CSEA and youth dept. at odds over inclusivity

Despite claims the CSEA excluded Youth Department employees from joining it, the union said it would welcome new members.

Emails dating back to 2017 document a back-and-forth about adding Youth Department employees to the CSEA.

City and local union officials wrote a letter March 18 to CSEA-eligible city employees to dispel rumors the association is not inclusive.

The letter, written by Ron VanBenschoten, Hudson CSEA president and public works foreman; Christian Ludwig, Hudson CSEA vice president and public works wastewater operator; and Matt Parker, union secretary and treasurer, as well as the city’s assistant treasurer, was sent two days after Youth Department employees went to City Hall to request Mayor Kamal Johnson’s support to unionize with the Communications Workers of America.

Lawyers for the city and CWA are working together to figure out details of an arrangement, Johnson said March 26. Johnson believes a meeting between city and CWA representatives will take place April 14, he said Monday.

Youth Department workers, none of whom are current members of CSEA, said at their March 16 city hall protest they want to join CWA after feeling unwelcome by CSEA.

The CWA and CSEA both represent various industries, including public service jobs.

There are 31 city employees eligible for CSEA and all are members, Parker said last month.

The Youth Department has three position titles listed in the CSEA contract: recreational supervisor, laborer and working foreman.

But none of those positions exist in the Youth Department, Department Director Nick Zachos said last month.

The Youth Department is the only city department with unfilled positions in the contract, Parker said March 25. Code enforcement workers, part-time and seasonal city employees, management and appointed and elected officials are not included in the CSEA contract.

Parker was the most recent employee added to the CSEA contract, in 2015, Parker said March 22.

Parker had several conversations with Zachos about adding titles to the union, but nothing came of it, Parker said. Zachos has not approached CSEA about adding employee titles, Parker said March 22. “There has been zero outreach with the exception of the director asking how to add titles,” Parker said.

But emails show Zachos attempting to get Youth Department employees recognized by CSEA.

Zachos requested six employee titles be added to the union contract in an undated letter sent to the bargaining unit with Hudson Youth Center letterhead. The letter was written in October 2019, according to Karlee Burchfield, Youth Department secretary.

“It is my belief that all employees of the city of Hudson should have the right to union membership,” Zachos wrote. Zachos requested Recreation Program Coordinator, Recreation Attendant, Cleaner, Maintenance Worker, Lifeguard and Concession Attendant be added.

But Zachos did not follow the proper channels to request titles be added to the union, Ludwig said in March.

Parker explained the process to Zachos in an email dated Nov. 17, 2017. Parker instructed Zachos to bring position titles, and job duties if the positions don’t exist in the city, to the civil service. Once the titles are approved by the civil service, the CSEA bargaining unit would vote on the new positions. The bargaining unit includes the union president, vice president, secretary/treasurer and three others chosen by the president.

A letter addressed to Zachos from VanBenschoten dated May 24, 2019, said an employee, who department program coordinator Vanessa Baehr identifies as herself, submitted an application to join CSEA. Baehr’s title is not in the CSEA contract and is not admissable to the union because of its supervisory nature, according to Vanbenschoten’s letter. In the March 24, 2019 letter, VanBenschoten requested Zachos follow the proper procedure “that has already been outlined” in order to have positions added to the contract. Supervisors are not included in the union, Ludwig said March 23.

But Baehr’s position is not supervisory because she oversees program instructors, who are not youth center staff, Baehr said in March.

As long as employees are full-time and not managers, Parker does not see why the union would not consider them, he said last month.

“Assuming that it doesn’t fall under management and that it’s full-time then there’s no reason that we wouldn’t consider it,” he said.

But Youth Department workers called for the unionization of both part-time and full-time employees through CWA at their protest March 16.

Zachos criticized CSEA’s process, saying employee titles going through management seems antithetical to how unions work. Department heads seeking out information for their employees is a standard practice, Ludwidg said. The process of going through department heads was part of the training the bargaining unit received from CSEA representatives, Parker said March 23.

Zachos has not been involved with the department’s call for unionization through CWA because he is a manager, he said.

The Hudson CSEA has not been in contact with the CWA, Parker said March 22. Parker does not know whether incorporating the CWA into the city is necessary, which would make three city unions, with the police union and CSEA.

“I just don’t know that it benefits the city to involve a third union in a city of our size,” he said. “If it’s where the city wants to go, then it’s up to them, but we’re certainly not trying to stop another union. That’s not our objective.”