecting garbage and 75 cents a month for recyclables.

The sanitation department picked up grass and yard waste, but Veolia will not.

Fike has said that the city sanitation workers have been regularly calling off from work because of illness lately.

He and some of the employees of his trucking business have been collecting garbage and grass, because residents have been complaining about the uncollected waste.

The city also hired three or four part-time workers to help collect, Fike said.

“Our people should be doing that work,” Caponi said.

He said he hopes the arbitrator orders council to cancel its contract with Veolia, even though the city could appeal that decision to Fayette County Common Pleas Court.

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