Residents in Donegal Township, Washington County, say they had to clear some of their own streets after Tuesday’s snow because the township board of supervisors fired their road crew.
According to some Donegal Township residents, in years past, when it snowed, clear roads were never an issue.
“Our old road crew was on the spot before 6 a.m. I’d wake up hearing the snowplow go by my house,” said resident Ed Malson.
But for Malson and others, that was then, and this is now.
“When I got up at six in the morning, nothing was touched,” Dr. Kathleen Miller added.
In September 2024, Donegal Township fired its entire four-man road crew for various reasons and hired an independent contractor to do their job.
The workers’ union sued the township, saying it was just an attempt to break the union. An arbitrator ruled that the reasons for the workers’ dismissal were illegitimate and essentially told the township to reinstate the original crew.
“They should get their jobs back, they should get back pay on their benefits, and anything they may be due, including vacation,” Dr. Miller said.
Thus far, they haven’t. On Nov. 26, the township filed an appeal, meaning when the snow fell on Tuesday, residents were left with untreated roads.
“Residents of the township, they’re the ones clearing the streets. Neighbors and residents,” Malson said.
Those residents say they were using everything from ATVs and other equipment.
“We have some farm tractors. We will take care of our roads,” Malson said.
Now, an independent contractor who was hired and uses township equipment has cleared some roads.
“The roads aren’t the quality they used to be when we had our road crew,” Dr. Miller said.
While the snow that piles up can be cleared somehow, according to Miller, the money the township will owe the workers if and when they return to work totals a hefty sum.
“We calculated that $6,500 every single day,” Dr. Miller said.
In a statement to KDKA-TV, Donegal Township Solicitor Jim McGraw wrote, in part, “The arbitrator committed an error of law when he excused the road crew’s proven theft of material time from the township through the road crew’s employees starting work late, quitting work early and taking unauthorized lunch breaks beyond those which are unambiguously permitted in the collective bargaining agreement.”
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