DAPHNE, Ala.—Union representatives from a group of the city’s Public Works employees said Mayor Fred Small intimidated them during an alleged flare-up in a Dec. 12 meeting; Small denies the claims but now union reps are considering legal action.

“We’re considering filing board charges,” business representative and lead organizer Grady Bryant said. “We don’t want it to come to that, but we’re considering it.”

Just more than 50 percent of Public Works employees recently joined the Mobile chapter of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades; they were prompted, a representative said, because they work without a department director, and needed some way to communicate their needs.

The last director left for work in Fairhope in 2007, according to Daphne’s Human Resources director, Sharon Cureton. An interim director filled the position until last November.

“(The employees) want the union because if they’ve got a problem, then the rep can go to City Council for them,” union representative Russell Steasser said.

“What they want is someone to stand up for their rights,” Bryant said.

Bryant, Mobile chapter union Vice President Rick Lambert and Small allegedly had a conversation, prior to the Dec. 12 meeting, about employees’ plans to unionize, according to the union reps.

“(Small) said he didn’t have a problem if they joined,” Bryant said. “He wouldn’t stand in our way.”

But when Lambert referenced the conversation in the Dec. 12 meeting—reported earlier in the Bulletin as a Dec. 5 meeting, based on union reps’ information—Small allegedly denied it took place.

Representatives also alleged that Small at last month’s meeting told them to “shut up” and ordered them to leave his office.

“(Small) said, ‘this meeting’s over; get out of my office. He called my guy ‘Mr. Union Man,’” Lambert said.

Lambert and union representative John Archer, also present at the meeting, attributed the same comments to Small, when a Daphne Bulletin reporter asked about the conversation.

But it’s not true, according to Cureton, also present at the meeting.

“The meeting turned into an argument,” she said.

“The mayor had asked why they had not gotten back to us,” she said, referring to the city’s July request for information on a union-benefits package.

“We had met with the union in July—the mayor, myself and the city attorney,” she said. “We wanted to know what they could offer the employees in terms of benefits.”

“Things got sort of out of hand,” she added. “No, (the mayor) did not tell any employee to ‘shut up.’ He told them, specifically, to leave because the meeting was going nowhere.”

Small denied union members’ allegations and said he cannot understand why they would make such claims.

“That’s incorrect,” he said. “I never told them to shut up.”

Small said he feels that union members have not handled their business in a professional manner.

“It’s all just been very irresponsibly handled from the union side,” he said. “They’ve brought nothing to the table to show (Human Resources) or anything they can do for our workers.”

“It’s very unfortunate that this particular union doesn’t operate in a dignified way,” he said. “They use more of intimidation modes.”

Small said he understands why the employees would unionize but he questioned their motives. 

Further, he said, union employees won’t receive comparable benefits already offered by the city. Employees receive Blue Cross and Blue Shield medical and dental benefits, including family coverage, long-term disability and life insurance.

Public Works employees—about 85 in total—are eligible for pension packages after 25 years of service and can retire after 25 years, regardless of age, according to a human-resources spokesperson.

The union’s Mobile chapter—created in 1902—serves more than 200 employees, including steel mill contractors and steam plant workers. It comprises 36,000 employees nationwide, including public-works employees in Florida.

A union spokesperson, asked by a Daphne Bulletin reporter, would not elaborate on what benefits it offers.

“My big question is that this painter’s union has expanded as a catch-all union to stay in business,” Small said. “The folks will do very little for them, if anything at all.

But benefits aren’t the focus with this union; it’s respect, Lambert said.

“It’s not all about money,” Archer said. “It’s more about getting things done.”

For their part, union members will continue to work; they won’t strike even if a deal with the city isn’t reached, Steasser said.

Small said he disbelieves the two groups will find a satisfactory conclusion in the near future.

“I don’t see it as becoming successful,” he said. “I don’t see anything that the union can do for these folks.”