Union president says he favors involving the state, if the city is willing.
AUBURN – Police union leadership says it might be time to call in a third party to negotiate a new labor contract with the city.
Union President Chad Syphers said he’s willing to put the union’s fate in the hands of a state arbitrator.
“If the City Council is at the point where they say we can’t be trusted, I say let’s call in an arbitrator,” Syphers said. “At this point, I think it’s in the best interest of the city, the police and the citizens. We should take it out of everybody’s hands and live with what they tell us.”
Syphers said he has not formally requested contract mediation with the state Labor Relations Board and has not discussed the idea with the Auburn city management. He said he planned to discuss the idea this week with John Richardson, the attorney representing the union.
Assistant City Manager Mark Adams said he would consider mediation if the union recommended it.
“It is one of those steps available to us,” Adams said. “I’d certainly like to discuss it with (the union), however, and I assume this is something we would run by the City Council.”
The city’s contract with the police union expired June 30. Union leaders say a proposed increase in monthly health insurance premiums is the biggest sticking point. Those higher costs, coupled with no cost-of-living wage increases for most city employees, would mean cuts in take-home pay.
Police have started growing beards in defiance of city policy to protest the city’s contract offers and grilled hot dogs in front the Auburn City Building on Aug. 4 to call attention to their cause.
That evening ended with Mayor Normand Guay being charged with drunken driving. A Breathalyzer test showed the mayor’s blood alcohol content level was 0.01, about one-eighth of the legal level for intoxication.
Guay has not blamed his arrest on the labor negotiations, but city councilors last week said they needed answers from the police union.
“I’m not suggesting we do this because I think we’ve done anything wrong,” Syphers said. “I just think everything is getting out of hand. If they are at the point where they don’t know if we can be trusted, let’s call in an arbitrator to look at it. We’ll agree to what the arbitrator says, if they will.”
Mediation
Marc Ayotte, executive director of the Maine Labor Relations Board, said he has not heard from anyone involved in the Auburn union matters.
“Generally speaking, we are called in when parties reach a point where they don’t feel they can make any progress by talking by themselves,” Ayotte said. “We just try to assist the parties in narrowing their differences.”
Ayotte said his department’s involvement would begin with mediation at the request of either side. Mediation is non-binding, meaning neither side is required to accept the mediator’s suggestions.
Typical labor mediation takes about three days, he said. It costs $100 for four hours with the mediator. That cost is split between the parties.
“Generally speaking, mediation is very effective,” he said. “Our goal is to make things as beneficial for a settlement as we can.”
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