A petition backing Gilpin Township Secretary-Treasurer Sharon Long had collected 145 signatures by Monday, as residents push back against a township effort to determine whether her job should remain part of a union bargaining unit. The petition, which began circulating on Sept. 23, urges township supervisors to drop their request for clarification from the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board over Long's position.
A Push to Reclassify a 30-Year Employee
Gilpin Township officials plan to ask the state labor board to clarify whether the secretary-treasurer position should be a nonunion job, according to TribLIVE.com. Long has served as Gilpin Township's secretary-treasurer for approximately 30 years and has belonged to Teamsters Local 538 for nearly her entire tenure with the township. The petition, created by anonymous organizers who credit the Gilpin Township community, frames the move as an attack on a longtime public servant rather than a routine administrative question.
If removed from the union, Long could lose work hours, money tied to saved vacation and sick days, and her membership in the Teamsters pension plan, the outlet reports.
Who Decides, and What the Law Says
The petition lists five people as decision makers in the matter: Tina Thompson, Jeremy Smail, Kevin Miller, Gary Hall and Charles Stull. The township has asked the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to clarify whether the secretary-treasurer position should be included in a bargaining unit.
The statute establishes collective-bargaining rights for public employees and sets a policy of letting them organize and choose their own representatives, though it excludes management-level and confidential employees from the definition of a covered public employee, per the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Confidential public employees are not permitted to be part of a collective bargaining unit under that framework.
The Board's Review
A labor board examiner held a hearing on the matter Sept. 23, the same day the petition began circulating.
The petition urges supervisors to drop the township's request for a determination. The request asks the board to resolve whether Long's position belongs in a bargaining unit, leaving her union status and related benefits at issue.
