photo by: City of Lawrence contributed photo

Teamsters organizer Dale Crane observes the counting of ballots following the completion of the Teamsters election on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. Conducting the count are City of Lawrence Parking Administrative Assistant Lisa Humerickhouse, City Clerk Sherri Riedemann, and Deputy City Clerk Aliza Bidinger.

Seeking better wages and working conditions, City of Lawrence utilities and public works employees have voted to unionize under the Teamsters.

Teamsters Local Union No. 696 filed a petition Oct. 1 with the city to conduct an election for employees in the city’s Municipal Services and Operations Department, and employees voted in the election on Wednesday and Thursday.

Workers in the employee group voted 70-15 to join the Teamsters, according to information from the Teamsters and the City of Lawrence. Dave Osborne, a utilities worker, said in a Teamsters news release that the employees were proud of what they had accomplished and looked forward to being represented by the Teamsters.

“As Teamsters, we will finally have a strong voice to address the issues that matter most to us,” Osborne said. “It’s our turn to improve wages and working conditions.”

The MSO department was created in 2018 following the merger of the city’s utilities and public works departments, and the employee group that voted to unionize comprises streets, storm water, traffic, water field, wastewater field and plant operations employees. The group consists of 106 employees, and out of the 85 votes cast, 70 were in favor of being represented by the Teamsters, according to information from the city.

“We look forward to working together and we will be guided by our Strategic Plan Commitment Statement (regarding) Engaged and Empowered Teams — People throughout the organization are trusted, supported and cared for as we build community,” City Manager Craig Owens said in a statement.

Osborne and Steve Demaranville, another MSO employee, both said in the release that workers were seeking better wages, fairer work rules and improved benefits. Demaranville said turnover has been too high for too long, and the union voice was needed to bring stability.

“Too many city workers were quitting because of the longstanding issues that needed to be addressed,” Demaranville said. “Now that we are Teamsters, we are on our way to winning the respect and working conditions we deserve.”

Demaranville noted the recent unionization of the city’s solid waste employees under the Teamsters and the contract that group was able to negotiate.

The MSO employees are the city’s fourth employee group represented by a union, joining police, fire and medical and solid waste workers. The city’s solid waste workers voted to unionize under the Teamsters in August 2020. As the Journal-World reported, the city approved close to $2 million in pay increases in July for the city’s three unionized employee groups, including about $650,000 for the newly unionized solid waste workers. The city ultimately approved $5 million total in raises for the city’s approximately 890 employees as part of its 2022 budget process.

The solid waste workers’ petition to unionize came after the Teamsters initiated changes to the city’s resolution governing employee unions and the unionization process. Those changes, which were approved by the City Commission in July 2020, included increasing the number of potential employee bargaining groups eligible to unionize from four to six and amending the voting threshold to unionize from 50% of all employees in a group to 50% of votes cast as long as more than half of the bargaining group votes, among other changes.