Scranton's proposed 2013 budget does not contain the six parking meter enforcement/collection positions of former Scranton Parking Authority employees who for the past two months have been working out of City Hall.
The absence of those positions in the budget does not necessarily mean the jobs are being eliminated because the intent is to have these employees "absorbed" by the outside firm that now runs the city's parking garages, city officials said.
The city is negotiating to have its parking meter program run by Standard Parking, which recently merged with Central Parking System, the firm that was hired in September by a court-appointed receiver to operate the city's parking garages, Mayor Chris Doherty said.
Under the plan, the city would lease its city-owned, on-street meters to Standard to have one entity with acumen in operating parking facilities control both the garages and meters, to better coordinate pricing and maximize revenues of both, he said.
The idea is to have Standard essentially take the place of the Scranton Parking Authority, which used to operate the parking meter program until it was stripped earlier this year of most of its functions, funds and powers by a series of actions by city council.
The council forced an SPA default in June as a means to having SPA taken over by a receiver and reduce the amount the city would have to pay each year to cover SPA debt that the city has guaranteed, council members have said.
"The city is not going to be funding the parking authority any longer," council President Janet Evans said. "So, if Central Parking were to assume the management of the on-street parking program, the intention is to increase the revenue the city receives" from the meters.
With SPA rendered toothless, it furloughed employees in September, although the six parking meter employees remained in their jobs under a transfer to City Hall. The city, which owns the on-street parking meters, needed the workers to perform their meter-related functions and agreed to honor their contracts, and because those positions were already funded by parking meter revenue.
Now, however, under the new plan, these six workers would be shifted again, this time to Standard, city officials said. The budget states, "The City will be entering into a contract with Standard Parking to have them provide meter collections for the City of Scranton."
The budget does not go further into details, but city Business Administrator Ryan McGowan said, "The city is in negotiations with Standard Parking to take over the meter program. The employees would be absorbed (by Standard) by the first of the year."
However, until that occurs - and with their contracts again honored - the fate of those six meter employees remains unclear to them, said Craig Pawlik, secretary/treasurer of Teamsters Local 229 that represents these workers.
"We've been told nothing officially of that move. We have heard in the wind that those six would be absorbed by Central Parking," Mr. Pawlik said. "The SPA contract (with the employees), as far as we're concerned, is still in force. If the city dumps them off to Central Parking, our position would be same as when the city got them: 'You have to negotiate with us.'"
Efforts to reach representatives of Standard/Central Parking were unsuccessful.
Mr. Pawlik said he believes that Central Parking has hired union workers in some larger cities.
But the situation for the union is more complicated because it also is still fighting for the jobs of six other former SPA employees, parking garage maintenance workers, who also were furloughed by SPA but not picked up by Central.
The union has filed grievances against SPA over those six maintenance jobs alleging the furloughs violate the employees' contracts and seeking back wages/benefits and restoration of the jobs. Contract language states the pact is binding on "successors, administrators, executors, and assigns."
An arbitrator recently was appointed to hear that grievance but it could take nine months until a hearing is held, SPA solicitor Joseph O'Brien told the SPA board during its meeting Wednesday. However, even if the maintenance workers win reinstatement with back pay, the stripped-down SPA does have any work or money for them, Mr. O'Brien said.
Mr. Pawlik said he believes Central Parking has filled those six maintenance jobs with nonunion workers who earn around $10.50 an hour, possibly without benefits. The top rate for those SPA employees was $15.25 an hour, with benefits, he said.
"They're not going to get out of this with dropping those six (maintenance) people," Mr. Pawlik said. "If you take the six (meter employees), then you take the other six whose jobs you filled already. Our position is that the six people that Central Parking hired, they've got to go. Those jobs are rightfully ours."
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com