Court asked to settle Millville, union dispute over volunteer work

MILLVILLE - City government is asking a New Jersey court to toss a recent arbitration decision that says a labor agreement bars it from having a volunteer do any work normally assigned to a union employee.

The issue pits the city against its largest employee union, Council 18 New Jersey Civil Service Association. The union won on the issue in an arbitration decision issued on April 21, although its request for eight hours of overtime for one particular event was rejected.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday (Sept. 9) in Cumberland County Superior Court in response to a complaint filed in July. The city is arguing the arbitration decision was wrong because it ignored recent legal precedent favoring the city’s perspective as well as not considering “the public welfare and interest.”

The case directly affects the Division of Inspections, part of the Department of Public Affairs, and the department’s director, City Commissioner Lynne Porreca Compari.

The complaint states that Porreca Compari, at her own expense, brought in an employee from her business a number of times in July and in September to do office work. The reason was that the inspections office had substantial backlogs of rental property applications and construction permit applications.

The complaint also states that office staff were “overwhelmed” with work, partly because one member was on suspension pending her firing, and that the city administration had said no to authorizing overtime.

The Council 18 arbitration decision focused in particular on an event on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2015.

On that day, Porreca Compari and her employee worked for two hours calling landlords about rental applications and doing paperwork. Some landlords called the office during regular hours, asking about the weekend contacts.

The city’s complaint notes that the arbitrator, identified as Sharon W. Osborn, ruled even though she had accepted that Millville has used volunteers in the past. Past examples of the practice include volunteers in the administrator’s office, in the personnel office, and for parks and recreation work, the complaint states.

“Instead, the Arbitrator issued an award that thwarted Commissioner Porreca Compari’s selfless attempt to serve the public,” the complaint states. “It is undisputed that Commissioner Porreca Compari utilized her own personal secretary, at no cost to the City, for two hours on a weekend to help alleviate some of the backlog of work, a backlog so significant that it was causing … an employee to burst into tears.”

In the arbitration process, Council 18's counter-arguments included concerns about protecting access to confidential information and that volunteers, while the city has used some, were not involved in Council 18 job areas and “at best” did work that could be considered part time or seasonal.

Osborn was appointed arbitrator by the New Jersey Employment relations Commission in November 2015. The arbitration hearing was held on Jan. 26 at City Hall.

The Avalon law firm Blaney & Karavan is representing the city in the Superior Court appeal.

Source: The Daily Journal