Union workers and city at odds over contract negotiations in Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT — Tensions between municipal utility workers and the City of Mt. Pleasant continued to rise Tuesday, Feb. 25 over contract negotiations as workers and union supporters rallied outside City Hall before the scheduled Utilities Board meeting.

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The crowd gathered at 3:30 p.m. ahead of the 4:15 p.m. meeting to make their support of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) known and express their displeasure with negotiation efforts on the part of the City seen as “gutting” contracts.

The Des Moines Henry County Labor Alliance organized the rally and voiced its support following the demonstration.

“Great turn out this afternoon in Mt. Pleasant to send a strong message!” the group stated on Facebook. “Stop the attack on workers! This is all in response to the Utility Board wanting to gut the workers’ contract.”

Inside the meeting, Union President Craig Schwarting addressed the Utilities Board, raising concerns about workforce retention and morale.

“In my opinion expecting to remove all permissible contract items and stripping that contract to just base wages, you're putting the utilities' future in jeopardy,” he said.

He told the board his concerns with the current proposal potentially making it more difficult to attain and retain employees in all departments. Schwarting further explained poor contracts could result in lowering employee morale.

“There’s already difficulty filling positions with qualified candidates at the utilities,” he said. “This will only make matters worse. I just want to address the board and say, just because you can do this doesn't mean you should.”

Union supporters argue that the city’s proposals go beyond typical contract negotiations. In communications from President of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO Charlie Wishman, he stated that the city's stance is “unprecedented,” and alleged that it seeks to “strip away all rights that are permissible for their employees.”

According to Wishman, the only topic the city would negotiate with the employees as of mid-February was based on wages. He also stated that the proposed contracts would eliminate employee say in scheduling, on-call status and other aspects of currently in contracts.

“Things these workers have fought and bargained for over the years, for themselves, their families, and their communities, have been proposed to be removed from the municipal utility workers’ contract,” Wishman stated.

Shane Nelson, Business Manager of IBEW Local 55, voiced additional concerns.

“The city’s pretense that employee rights are covered by the city’s employee handbook conveniently ignores that taking these rights out of the contract allows the city to later unilaterally change or strip them away altogether without violating the law. Mt. Pleasant can do better,” he explained.

Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities General Manager Nate Lucas gave only a short statement on behalf of the entity when asked for more information on the topic.

“Mount Pleasant Municipal Utilities continues to negotiate with the union in good faith and [we] look forward to arriving at a mutually acceptable agreement,” he stated.

While Wishman stated that these negotiations affect employee morale and concentration, he assured that they would not impact their continued professionalism.

The Feb. 25 Utilities Board meeting concluded with a closed session to discuss legal matters and proprietary information, then adjourned. Contract negotiations between the city and utility workers are expected to continue.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com