Ohio Turnpike snowplow in action.JPG

A snowplow on the Ohio Turnpike. Snowplow drivers in Akron are upset with a delay in a new labor contract that also involves police, fire and other service employees (the turnpike would not be affected). City Council has scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to try and resolve the delay.

(Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission)

AKRON, Ohio -- Snowplow drivers in Akron, upset over a delay in approving a new labor contract with the city, are warning that they might be inclined to call off work in the event of an upcoming snow event.

George Johnson, president of Akron's AFSCME union, said he is trying to keep his union members calm after Akron City Council decided to take time to review a new labor agreement with the city, organized over the past year.

"I am trying to keep my members calm. I don't advocate for anything that would cause harm to the city, but I am hearing that people are mad and I have gotten phone calls to the effect that some workers may not come to work," Johnson said.

Johnson said he is trying to dissuade discord among union members and called for an emergency meeting to reconsider the new labor contract on Thursday. Questions could further delay the agreement, though, and a work slowdown during upcoming snow events could have local drivers slogging it out in the snow.

City Council will meet at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in emergency session to discuss the contract, but discord there could hold up the labor contract further.

Here's what the unions want and what could happen in the coming days.

Unions collectively agreed on a new labor agreement, save the city money

Facing healthcare costs, former mayor Don Plusquellic's administration called the city's unions to the table last year in hopes of renegotiating contracts for pay and healthcare benefits.

That agreement was finalized earlier this month, one of the city's first major accomplishments under new Mayor Dan Horrigan.

The new deal, if approved by City Council, would give a 3-percent raise to all city employees this year, followed by 2.5 percent raises in 2017 and 2018. In exchange, the unions agreed to benefits changes that would save the city $5 million per year on health insurance in the next three years.

As a final step before the labor agreement goes into effect, Akron City Council must review and approve the new agreement.

Concerns arise about administrative, city council raises

Some members of the council's budget and finance committee, which reviews all spending and salary agreements, are worried about contract provisions that give raises to the city's non-union administrators, some of whom have relationships with representatives on council.

In the past, whenever the unions have negotiated a raise in their contract, non-bargaining employees including city administrators and city council members have been included in the deal, Johnson said.

Linda Omobien, who raised concerns at Monday's committee meeting, has suggested striking the administrative raises from the package. That may not be a fix, though, according to Police Union President Frank Williams.

Williams said that if council doesn't pass the agreement in whole, it invalidates the entire agreement, forcing the city and unions to draw up a new agreement.

"I am hoping that's not what council tries to do because this is a great deal for the city and the employees," Williams said.

Councilman Zack Milkovich, also on the budget and finance committee, said he is concerned about a provision that includes city council members in the raise package.

"This is a part time job with full-time benefits," Milkovich said. "I don't want to give myself a raise, I don't know if I'm supportive of giving City Council a raise right now."

Potential snags could sink the labor deal

Johnson said he is furious over the delay and believes the contract has become a political pawn in a struggle among City Council members.

"All four union presidents are highly upset. They are changing horses in the middle of the race," Johnson said. The most recent union contracts have all included non-bargaining employees, including city administrators and council members, Johnson said.

"If they were upset with that, they could have changed the rules a year ago," Johnson said.

But many council members are new this year and a significant minority are coming in already opposed to many of the former mayor's policies.

Further complicating the issue is a councilman who might break a tie, can't vote. Bob Hoch is compromised because of a Ohio Ethics Commission complaint Plusquellic filed last spring.

Political infighting

Hoch has said he thinks the complaint was retribution for Hoch's resistance to a construction plan Plusquellic opposed.

The conflict between the two men became highly public when Hoch was uninvited from Plusquellic's state of the city speech. The mayor's spokeswoman then told a resident that Plusquellic was afraid Hoch would shoot him in front of his mother.

With a pending ethics investigation, which stems from Hoch's vote on the same labor agreement four years ago (Hoch has two sons in the fire department), Hoch said the city's law director advised him not to vote on this year's labor contract.

Without Hoch's vote, a potential 6-6 tie could leave the labor agreement stranded, and the city's police, fire and service employees fuming. On the other hand, if council reaches a majority on the issue it could be resolved quickly.