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lbuquerque bus and van drivers, who unsuccessfully petitioned Mayor Richard Berry for a new union election last month, have picked up support from an unlikely ally — former transit director Greg Payne.

He is speaking up after hearing the driver’s petition was rejected by City of Albuquerque Chief Administrative Officer Robert Perry.

“Let them vote,” Payne told Veritas New Mexico. “The Mayor and CAO are playing politics. If they weren’t they’d let these drivers have a vote.”

Perry has insisted the drivers must first de-certify their current union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 624, and then wait a year before holding an election decide whether to switch to the New Mexico Transportation Union (NMTU) or retain AFSCME as their union.

That process would leave the drivers without a bargaining unit in place before this spring’s collective bargaining negotiations — prompting allegations the mayor is engaged in public union-busting.

City drivers’ current three-year contract expires at the end of the fiscal year (June 30).

One NMTU supporter expressed outrage that Perry and city Transit Director Bruce Rizzieri attended AFSCME-sponsored lunches at transit facilities, Friday and Saturday.

Transit Supervisor Fred Garcia, who is represented by AFSCME’s management chapter, said he watched AFSCME try to recruit members at the lunches, and on other occasions over the past several months.

“They go in groups and meet drivers as they get off their buses at night, and two or three AFSCME officers tell them ‘we’re going to get you a raise’, but drivers aren’t signing their membership cards, because they haven’t got the drivers a raise for the last three years,” Garcia said.

Payne said he was surprised to hear that Perry was seen standing with Local 624 President Steve Griego at last weeks barbecues, because “the CAO is on the record saying the city doesn’t have a preference for one union or another.”

Perry, who has refused to speak with Veritas, told the Albuquerque Journal in March, “we don’t have a dog in this fight.”

Payne thinks the mayor’s office’s refusal to hold an immediate union election “tells you everything about their choice.”

“Politics makes for strange bedfellows,” Payne said. “AFSCME has been unhappy with the mayor, and certainly the bus drivers have been unhappy with AFSCME — so why you would have these two standing arm in arm serving up hamburgers is open to all kinds of conjecture and speculation. I don’t know now why they (the mayor’s office) would choose one union over the other. We had elections when I was director and a change in union representation, and we moved forward.  Why this administration would argue against a democratic process beats me. I have no idea why they are taking that stand.”

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

But the election issue remains open because NMTU Attorney Paul Livingston has filed a prohibited practices complaint with the city and is demanding the Mayor post election notices.

Last week, Attorney Shane Youtz, who represents AFSCME, filed a petition to have NMTU’s complaint dismissed as “procedurally inadequate,” claiming NMTU filed the election request under the wrong labor ordinance provisions.

But Payne, who was transit director from 2005 to 2009, wondered if AFSCME filed the dismissal on their own behalf or for the Berry Administration.  He also disputes AFSCME promises that it has a “big pay raise” deal in place, he said.

“The financial climate today isn’t really conducive to anything being done,” Payne said. “The difficulty is, you’ve cut police pay, fire pay, and had pay cuts across the board. I think you’ll find if transit drivers are treated differently this year there’s going to be an outcry from other city employees.”

Union lunches not unusual

In 2008, when drivers collected enough membership support cards in favor of AFSCME, Payne said he, and then-mayor Marty Chavez, scheduled a vote, and AFSCME easily unseated then incumbent NMTU.

Now, three years later, NMTU representatives again claim to have majority support among drivers.

During the 2008 election, Payne said he allowed both NMTU and AFSCME to serve drivers lunch on city property because “they’re good for morale.”

“But, both the mayor and I stayed away,” Payne said. “This is a much different situation. With Perry showing up for the barbecue’s the administration has definitely showed a bias. It’s clear they favor one union over the other.”

Local 624 President Steve Griego told Veritas, on the phone this week, the lunches at the Yale transit facility on Friday, and a second lunch at the city’s Daytona facility on Saturday, were simply a way to connect with members and “to find out what their priorities are going into negotiations.”  He denied asking drivers to sign membership cards.

NMTU Chairman Ernest Lucero,  a veteran driver, said AFSCME’s lunch was not well timed — especially considering the election challenge.

“I heard they asked our drivers to sign AFSCME union membership cards,” Lucero said. “They’re the bargaining representative, but I feel like they should have done it off city property. It creates a lot of confusion among the drivers, who want to know why they can’t have an election and select a new union.”

Lucero said drivers won’t let AFSCME’s last minute “food bribe” change their minds.

“They’ve had three years to prove they could help us, but they haven’t done anything, so now they have these barbecues to try and get on our good side,” Lucero said. “But we’ve lost money and good employees. No one wants to stay if they’re going to retire at $12.88 an hour. I’ve been there 10 years and I’m still making what probationary drivers are making.”

While AFSCME is promising drivers a big raise, Garcia said drivers know what is going on with the economy and the city’s budget.

“It’s sad that AFSCME lied to them,” Garcia said.  “They’ve done nothing but ignore these drivers.  AFSCME has created the need for an election.”

But, without a functioning labor board, NMTU’s election complaint may not be heard quickly before the 120-day election period closes.

The city’s three-member board is scheduled to meet next Tuesday, but Livingston says the board improperly picked its neutral chair George Bach and he may challenge their ability to review his complaint fairly.

Note: Veritas attempted to schedule an interview with Mr. Perry, and requested information from the city’s public information and transit department, but City of Albuquerque officials declined to respond by Tuesday evening.

Story and picture by Peter St. Cyr