Union says city tactics ‘unprecedented’

By George P. Hassett

Mayor Joe Curtatone is facing allegations of union busting after a state labor investigator issued a complaint against the city last month.

The allegations include failing to notify the Somerville Municipal Employees Association about proposed cuts,  assigning new tasks without bargaining, failing to give them time to make their own reductions  and giving work to non-union employees. The association includes most city employees aside from police, fire and teachers.

Alan McDonald, an attorney for the employees association said the efforts of city officials add up to “disrespecting and marginalizing the union.”

“It’s really quite remarkable,” McDonald said. “There are 15 failures to obey the law. The scope and breadth of the city’s violations are virtually unprecedented.”

The state’s Division of Labor Relations found the employee association’s allegations to have probable cause and issued the complaint, McDonald said.

The charges are a swipe at Curtatone who had previously won support from organized labor, pushed union-friendly legislation and was even named Elected Official of the Year in 2007 by the Greater Boston Labor Council.

Curtatone said he reorganized city departments and laid off employees in response to the $8.1 million budget gap in June.

“I have a responsibility to everyone in the city, union or not,” he said. “In times of fiscal austerity and constraints we still need to deliver the best services for the least amount of money.”

The city also faces charges of gender discrimination, filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, stemming from the layoffs of three recreation department employees – all women over 50 years old.

Curtatone denied the gender discrimination allegations. “People need to look at the record,” he said. “As far as gender, we have the most women in leadership positions probably in the history of the city.”

A hearing on the union’s allegations is likely to take place next summer, McDonald said.