Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer
It’s winter, and the Town of Hartford is at odds with its elected Highway Superintendent and his four-man crew that does the plowing.
The crew, represented by Teamsters Local #294, is working under a contract that expired at the end of 2019.
Supervisor Dana Haff spoke to The Chronicle, but emphasized that he can’t comment on specific negotiations.
Quitting or threatening to quit
Highway Superintendent Greg Brown said, “One of my mechanics, the guy that’s been my right-hand man for the last 11 years, left.”
Mr. Brown said he started with four employees, but another is leaving soon, and one more is out due to an injury.
“By the time we get to the middle of January, if the one guy comes back, I could possibly not even have a highway crew,” Mr. Brown said.
A sticking point in negotiations is the current year-round four day work week.
Mr. Haff said, “The men work four days a week, 10 hours a day, all year long. They do not switch back to winter hours.”
He said in the summer, “people that work outdoors…it’s very common that they work four days a week when it’s daylight at 5:30 in the morning.” But “you don’t work 10 hours a day in the wintertime, because it’s dark when you show up to work, it’s dark when you leave. What can you do in the dark? Not a lot.”
“Our concern at the town board,” said Mr. Haff, “is if you work in the wintertime, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you have every Friday off. School is in session. The school buses go on the road in the morning, in the afternoon.
“If it’s snowing. It shouldn’t be all overtime. That should also be a regular day where, if you have to come in a couple hours early, that’s two hours of overtime instead of all overtime.”
Mr. Haff said they have no problem paying overtime for weekend work. “You know if the snow’s on a Saturday, yes, they’re gonna come in on overtime. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
David Swezey said he is an equipment motor operator for the Town. He acknowledges, “That was one of the complaints from the Supervisor was that we weren’t out five days a week.”
But Mr. Swezey counters, “It is proven in other towns, that they have done four 10-hour days, and the overtime is the same amount…as it is five 8-hour days.”
Mr. Haff says, “Why is Hartford the only town in the Teamsters local that does not go to winter hours in the wintertime? Washington County switches the winter hours.”
He said the only town in the county that stays on winter hours is Hampton, “and they have one employee…they only have 18 miles of road.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Swezey said a wage increase is a necessity.
“I’ve been working at the Town barn since July 2019…I’ve been making the same wage as I did in 2019. For the past three years, that’s $18.50,” he said.
“The guys need to have a living at home. And that’s why we have to find other jobs is because we can’t live off $18 an hour.”
What do they want specifically?
“The only thing that we asked for was a raise…Back in August we asked for $22.50 which, you know, we think it’s fair compared to what everybody else around us has raised their wages to, comparable wise.”
“A lot of the guys are frustrated because the town thinks we need to give up a whole bunch of stuff, just to get a pay raise,” Mr. Swezey said.
“The cost of living has went up. I mean look at your Social Security. That’s up 8.9% this year…Our insurance goes up every year. It’s been up between 4% and 10% in the last three years,” he said.
Mr. Haff said, “The board has no problem paying them more in wages. But there’s got to be a give and take because this is a contract negotiation.”
Mr. Swezey said comparatively, “in 2019 the town board voted for [Supervisor Haff’s salary] to go up 32% and got 2% every year after that.”
A March 2022 report showed that Supervisor Haff’s gross annual wage was $5,770. Mr. Haff said, “I hand this report out each month. Nothing is secret on our budgets.”
What if everyone leaves?
Mr. Swezey said he plans to quit his highway job, effective early January.
The Chronicle asked Mr. Brown what the town will do if the entire crew leaves. “I talked to the other towns, they said they’d help out,” he said.
He said they’ve advertised to fill the job of a man who did quit, but that at least one applicant wouldn’t take it because the wage was too low, he said.
“As the highway superintendent I have to look at, because of this, wondering how I’m going to be able to keep the roads safe,” he said.
“I don’t know if I can get the kids to school. I can’t help the fire department or the rescue squad if there’s an emergency. And now we’re begging and borrowing from other towns to come help us. And then if they come help us at all that’s going to take away from their town. It’s not right.”
Mr. Brown expressed frustration with Supervisor Haff in a phone conversation with The Chronicle. “This isn’t an emergency. This is something that was 100% preventable,” he said.
Why does Mr. Brown think the town board approached the issue this way?
Mr. Brown said, “It’s not just the town board per se. And it goes back to the supervisor wanting control.
“This is probably, overall, the best crew I’ve had. And they just let them walk away. As far as I’m concerned, they just turned their back on the people who vote them in the office and the people they’re supposed to take care of,” Mr. Brown said.
Friday’s snow storm was taken care of, though. How?
“The two guys that were leaving, they loved working here. They loved working for the town of Hartford, it’s their hometown, and they did it for me. They stayed and did it,” the highway chief said.
Mr. Haff said, “In my opinion, they never quit on July 4. They always threaten to quit when an impending snow storm is coming. Put two and two together.”
Mr. Haff noted that the town is buying a new snow plow truck for $286,000 for the Highway department.
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