Counties, Cities & Townships
Our membership in this division is again composed of a wide range of professional, semi-professional, labor and trade classifications in both supervisory and line staff units, working in all aspects of municipal government throughout Michigan.
Our members provide virtually every major service to the residents of the municipalities they serve, and range in classification from maintenance workers to city attorneys.
Although politics determine everything, it seems even more so in dealings with municipal governments. Unions representing municipal employees must learn how to move through the established political system in order to survive. Every phase of a public employee’s working life in a municipal system is controlled or influenced by politics. Wages benefits, working conditions, and job security are all affected by politics. Some of our municipal contracts negotiated by Local 214 are the most complex contracts in the country. They deal with a host of subjects, including but not limited to, wage and benefit studies, comparable worth issues, classification studies, civil service commission rules, and a host of ordinances that cities continuously attempt to use as roadblocks in negotiations.
Local 214’s experienced staff is prepared to negotiate all issues covering these multiple classifications, which consist of varying skill levels. Heavy equipment operators, heavy truck operators, overhead lineman, transportation services, and clerical/technical classifications may all fall under the roof of one contract. We are in a position to negotiate transfer language, promotional language, and most importantly, equitable layoff language. We have the experience to form coalitions with other labor unions having members with the same employer.
Privatization continues to be the major problem facing municipal workers today. Private companies are motivated by profit and not by any sense of compassion or responsibility to the public. We are in a position to block privatization through our political strength.