Union grievance over lifeguard lay off going to mediation

Charles Christiansen

After being laid off from his position as head lifeguard at the Grand Marais Municipal Pool when the pool closed on January 31, 2014, Charles Christiansen invoked his union right to continue employment with the city of Grand Marais in another position. At press time, Christiansen was still not working and a mediation session had been scheduled to determine his status with the city.

Christiansen is a 20-year employee with the city of Grand Marais and he believed that he would be allowed to “bump” an employee with less time in the Grand Marais Park Department when the Grand Marais pool closed. According to the city union contract, layoffs occur in the same job class in inverse order of seniority.

In the Grand Marais Park Department, the employees who could be “bumped” were Samantha Wallner, park office manager and Travis Wickwire, parks facilities manager. Wickwire has since resigned from the parks facilities manager position and that job was advertised this week.

AFSCME Council 5 filed a grievance on Christiansen’s behalf after negotiations with the city did not result in a solution.

On April 9, Grand Marais City Administrator Mike Roth told the Cook County News- Herald that both parties—the city and the city employees’ union AFSCME Council 5—mutually agreed to have a neutral third party mediate. A representative from the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation will visit Grand Marais on Thursday, May 8 to help the city and union reach some sort of agreement. Roth said the service is provided to the city at no charge.

Christiansen was unavailable for comment.

City employee contracts settled

As the city negotiated Christiansen’s future employment, it was also in the midst of its biannual negotiations with city employees. In January 2014, it looked as if those negotiations may become contentious when city employees submitted a list of union members’ signatures on a petition, saying that those on the list would not cross a picket line in the event of a strike.

At press time, Roth said the union contract was on the Wednesday, April 9 city council agenda. Roth said the city council and the union representatives had agreed to “the particulars,” however he said he couldn’t be 100 percent sure an agreement had been reached until the documents were signed.