PARIS — Town employees may vote as soon as later this month on whether to unionize.

“There’s obviously something wrong. … I believe the whole town was here,” said Teamsters Local 340 Secretary-Treasurer Lorne Smith about the Paris employees who met with union representatives recently.

Smith said there were roughly 30 town employees at the meeting, which took place about a month ago.

Paris has 65 employees, including 37 people on the Fire Department roster. Of those 65, there are 13 in the Police Department, which is already unionized. 

“That is pretty uncommon when you get a whole town,” he said, noting the largest group was from the Fire Department.

There are also members of the office staff and Highway Department looking to unionize.

Town Manager Amy Bernard also confirmed that there have been talks between the union and town employees.

“I wasn’t at the meeting,” she said. “I don’t have firsthand knowledge as to why, but my guess is they’re trying to get some protection from all the allegations that’s going on about pay cuts and reduction in benefits.” 

Smith agreed with Bernard’s sentiment.

“It’s all a job security issue. … They’re scared for their future,” he said, referring to recent budget discussions in which the selectboard and Budget Committee were looking to cut $500,000 from the current budget. “We’ve been talking to people in the town probably in the last six months. Kind of the catalyst to get this going is the subcontract issue with the Police Department.”

One of the ideas on the table is to get rid of the Police Department and go with coverage from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

This issue came to a head after the recent re-evaluation that left many residents saying they could no longer afford their property taxes because the tax rate jumped 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Currently, the tax rate is $18.30 per $1,000 of assessed value.

In September, resident and business owner Scott Buffington presented the town with a citizens’ petition to cap the tax rate to the most recent state average of $14.49, but the town attorney said the petition was invalid.

Selectman Mike Risica said he’s concerned that taxpayers, who pay the salaries and benefits for town employees, will be dictated by an international union.

“In efforts for the town to try to save money in the upcoming budget, numerous cuts have been proposed that could affect employee positions, hours and benefits, he wrote in an email. “A group of employees, many of whom do not reside in Paris, have tried to selfishly hijack the process, and are attempting to form a union to protect themselves.

“There is no concern for the residents of Paris who can’t afford to pay their taxes. Who is protecting them? They can’t form a union. By cutting the budget we are trying to reduce taxes and the burden on our taxpayers.”

Selectman Janet Jamison, who works for the U.S. Postal Service, said she’s a member of a union.

“When it comes down to it, we have no say in it,” she said about the selectboard weighing in on town employees joining the union. “We have to allow them to vote (to join the union) and we go from there. I think we’re going to be looking a year, a year-and-a-half out because that takes a long time.”

She said she understands where town employees are coming from, but she also sympathizes with her fellow residents and taxpayers.

“I understand people are scared and I don’t want people to lose their jobs, but we need to get our taxes in line because they’re way too high,” Jamison said. “We can’t keep up with the neighbors.”

Smith said he wanted to clear up a misconception about unions.

“People think unions are all about money,” he said, referring to Paris town employees. “If you look … prior to this, we hadn’t heard from the rest of the parties up there.” 

Currently the Police Department is the only department in town that is unionized. But the Highway Department could be next.

“My understanding of this is the Highway Department tried to unionize maybe between seven and 10 years ago, so they started the process so they’re ahead of the other departments,” Bernard said. “They’ve already met with the labor board.”

Smith said the union will move forward. He is not sure of the exact date town employees would vote to join the union, but believed it could be sometime later this month or in January.

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