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Poindexter: Better labor “dialogue” needed.
Mayor Toni Harp will get to hire Jackie James after all as her number-two social services chief — until April 15.
James will at that point not have a guaranteed position. In the meantime, she will not receive medical benefits or other union perks.
That’s the conclusion of the new Harp administration’s first brush with organized labor.
The dispute concerned an appointment Mayor Harp made: of Democratic Town Chairwoman Jackie James to serve as deputy community services administrator (CSA), the number-two City Hall position in charge of programs for the homeless, the hungry, the young, and the poor. James worked as a state social worker for 15 years. Harp elevated Ron Manning, who had the deputy CSA job, to the top position on an “acting” basis while Harp seeks a permanent person for the position; she’s wooing a former Connecticut-based early-childhood expert who has since moved to Georgia.
Harp said after her inauguration last Wednesday that she had appointed James to the deputy job. James’ name and title went up on the door of an office on City Hall’s second floor.
The office remained dark on Friday, James’ assigned first day. That’s because Cherlyn Poindexter, president of ASCME Local 3144, which represents city government management workers, objected to the appointment as a violation of the union’s contract. The deputy job is a civil-service position. It falls under Poindexter’s union.
Then Harp announced James would serve in the role in an “acting” capacity, starting Monday. Monday the office remained dark. Tuesday morning, too. As officials met with Poindexter.
Poindexter told the Independent in an interview Wednesday that the union contract forbids the Harp administration from simply hiring James for the position on an “acting” basis, either. The contract spells out that only existing union members, who have passed a civil-service exam, may fill an open job on an “acting” basis.
So she and Harp administration officials drew up an agreement under which James may hold the position temporarily, until April 15 at the latest, on a “subcontract,” without full employee benefits, Poindexter said. The agreement, signed and effective as of Tuesday, includes a stipulation that once Harp fills the permanent number-one spot in community services, Manning may return to the deputy job again, replacing James.
And if Manning decides to retire instead?
Then James (pictured) would have to apply for the job through the normal civil-service process.
“My duty is to protect Ron Manning,” Poindexter said Tuesday.
Also, she said of the deputy position, “the work is our work. Union work. She cannot just give away our jobs to outsiders.”
Scott Nabel of City Hall’s labor relations office, who handled the matter for the Harp administration, confirmed the agreement Tuesday. He said James will be paid at a rate of $77,644 a year while in the position. The agreement does not name James; it gives the administration the union’s OK to subcontract the position until a new CSA chief comes in, or until April 15. It also spells out that Ron Manning will continue paying union dues while in the acting CSA chief’s position and can return to the deputy position any time he chooses.
Nabel said he has kept administration officials apprised of his talks with Poindexter on the matter since they began last week.
City Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden Wednesday affirmed the new administration’s “commitment that we have harmonious relations with labor and that the city follows all rules and laws.”
Poindexter, whose union endorsed Harp’s mayoral campaign this past year, called the episode a “misconception,” not a willful violation of a union contract.
“I think there has to be a better dialogue between us,” Poindexter said. “A lot of people don’t know what the rules are. They [Harp officials] came from the state [government], which is a whole different way of doing things.”
Poindexter added that she had asked to serve on Harp’s transition team, before her inauguration. She didn’t end up on the list.
“There was nobody there from labor,” Poindexter observed. As a result, she said, “this is what happened. Nobody knows what the rules are.”
Ron Manning said last week that he had met with Poindexter and said he had no problem with the arrangement. He declined further comment Tuesday.
Asked about the controversy on Friday, Harp called Poindexter a “good leader” who strives to protect her members.