OXFORD — Town officials are challenging the Oxford Fire/Rescue Department’s attempt to unionize.

Teamsters Local 340 has petitioned the Maine Labor Relations Board to allow the local department to form a bargaining unit.

Interim Town Manager Becky Lippincott informed selectmen Feb. 16 that the department was attempting to unionize

Lippincott notified selectmen Feb. 16 that the firefighters intend to unionize, and that’s where some firefighters apparently found out about the action.

“I found out Thursday night,” Deputy Chief Paul Hewey said Monday.

Hewey said he had not been informed, and apparently neither had some others in the department who questioned him about the news in the past week.

Hewey said he believed his position as deputy chief would be exempt from the union should it form.

Lorne Smith, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 340, said the town’s challenge will be heard before the Maine Labor Relations Board, which will either accept or reject the arguments of the town.

The argument has been heard before, he said.

“The argument they are trying to make is the same argument that the town of Paris made and lost,” Smith said this week.

Lippincott declined to talk about the matter, saying the town has been advised by its legal counsel not to comment.

“We’re waiting for the town and the Labor Board to duke it out,” said Ed Marzano, bargaining agent for Teamsters Local 340.

Marzano said the process to unionize the Oxford Fire/Rescue Department began this month when a minimum of 30 percent of the members signed cards with Local 340. That action allowed the Teamsters Union business agent to file a petition with the Labor Review Board for all per-diem firefighters, including the department captains.

Marzano said the town is challenging the petition on several counts, including whether the lieutenant and captains can be part of the bargaining unit.

Smith sees the town’s challenge as wasting taxpayers’ money.

“It always amazes me to see how these people in government will spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting a losing fight, then, when we bargain, they will say they have no money. I guess it depends on what they wish to spend it on,” Smith said.

Paris paid just under $20,000 to litigate the Paris firefighters’ union organization issues, according to the town’s bookkeeper, Paula Locke.

The Labor Relations Board’s standard of review for bargaining-unit determinations is well-established. The board will overturn a hearing examiner’s rulings and determinations if they are “unlawful, unreasonable, or lacking in any rational factual basis.”

If the Labor Review Board rejects Oxford’s argument, the firefighters will vote on whether to unionize.

Smith said Oxford firefighters are concerned about working conditions and scheduling, not wages.

Oxford firefighters say they have been demoralized by events in town and in the department. Former Fire Chief Wayne Jones unexpectedly resigned Dec. 6, 2016, in a one-line memo to department members after he was handed a letter of no confidence signed by an unknown number of members.

Jones had served as chief since June 2015. The position is held by acting Fire Chief David Heidrich, who has indicated he is not interested in the permanent job.

Last month, Lippincott told the Board of Selectmen that she was bringing in a motivational counselor to speak with Fire Department members, who requested it. Firefighters asked for help at a department meeting with her in December, following Jones’ sudden resignation. Lippincott said the move was being made to help “build up the morale” of firefighters.

According to information from the Maine AFL-CIO, if a union is formed, members and the employer will negotiate a contract or “collective bargaining agreement” that covers all aspects of work – wages, health insurance, vacation or other benefits, how work is structured, how workers are disciplined, workplace safety standards and other working conditions.

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