Judge OKs injunction against strike by city utility workers

The Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 367 had announced its members would strike Anchorage Water and Wastewater beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.

City lawyers successfully argued in court that a strike could harm the public health in Anchorage.

The city administration and the union are at odds over wage increases in a three-year contract that is up for renewal.

An independent arbitrator decided in favor of the union on pay issues, but the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday rejected the arbitrator's decision.

That led to a union vote Wednesday to authorize a strike.

But on Thursday, the union cooperated with the city's effort to get a court injunction disallowing the strike.

That's because sending the contract dispute to court puts the entire contract in the hands of the Superior Court judge who presided over the injunction hearing, Frank Pfiffner.

The union could come out ahead in the end with a judge deciding the outcome, both sides say.

A judge is likely to accept the ruling of the arbitrator, city attorney Dennis Wheeler said this week.

Under the court order issued Thursday, the union won't strike and the city won't impose its own last best offer as a contract for union workers at AWWU, said Chuck Dunnagan, lawyer for the union. Workers will continue under their existing contract.

The judge set a hearing for Nov. 10 to resolve the pay issues the two sides disagree on.

The city's court document requesting that a walkout be averted said collecting sewage and providing fresh water to Anchorage is a highly technical job. The water "sources must be monitored and the water treated to maintain public health," the document says.

AWWU acting manager John McAleenan says the utility has too few non-union staffers who are qualified to operate the water and wastewater plants safely for more than two days.

He said in a statement filed with the court that there is only one non-union person with proper certification to oversee each of the facilities.

"A walkout lasting longer than 48 hours would result in serious risks to the public health of the Municipality of Anchorage," McAleenan said in an e-mail.

The arbitrator who tried to resolve differences between the union and the city was retired Superior Court Judge Douglas Serdahely.

Serdahely agreed with the union that AWWU employees are underpaid compared with workers with similar jobs at other utilities, both in city government and elsewhere.

Dunnagan, the union lawyer, said the union presented to the arbitrator comparable pay information for jobs at Chugach Electric Association, Enstar, Municipal Light and Power, and jobs held by some other city unions.

A chart prepared by the union shows an AWWU meter reader with five years' experience gets $26.10 per hour, for example, compared with $40.12 per hour for a worker with similar responsibilities at Enstar; $26.27 at Chugach; and $31.37 at ML&P.

A copy of the existing Plumbers and Pipefitters contract with the city shows base pay ranging from $20.95 for a Step One utilityman to $35.84 for the most experienced, top-level workers, such as mechanical inspector foremen and plumber foremen.

That does not include additional pay some workers earn for "service recognition" -- longevity, or for other reasons.

The arbitrator recommended increases averaging roughly 4.79 percent per year for AWWU union workers. The city offered increases of about 1.68 percent per year.

Reach Rosemary Shinohara at rshinohara@adn.com or 257-4340.