Ortonville- An unfair labor practice charge filed against the village will be heard by Administrative Law Judge Doyle O’Connor at 10 a.m., July 8 at the Michigan Employment Relations Commission building, 3026 W. Grand Boulevard, Ste. 2-700, Detroit.
The charge was filed in late March by Les Barrett, business representative for Teamsters Local #214, on behalf of the village’s Department of Public Works employees, claiming the village is violating the Public Employee Relations Act.
The charge stems from the village council’s 4-3 decision on Jan. 14 to reduce the DPW staff to two men and the unanimous vote that followed to eliminate the supervisor position, formerly held by Bill Prince, who is now simply considered a DPW employee. Barrett says Village Manager Ed Coy is now assigning the work, determining the priorities, and was determining whether snow needed to be plowed, all work typically done by the DPW supervisor.
The union is asking that the village get in accordance with the law, which he said can be done in one of three ways: either non-union staff does not do the work; they promote Bill Prince back to supervisor; or they pay another employee in the bargaining unit to do the work.
Barrett said the hearing should only last one day, and then each side will submit briefs.
‘It could take anywhere from 90 days to two years for the judge to decide who’s right and who’s wrong,? Barrett said. ‘Once the judge rules, there may be backpay involved and a whole bunch of other things depending on what he rules.?