Moberly's firefighters' union is demanding the city back off on a policy limiting political speech by employees on their own time and rescind a letter sent to one department employee after he spoke at a committee meeting.
The dispute comes as the city and Local 2671 of the International Association of Fire Fighters are engaged in contract talks.
The city issued a written reprimand Feb. 25 to Inspector Seth Truesdell, who is also the Local 2671 IAFF treasurer, after he opposed the plans to install a new bay door on Fire Station 1. At the Feb. 21 Historic Preservation Committee meeting, Truesdell said he was concerned the door doesn't fit into the historic character of the building and is lower quality than the door it is replacing, according to the letter sent by IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger.
The reprimand asserts that the employee's statements showed "disloyalty" toward the city administration, the letter reads.
"You should know that I and the IAFF stand firmly behind Treasurer Truesdell, and the Moberly Fire Fighters, and will continue to do so," Schaitberger wrote. "The IAFF demands that the city immediately cease and desist from its unlawful conduct."
The IAFF letter also mentions a memo sent to all fire department employees March 8 which addresses local campaigning. Truesdell had been campaigning on social media and in public for several city council candidates.
Although the memo does not mention Truesdell specifically, it warns employees that they cannot publicly speak for or against any person running for election, according to the letter. The memo was sent out to fire department employees around the same time campaign signs for the city council race started to appear, IAFF Second District Field Service Representative Kurt Becker said.
Schaitberger claimed in the letter that the city had violated Constitutional rights by retaliating against protected speech.
Moberly City Manager Brian Crane and Fire Chief George Albert said they could say little about the letter.
"We cannot discuss a legal matter and personnel matter with you at this time," Crane wrote. "These are issues our attorneys will review and respond to accordingly."
The city has turned over the letter to legal counsel and is awaiting a response.
"I can say, yeah, we received the letter," Albert said. "It's kind of a personnel issue, and I know that we have given it to our attorney to look at. That's probably about as far as I could say on the letter."
Becker said the city's responses to the issues are unacceptable.
"We don't sacrifice that First Amendment right (of freedom of speech) when we accept a position as a public employee or a first responder," Becker said.
In the current general municipal election cycle, Moberly is the only known instance of retaliation against an employee for political speech, Becker said.
"Over the last 10 years, there have been less than a handful of incidents where we have seen employers... retaliate against employees for being involved with the local elections," Becker said. "It is unusual and, overwhelmingly, it does not bode well for the employer, which is why it baffles us to still see that kind of stuff happen."
While the IAFF letter mentioned possible legal action if the matters are not resolved, Becker said it would be better, for all parties involved, to avoid further legal action.
"Our hope is that this never goes to court... and that (the city) is sensible and resolve this matter in a business-like a gentlemanly fashion," Becker said.
The dispute is important to the labor negotiations because the union is seeking a provision that they cannot be fired except for just cause. Currently, without a contract, firefighters are at-will employees, meaning they can be fired for no reason.
The negotiations are going slowly. The city and union last met in early February. The union was expecting a response to its contract proposal on March 8, but never received one, Becker said.
The debate over just cause versus at-will employment is ongoing, Albert said. Although the negotiation's pace is not ideal, it is part of them process when negotiating a new contract, he said.
Court ruling
A recent court ruling in St. Louis County could also possibly have an impact on the city-union negotiations.
Circuit Court Judge Joseph Walsh recently ruled against a state law passed last year that would limit the collective bargaining power of public employees. The law was challenged by seven public-sector labor unions from across the state, though most were from the St. Louis area.
"The right of the Plaintiffs and their members to "bargain collectively"... is significantly burdened by the provisions of HB 1413 that restrict the topics of negotiations and alter the manner in which bargaining is conducted," Walsh wrote in the ruling.
The Moberly City Council passed an ordinance in November that put the city in line with the law. Although the IAFF was not one of the plaintiffs involved in the case, several IAFF representatives have spoken out against the law, including Local IAFF 2671 Union President Ross Dutton. Dutton claimed the ordinance would tie the hands of the union in the middle of negotiations.
"It enshrines bad faith bargaining into the law by allowing a public body... to pick-and-choose which provisions of that agreement will be adopted," Walsh wrote.
One of the provisions of the law was that public-sector employees could not participate in non-disruptive picketing, meaning public employees could not picket on their personal time. The law was deemed unconstitutional by Walsh. If the law was found unconstitutional, the city would have to go back and change the ordinance, said Moberly Mayor Jerry Jeffrey during the aforementioned November city council meeting.
The case could still be appealed. Although the case's exact impact on city-union negotiations are not completely known yet, the ruling strengthens the union's position at the bargaining table, Becker said.
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