Ortonville- The village is without a Department of Public Works crew for now, after both DPW employees were fired within days of each other.
Village Manager Ed Coy confirmed that with the consent of the village council, he terminated Bill Prince on Jan. 29 and Kevin Booms on Feb. 2, both for disciplinary reasons that he is unable to discuss due to union grievances that have been filed. DPW employees are represented by Teamsters Local 214.
‘I don’t want to say anything to prejudice the village’s case,? said Coy. ‘We have a couple options cooking.?
Coy said the village has submitted a recall notice to Jim Early, a former DPW employee who was laid off a year ago, reducing the DPW to a 2-man crew. Early has 10 days to choose whether to return. Last weekend, Hi Hill Lawn Service of Lake Orion provided snow removal service in the village. Other companies have also been contacted and will provide service when called upon by the village to do so.
‘We are still under union contract with the Teamsters and we will begin the process of replacing the two terminated employees,? said Village Council President Ken Quisenberry. ‘If Jim Early returns, we will fill one position; if he does not, we’ll fill two positions. The process may take approximately a minimum of 30 days.?
The current contract was agreed upon by the village and Teamsters in August 2006 after nearly two years of negotiations following the formation of the village DPW union in 2004. Quisenberry said the contract expires June 30.
The village DPW has been plagued with problems in the past few years including broken and improperly maintained equipment. Bill Prince has received multiple disciplinary actions, including suspensions, for varying offenses since he was hired in January 2006. More recently, business owners have complained about the snow removal in the village and called for a change in procedure.
Kevin Booms, who said he has never been previously disciplined in his five years as a village employee, was baffled when he was first given paid administrative leave on Jan. 30, then terminated a few days later.
‘I think what they did was wrong,? said Booms. ‘They said I was terminated for driving the snowplow in a careless and reckless manner on Christmas Eve. I was wrongfully discharged and have filed a grievance.?
Prince did not return a call for comment.
Teamsters Local 214 Business Representative Les Barrett said the reason given for Prince’s termination was that he went over on his cell phone minutes. He is allowed 500 minutes per month on the village-provided cell phone, but had 700 minutes on it last month. Still, Barrett said, the remedy for going over is built right into the union contract? if an employee has more than 500 minutes, he has to pay the bill, that’s all.
He said that while Prince’s termination makes no sense, Booms? firing makes even less sense.
‘Supposedly someone complained that they think Kevin was driving too fast and pushed snow from the street to the sidewalk and therefore they’re firing him,? Barrett said. ‘Kevin has never had one disciplinary action. If this offense requires action, a verbal or written reprimand would be the most it would require.?
Barrett said factors that determine whether there is just cause for discipline include a previous warning (exceptions would be insubordination, theft or drinking on the job); reasonable rules or orders; a fair and objective investigation with substantial evidence or proof; rules, orders and penalties applied evenhandedly and without discrimination and a penalty reasonably related to the seriousness of the offense and the employee’s past record.
‘There needs to be verbal and written warnings and suspensions before you get near firing,? Barrett said. ‘This is not going to hold up. If the (village council) pushes this and it goes to arbitration they will lose, and the employees will get all their money, retropay, and their pension, health, medical, optical, dental bills that come up that wouldn’t be covered by insurance while they are off work? the employer would be responsible for all kinds of things. In the end, it will cost the village much more, including attorney and arbitrator fees, just to get a ruling.?
It could be the early part of March before Barrett knows whether the issue will go to arbitration. If it does, he expects it could be a year before it is resolved.
‘The council president has threatened? ever since he was elected, he has told various people that he was going to get rid of the union; and number one, he’s not going to get away with it and number two, this isn’t the avenue that’s going to get him there,? Barrett said.
Quisenberry said there are no plans to privatize DPW services.
‘We don’t have a choice, have a contract with the Teamsters that we have to follow the terms of,? he said. ? It’s always been our responsibility and duty to make sure the best possible services are provided to the village residents and we will continue to do that.?