JimmyPete Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 https://www.thecourierexpress.com/news/reynoldsville-borough-found-to-have-committed-unfair-labor-practice-by-plrb/article_72e4216f-424f-5f62-8b89-45ee4c14c819.html REYNOLDSVILLE — The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has filed a proposed decision and order regarding Teamsters Local Union No. 110 v. Reynoldsville Borough, a labor suit filed by Union Representative Rick Keller on behalf of former Sergeant Tammy Murray against the borough in June 2020. In the proposed decision dated Aug. 13, 2021, it was found the borough had committed an unfair labor practice and calls for the reinstatement of Murray to her full-time position in the police department. Keller is the union representative with Teamsters Local #110, representing the Reynoldsville Borough Police Department. He filed the unfair labor practice suit against the borough on behalf of Murray because of her position being cut from full-time to part-time. Her position was later eliminated completely with the 2021 budget when no money was allocated for part-time officers. The 15-page document is available in its entirety on the PLRB website, detailing the hearing, the conclusion, and the proposed decisions and order. The document is authored by Hearing Examiner Stephen Helmerich with the PLRB. According to the PLRB filing, prior to 2020, Reynoldsville Mayor Louie “Peach” Caltagarone did not have much involvement with the police department “due to his conflicts with the borough council.” He also did not participate in the collective bargaining negotiations between the union and the borough that took place in July 2019. The bargaining took place between former Chief Troy Bell, Murray and Keller and the borough was represented by former council members Sue Ellen Wells and T.J. Sliwinski. The Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached and approved by the borough council. The CBA has the effective date of Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2024. Caltagarone was upset that he was not part of the negotiations, said he was busy, and did not sign the agreement, according to the document. According to the document, the timeline of events began in January 2020 when the current Reynoldsville Borough Council re-opened the proposed budget due to issues with the per capita tax being advertised improperly. During a Jan. 8, 2020 meeting, Helmerich noted the reason for re-opening the budget was “expressly because the ‘per capita and assessment taxes were not advertised correctly, so they were void.’ No mention is made of any budget shortfall motivating Council action. No mention is made of the Police Department at all. No mention of the ‘CBA being invalid’ is made.” Helmerich continued that during the Jan. 13, 2020 meeting, the council discussed the need for additional part-time assistance, not less. There was also no mention at that time of reducing any of the full-time officers to part-time and no mentioned concern with the union’s CBA. Also noted in the document, the council discussed possible regionalization during the Jan. 14, 2020 meeting. Former councilman, Bill Cebulskie Jr. said “he would like to review the possibility of Regionalization of the Police forces. With a half hour to one hour response time from PSP, he feels it is necessary to look into this possibility,” according to Helmerich. On Jan. 14, 2020, Caltagarone issued three directives to the police department, with the third regarding police vehicles, and being on-call. Murray and Bell discussed this, and Murray had concerns about safety, specifically with increasing response time to officer assistance calls, according to the document. Murray said on-call is not part of the CBA and is something that would have to be discussed through the union. When she brought this up, it upset Caltagarone, Helmerich wrote. According to the document, the following conversation ensued; “Murray asked the Mayor, ‘Could you word the Directives to be more specific about what [the Borough] wanted from them?’ The Mayor then stood right next to Murray’s desk and yelled at her, ‘I am not changing it to meet your needs.’ Murray was sitting at her desk and the Mayor stood over top of her. Murray responded, ‘I am not asking you to change anything. I am just asking you to be more specific about what you meant by it.’ The Mayor responded, ‘The Union should have checked with me before they put anything in [the CBA] because I run this department. Not you and not the Union.’ The Mayor responded, ‘Every time I try and do something, every time I try and do something with the Police Department, make a change, a directive for example, you are just going to run to the Union?’ The Mayor also told Murray, ‘If you are not going to sign the Directive, punch out.’ Murray responded, ‘Is that really what you want me to do because you are going to pay me to stay at home and I haven’t done anything wrong.’ The Mayor responded, ‘Why? Because you are going to call the Union? So, you are going to nitpick everything I do and when you don’t get your way, you are going to involve the Union.’” Later, during a special meeting on Jan. 29, 2020 the council approved a motion to modify the police budget because the contract was invalid, and they wanted to renegotiate the police contract. When Caltagarone told Bell this, he said it was because the CBA was not “a legal agreement” and the borough wanted to move to one full-time and one-part time officer, according to the filing. “Bell asked, ‘If we do not renegotiate what is going to happen?’ and the Mayor responded, ‘The Police Department would be disbanded if the contract could not be agreed upon and the State Police would assume coverage,’” Helmerich wrote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REYNOLDSVILLE — The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has filed a proposed decision and order regarding Teamsters Local Union No. 110 v. Reynoldsville Borough, a labor suit filed by Union Representative Rick Keller on behalf of former Sergeant Tammy Murray against the borough in June 2020. In the proposed decision dated Aug. 13, 2021, it was found the borough had committed an unfair labor practice and calls for the reinstatement of Murray to her full-time position in the police department. Keller is the union representative with Teamsters Local #110, representing the Reynoldsville Borough Police Department. He filed the unfair labor practice suit against the borough on behalf of Murray because of her position being cut from full-time to part-time. Her position was later eliminated completely with the 2021 budget when no money was allocated for part-time officers. The 15-page document is available in its entirety on the PLRB website, detailing the hearing, the conclusion, and the proposed decisions and order. The document is authored by Hearing Examiner Stephen Helmerich with the PLRB. According to the