By Sarah Blazonis
Monday, February 8, 2016 at 10:42 PM EST
HAMBURG, N.Y. -- One after another Monday night, representatives from unions for Hamburg employees addressed the town board.
"A terrible breach of trust," said Catherine Creighton, counsel for the Town of Hamburg Command Officers Association.
"Acts of collusion, deceit, and unethical behavior," said Jack Chiappone, Jr. of the Town of Hamburg Public Safety Dispatchers Union IAFF 2478.
Five union heads told members about votes recently held regarding Town Supervisor Steven Walters.
"A vote of no confidence," said Tom Hoyer of the Town of Hamburg Police Benevolent Association.
"No confidence," said Denise Szymura, president of CSEA Local 815.
"CSEA has had a collective bargaining relationship with the Town of Hamburg for four and a half decades - we've never done something like this," said Robert Mueller, labor relations specialist for CSEA Western Region 6, which also voted no confidence.
Union officials said Walters worked with the town's insurance broker to alter the two health insurance plans available to workers. They say this was done without their knowledge or any negotiations.
"What this did was artificially throw off the rates, shifting approximately $83,000 in health insurance costs that would've been the employers cost onto the employee," said Mueller.
Mueller said this would've resulted in an extra $900 a year in contributions for an average worker. He said it was caught in time and no employees were affected.
Walters admitted his role in changing the plans, but disputed some of union members' other claims. For instance, while he couldn't name an exact figure for how much the town could've saved, he said it was less than the $83,000 figure cited.
"I have a history of 10 years of fighting for the taxpayers and doing what I believe is best for the taxpayers," said Walters. "When it was brought to our attention by the unions, we immediately, or as quickly as we were able to, adjust it."
Walters also denied accusations that he tried to cover up his involvement and is keeping documents from unions looking into the situation.
"We've provided quite a few documents already. They're health care documents, so there's a lot of confidential information," Walters said. "We're talking hundreds and hundreds of pages that have to be gone through one page at a time and information has to be redacted."
Union reps demanded Walters' resignation or for board members to force him to step down if he refused. Walters says he's not going anywhere, and one of the two councilmen, Michael Quinn, said he didn't plan to demand he resign.
Mueller says CSEA will continue to come to the table for future negotiations but that trust has been broken.
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