Public Works Employees Push Back Against Union Claims

During the public comment portion of the July 13 City Council meeting, Public Works employees expressed displeasure at union representation and comments made to council at a meeting in June. Deondre Wilson, a Public Works employee with extensive organized labor experience, told council although he was speaking, he had signatures from 11 of the 14 staff members in Public Works confirming his statements.

“Before I deliver my message, I want ot make sure one thing is perfectly clear, this is not an anti-union campaign,” Wilson said. “Many of us believe in the value of the union and the important role they play in protecting workers when their services are needed. What we are here today is to express our frustration with the representation we’ve received.”

Wilson explained his background with unions included acting as an apprentice, journeyman, shop steward and, eventually, a union organizer in Alaska. He stated that through those years, he learned that a union’s strength comes from its members.

“A union exists to amplify the collective voice of the workers, not the opinions, agenda and the vision of a single individual,” Wilson said. “Unfortunately, that is not what we are experiencing. Over the past several months, we have watched individuals who are complete strangers to many of us come before council, claiming to speak on our behalf. We have watched those same individuals go to the press on our behalf. We have watched them receive a social media platform while presenting a narrative that we don’t agree with or that does not reflect the people.”

Wilson continued, stating that employees were not given the chance to give their perspective on the situation.

“I commend the city’s leadership for refusing to engage in the tactics that could have created an us-against-them work environment,” Wilson said. “Throughout this process, the city has not engaged in retaliation against the employees. In fact, many of the equipment operators that you see here today are still confused on how we became represented without ever casting a vote and that confusion has added to the frustration that you guys see here today. It makes honest communication and genuine representation even more important.”

Wilson again commended the city for remaining professional and not allowing the situation to create a division in the workplace.

“From what we have experienced, personnel decisions have been made on the fostering of a workplace culture built on responsibility, trust and, most importantly, accountability,” Wilson said. “Those are the values that we support and strive to uphold ourselves because we believe that every employee needs to be held accountable for their actions. Rather than fueling division, the city leadership has remained focused on maintaining a professional work environment and I believe that deserves to be recognized.”

The employees are simply asking for honest, representation, transparency and a genuine voice in decision making, according to Wilson.

“Our goal is not to create conflict, but to ensure that voices of the employees are being heard,” Wilson said. “We believe that when representation reflects membership, everyone, including employees, the union and the city are better served.”

Wilson’s comments were related to those made by Reggie Davis, representing the Utility Workers Union of America, who claimed the city had engaged in union intimidation, including firing union employees and refusing to give raises to Public Works staff. Later, the union reached out to Milford Times stating that the city had not refused to give raises to those staff members. Despite Wilson’s repeated statements that the city had been respectful and professional in dealing with employees, as well as making personnel decisions not based on union representation, but on accountability, Julie Morris, who is not a city employee, spoke after Wilson, condemning the city.

“The real question here is whether employees who have a different experience feel equally free to stand here in front of council and speak,” Morris said. “This issue is not limited to public works. Employees across Milford have expressed concerns speaking out against management or criticizing a supervisor as it could have consequences for their jobs, their careers. Some have gone through multiple levels of grievance processes and still don’t feel comfortable coming to council.”

Morris continued.

“A healthy organization welcomes both praise and criticism,” Morris said. “If an employee feels equally comfortable and if there is real pressure to people when they go against leadership…actually, we don’t need to know if there is real pressure. You have obvious answers to that. The staff has fired someone for speaking out against a supervisor when they should have been protected from whistleblower protection. So, this happens over and over. I don’t understand when there are positive things, they can come in front of council. But the manual, the employee manual book, says when there are negative things, they have to go through the grievance process. So, this is hysterical to me. Every city employee should be able to speak honestly, in good faith, without fear and retaliation simply because their experience is different.”

Morris, who has filed almost 60 FOIA requests over the past two years, has requested a significant number of personnel records, some of which have been denied as personnel matters are often protected from release to the public. Denied requests included requests for resumes for the Economic Development and Community Engagement Administrator and aggregate data from an Evergreen study. In October 2025, Morris twice requested personnel records for Mason Watkins who was hired by Public Works in August 2025. A week later, Morris requested personnel records on Harold Sylvester. There is no indication on city records that those requests were denied or provided.