PLRB filing, prior to 2020, Reynoldsville Mayor Louie “Peach” Caltagarone did not have much involvement with the police department “due to his conflicts with the borough council.” He also did not participate in the collective bargaining negotiations between the union and the borough that took place in July 2019. The bargaining took place between former Chief Troy Bell, Murray and Keller and the borough was represented by former council members Sue Ellen Wells and T.J. Sliwinski. The Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached and approved by the borough council. The CBA has the effective date of Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2024. Caltagarone was upset that he was not part of the negotiations, said he was busy, and did not sign the agreement, according to the document. According to the document, the timeline of events began in January 2020 when the current Reynoldsville Borough Council re-opened the proposed budget due to issues with the per capita tax being advertised improperly. During a Jan. 8, 2020 meeting, Helmerich noted the reason for re-opening the budget was “expressly because the ‘per capita and assessment taxes were not advertised correctly, so they were void.’ No mention is made of any budget shortfall motivating Council action. No mention is made of the Police Department at all. No mention of the ‘CBA being invalid’ is made.” Helmerich continued that during the Jan. 13, 2020 meeting, the council discussed the need for additional part-time assistance, not less. There was also no mention at that time of reducing any of the full-time officers to part-time and no mentioned concern with the union’s CBA. Also noted in the document, the council discussed possible regionalization during the Jan. 14, 2020 meeting. Former councilman, Bill Cebulskie Jr. said “he would like to review the possibility of Regionalization of the Police forces. With a half hour to one hour response time from PSP, he feels it is necessary to look into this possibility,” according to Helmerich. On Jan. 14, 2020, Caltagarone issued three directives to the police department, with the third regarding police vehicles, and being on-call. Murray and Bell discussed this, and Murray had concerns about safety, specifically with increasing response time to officer assistance calls, according to the document. Murray said on-call is not part of the CBA and is something that would have to be discussed through the union. When she brought this up, it upset Caltagarone, Helmerich wrote. According to the document, the following conversation ensued; “Murray asked the Mayor, ‘Could you word the Directives to be more specific about what [the Borough] wanted from them?’ The Mayor then stood right next to Murray’s desk and yelled at her, ‘I am not changing it to meet your needs.’ Murray was sitting at her desk and the Mayor stood over top of her. Murray responded, ‘I am not asking you to change anything. I am just asking you to be more specific about what you meant by it.’ The Mayor responded, ‘The Union should have checked with me before they put anything in [the CBA] because I run this department. Not you and not the Union.’ The Mayor responded, ‘Every time I try and do something, every time I try and do something with the Police Department, make a change, a directive for example, you are just going to run to the Union?’ The Mayor also told Murray, ‘If you are not going to sign the Directive, punch out.’ Murray responded, ‘Is that really what you want me to do because you are going to pay me to stay at home and I haven’t done anything wrong.’ The Mayor responded, ‘Why? Because you are going to call the Union? So, you are going to nitpick everything I do and when you don’t get your way, you are going to involve the Union.’” Later, during a special meeting on Jan. 29, 2020 the council approved a motion to modify the police budget because the contract was invalid, and they wanted to renegotiate the police contract. When Caltagarone told Bell this, he said it was because the CBA was not “a legal agreement” and the borough wanted to move to one full-time and one-part time officer, according to the filing. “Bell asked, ‘If we do not renegotiate what is going to happen?’ and the Mayor responded, ‘The Police Department would be disbanded if the contract could not be agreed upon and the State Police would assume coverage,’” Helmerich wrote.
Cacao Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 Reynoldsville Rocks!!!! Tickling belly's since 1850. Mahatma Kane Jeeves and fedup 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaman Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 Wonder how much the cost of the legal process and civil settlement will be. Confidential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buschpounder Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 The mayor sounds like a real Peach. tatty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 She was doing an amazing job and had a wonderful reputation. NoRights, Paradox and allboys 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buschpounder Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Yes she was. Might have been doing too good of a job and some of her bosses started feeling some heat. NoRights 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator11 Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Is there a police department she hasn't sued. jeeper401, Borninabarn, NoRights and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allboys Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 2 hours ago, Petee said: She was doing an amazing job and had a wonderful reputation. That is certainly one opinion. Personal experience with her at another department contradicts the opinion on her job performance. My insurance company would agree with me. Untruthful, non communicative, unreachable....so many adjectives. Borninabarn, Lyndsey33, Gator11 and 2 others 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 13 hours ago, Petee said: She was doing an amazing job and had a wonderful reputation. Oh heavens, I never heard a bad word about her doing her job, and in fact what I did hear was really impressive. I know when I went through there, she was pretty much evident. I drove very carefully! :-) Paradox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Just now, Petee said: Oh heavens, I never heard a bad word about her doing her job, and in fact what I did hear was really impressive. I know when I went through there, she was pretty much evident. I drove very carefully! :-) OK then, obviously there's a lot more to the story. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 How can the court give order to reinstate her job when there's no police force left? It's no wonder Troy left, sounds like a wonder place to work. Sarcasm!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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