A years-long labor case involving a would-be Parks Department employee shows no sign of being resolved soon, despite a state ruling in the worker’s favor last month.
On Dec. 9, the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board ruled that the town of Dedham violated the law by failing to abide by and implement a 2005 decision by the Parks and Recreation Commission, which narrowly voted then to uphold a union grievance filed on behalf of Michael Maher. A union representative argued at the time that Maher – who worked for Dedham’s Parks Department as a special motor equipment operator/laborer for 11 months in 1999 and 2000 before being let go – had “recall rights” and should have been hired for a vacant special motor equipment operator position in the summer of 2005.
The state board ordered the town to immediately heed the Parks and Recreation Commission’s decision by appointing Maher as a special motor equipment operator, and make him “whole for any economic losses that he has suffered” from the town’s failure to hire him in 2005, plus interest.
But Maher said he still has not begun work in the Parks Department, where he would help maintain Dedham’s parks and fields.
“I was happy with the ruling. I was ecstatic about the ruling, to be going back to work, and I’m just disappointed with the town, how this is being handled, and how long it is taking,” said Maher, 39, who somewhat reluctantly spoke on the record this week. “It is cut and dried, and I should be back to work.”
“I don’t know why they keep fighting it,” Maher added.
A spokesman with the Division of Labor Relations confirmed that the town of Dedham filed a “notice of appeal” on Jan. 11, on the employment relations board’s decision. An appeals court would take up the case next.
Parks and Recreation Director Anthony “JuJu” Mucciaccio Jr. said he could not comment on the labor issue, referring a call to Town Administrator William Keegan.
“We disagree with the scope, with the response that we got from the labor relations commission,” Keegan said, explaining why the town appealed. “There are a number of issues that didn’t get addressed in the decision, and they had a very limited scope in terms of their decision.”
Maher began work for Dedham’s Parks Department back in October 1999. But at about that time, the union filed a grievance on behalf of another worker, Joseph DeVirgilio, protesting the town’s failure to appoint him to Maher’s position. After a May 2000 hearing, an arbitrator directed the town to vacate the position and appoint DeVirgilio instead – costing Maher his job.
The current case began with Mucciaccio’s hiring in 2005 of Ron Garlick as a special motor equipment operator over six other candidates who applied, including Maher. On Sept. 8, 2005 the union filed a grievance, this time on Maher’s behalf, protesting Mucciaccio’s failure to select him for the vacancy.
On Sept. 19, the Parks and Recreation Commission voted 3-2 to uphold the union’s grievance, and on Sept. 26 voted again to affirm it. Commissioner James Maher, the uncle of Michael Maher, voted in favor of the grievance both times. At both meetings, James Maher read aloud from disclosure forms saying, in essence, that upholding the grievance could result in the rehiring of his nephew, who had been laid off before James Maher was elected to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
James Maher could not be reached for comment this week.
The commission’s votes went against the advice of two town attorneys, and Keegan’s wishes. In an earlier letter to Mucciaccio, town labor counsel John Woodard wrote that “at most Mr. Maher reasonably might have maintained that he retained seniority rights for a period equal to the length of his employment, which would have been approximately 11 months following his termination. Claiming that he has retained seniority rights beyond that period of time, particularly for the period of time since his termination, which was over five years ago, clearly is overreaching and contrary to established practice or provisions under collective bargaining agreements with which I am familiar.”
On Oct. 5, 2005, Keegan wrote to the Parks and Recreation Commission’s then-chairperson, Mary Sugrue, that he would “not approve the hire of Mr. Maher when the action is sent to my office,” as Dedham’s personnel administrator. He cited the town attorneys’ opinion that the commission’s action “is contrary to town policies and to accepted human resource practice.”
“I regret that this action is necessary, but it is my responsibility to preserve the management rights in our collective bargaining agreement for future labor/management relations,” Keegan wrote.
The Parks Department currently has three equipment operators: DeVirgilio, Wayne Marchese, and Garlick. The top salary for their position is $51, 878 this year, according to a Town Meeting budget document.
Michael Maher said that in recent years he has been doing construction work as a union laborer in Boston. He is currently laid off and collecting unemployment, he said.
“My life’s pretty much on hold,” Maher said, but he is intent on getting the Dedham job. “I’ll stick around and wait it out.”
Maher, who grew up in Oakdale and lives in Attleboro, said it is unclear how much his monetary award is for.
“I’m sure that will be another dogfight,” he said.
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
