South Whitehall public works employees still on strike
Roads were cleared by subcontractors during Thursday’s storm
Friday marks two weeks that South Whitehall Township’s public works employees have been on strike, as the union and township management have not yet agreed to terms on a new three-year contract.
Shortly before midnight Feb. 4, the Teamsters Local 773 notified the township by email that the strike had begun, citing a frustration with perceived stalled negotiations. The township’s 29 public works employees did not report for work Feb. 5, and have been picketing at the township buildings on Walbert Avenue and Cedar Crest Boulevard since Feb. 8.
Over the last two weeks, the parties have also been to Lehigh County Court, resulting in a partial blocking of the strike.
On Feb. 8, attorneys for South Whitehall Township filed a petition for injunction, claiming the strike is unlawful and asking the court to put a halt to the work stoppage. The petition cited a section of the Pennsylvania
Employee Relations Act that says a mediator assigned by the state to assist with negotiations must notify the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board if the parties have not reached an agreement within 20 days of the beginning of negotiations.
The township’s attorneys claimed the mediator had not notified the state of an impasse.
However, on Feb. 12, the attorneys filed an amended petition after learning that the mediator had in fact notified the state. The new petition focused on a different section of the law, which allows court-enforced relief when the strike creates a “clear and present danger or threat to the health, safety or welfare of the public.”
Judge Edward Reibman granted a temporary injunction that day and scheduled a hearing for Tuesday. The court ordered public works employees to return to work under a specific set of circumstances: for salting and plowing during storms, for water main breaks or sewer emergencies, and for emergency calls from the state’s One Call system for utility location services. It also ordered one electrical technician to return to work full time.
Wednesday, the court upheld the injunction, except that union workers would only be called in to salt and plow if the township could not secure enough subcontractors. If the union disputes the township’s inability to hire subcontractors, it can ask the judge for a decision. The other difference is that the township may bring in employees as necessary to maintain the integrity of the water and sanitary systems.
Subcontractors worked during Thursday’s storm, said Brian Taylor, business agent with Teamsters Local 773.
The parties have agreed on most issues after several eighthour negotiating sessions, Taylor said. Proposals on hours of work and subcontracting language are the last two to be negotiated, he said.
Their previous three-year contract expired Dec. 31.
The previous contract secured base salaries ranging of $48,100$66,600 and health insurance plans ranging from $880-$2,470 per year, according to numbers supplied by the township and confirmed by the union. Employees hired before 2017 have pension plans, and the rest have retirement contribution plans.
Despite the work stoppage, “the township continues to maintain services to residents and businesses,” Manager Renee Bickel said.
“South Whitehall Township remains committed to negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with our Public Works employees,” a previous statement from the township reads.
Taylor said the strikers remain upbeat and intend to bargain in good faith.
The parties are scheduling negotiating sessions next week, Bickel said.