By SARIT LASCHINSKY

Special to The Press

During their March 3 meeting, South Whitehall Township supervisors voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with Teamsters Local 773, representing 29 township public works employees.

The labor agreement is for a 4-year term from 2021-24 and comes after public works employees ended a monthlong strike and ratified the agreement March 1.

Township Manager Renee Bickel said in the agreement, wage increases will be 2 percent this year and in 2022; 2.5 percent in 2023; and 3 percent in 2024.

Employee’s standby pay will be increased to $35 per day, and there will be modifications for some work hours with regard to split shifts and storms.

Bickel also said employees’ health care plan design, dental and vision plans will remain the same, in addition to premium contributions, which will stay at 7.5 percent over the contract term.

During the board discussion on the topic, Commissioner Diane Kelly said she was thankful that the union workers were back to work but added she was disappointed with the process, saying commissioners did not provide vision or direction to the negotiating team, and said the board should discuss these matters in the future before any contract or budgets are dealt with.

“We are the ones who are supposed to be setting the direction, and the staff follows,” Kelly said.

Commissioner Mike Wolk agreed about improving the process, and noted his comments should not take away from the hard work put into the agreement.

Wolk said there were procedural points which were suboptimal and if quicker action had been taken, the strike may have been avoided.

He said the board is accountable for the union contract, and has the ultimate authority for compensation and staff benefits, but commissioners were not allowed to provide proactive guidance on the township’s goals and were not allowed to attend union negotiations.

He said it would have been more useful to hear information firsthand.

Additionally, Wolk said commissioners had asked for the opportunity to provide input on things such as public work wage increases, staffing levels, responsibilities and work schedules, and employee satisfaction levels, but were rejected.

He noted the board had never held a meeting where commissioners could give general guidance to the negotiating team.

Commissioner Joe Setton said he was proud of the legal team, management and staff for their negotiations, and as a commissioner he did not deem it necessary to be involved in all negotiation details.

“The end result is what matters, and it looks like it’s been very good,” Setton said.

He disagreed with Wolk’s comments regarding meetings, stating he had been called into executive sessions while negotiations were ongoing “half a dozen times, maybe more” where members were asked their opinions on the negotiations.

Regarding the township’s negotiating team, Commissioner Matt Mobilio said the township had used experienced negotiators who specialized in labor agreements to work on the union agreement.

He added none of the board members were qualified to take part, and had no business being involved in day-to-day negotiations.

“If the desire of the public is to have a board of five who have literally no experience to negotiate a multimillion-dollar labor agreement, be involved in the minutiae of an agreement with a union ... if you expect us to have anything to offer then you are, I am sorry, sorely mistaken,” he said.

Board President Christina “Tori” Morgan differed from Wolk and Kelly’s comments on the board’s vision and the negotiation process, and said she believed board members were well-informed and kept up-to-date on the matter.

During the public comment period, resident Jacob Roth said as the governing body, the board of commissioners should set the guidelines.

He also referred to statements given by employees stating the township had notified workers that South Whitehall would not contribute to health insurance costs from Feb. 28 onward while the strike was ongoing.

He asked who authorized the order, whether it was given by the board or taken independently by the negotiating team without commissioners’ guidance or parameters.

“So regardless of how that order was given, I cannot emphasize enough that the board, although not directly involved in negotiations, is ultimately accountable for the township negotiators because they appoint the township managers and the negotiating team,” Roth said.

Morgan said the board had been very clear on its vision and was involved in the process to the capacity allowed.

Mobilio and Attorney Amy Snyder said there was a statutory section in the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement which prohibited striking employees from being entitled to compensation, including health benefits.

In response to a question about whether the statute gave the township the choice to exercise withholding health care benefits or not from the public works employees,

Snyder said under the statute, the township would be obligated to withhold them.