Upper Darby municipal workers to hold strike authorization vote

The union said it urged the township to begin negotiations in May, but Upper Darby officials “stalled” and did not come to the bargaining table until November. Local 234 asserted the township presented a contract proposal on Dec. 5, which would reduce the workforce, increase union members’ health care costs and remove seniority rights.

“We don’t take this action lightly,” Gene Olivant, a sanitation department driver, said in the press release. “We are members of this community. Many of us live here, and our extended families live here. But the mayor and his administrators have launched a vicious attack against us and our livelihood. We believe they are also quietly planning to cut essential municipal services that we provide and that residents depend on. We can’t stand by and let this happen.”

Brown denied the union’s claim of possible service cuts. He said Chief Administrative Officer Crandall Jones is negotiating “in good faith” on the township’s behalf.

“My administration has no plan to cut any municipal services, only expand them when we can,” Brown said.