The Derby Library Board of Directors met with a city union representative Wednesday in a closed executive session but failed to resolve whether the library’s custodian, Joseph Bomba, is a full-time or part-time employee.
At the end of the private session, the board voted to table the custodian matter and to conduct further talks with the union official, Paul Wallace, staff representative for AFSCME Council 4, AFL-CIO.
Background
Bomba is a former Alderman and chairman of the city’s Republican Town Committee. He was hired in 2011 as a part-time custodian in the library.
His status has political implications because his former running mate, Mayor Anthony Staffieri, through his aide Phil Robertson, said the library should make Bomba a full-time employee, even though a full-time position was not within the library’s budget.
The move concerned the library’s directors, who complained at a July 26 Aldermen meeting. They said the mayor’s office was overstepping its authority.
The mayor’s office said they were simply following union rules regarding the custodian’s position.
Next Steps
The two carefully worded motions after Wednesday’s executive session did not connect Bomba with the further discussions, which may take place as early as Thursday.
Wallace declined to comment after the executive session that Bomba had been discussed.
But it was obvious that he was. Bomba was at the meeting, along with two city hall union members, and Wallace addressed the board members prior to the executive session offering to participate in it and answer questions they might have about Bomba.
Another employee, who was not identified, was also discussed during the closed session. Wallace also participated in that discussion.
After leaving the meeting, Wallace said he would meet with the Board of Directors to discuss “a range of staffing issues,” and also noted he was currently negotiating several city employee contracts.
Although Bomba works at the library, he is a member of the city hall employees union, not the library bargaining unit. Both locals are members of AFSCME Council 4.
Bomba was originally hired in February 2011 as the library’s sole part-time custodian, working 20 hours a week with no benefits, holidays, vacation pay or paid sick time.
He was a city Alderman at the time and received a waiver from the Board of Alderman that allowed him to take the city job.
Last spring after Bomba was no longer an alderman, the city created a second part-time custodian position at the library, a 15-hour afternoon position that also had no benefits or paid holidays, sick days or vacation days.
Bomba said he applied for the second position, and he was hired because he was considered the most qualified applicant, according to the mayor’s office.
Bomba said he worked for two weeks in July and then argued that his employment should be considered as full-time with full benefits and paid holidays, sick days and vacation.
In the past, before the library custodian was made part-time, it was a full-time, 35-hour a week position, he said.
