| 02/27/2005 |
| Union president primed, ready for challenge |
| By SCOTT WHIPPLE , The Herald Press |
|
NEW BRITAIN -- When New Britain
resident Bob Murphy was elected president of Local 1186 of Council 4
of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal
Employees last December, he vowed to make some changes. Though
he says he’s seeing progress, he admits it’s an uphill
fight.
Murphy, 60, is an 11-year veteran of city employment who works as a general laborer in the Department of Public Works. His election was uncontested. He succeeds former president Fran Ziccardi. Also elected with him for a one-year term were George Davey Jr., executive vice president; Michael Thompson, chief steward; Pamela Ryglisyn, secretary, and Claudia Havelevitch, treasurer. Local 1186 is affiliated with Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees. With 35,000 members in state and local government, and the private nonprofit sector, Council 4 is the largest AFL-CIO union in Connecticut. However, unless Murphy and other local union leaders can light a fire under its members, the labor movement in the state could smolder. "I was born and raised in New Britain," Murphy says in the offices of Council 4. "I want to make it a better place to live." How? "I’d like to see lower taxes," he says, then shrugs. Murphy is a solid, compact man with steel-gray hair. He wastes few words. His plan? "I think unions can work closer with city hall," he says. Asked if this can happen with aRepublican mayor, Murphy doesn’t blink. "I voted for Timmy," Murphy says. "When you’ve got problems in your city -- which is my city --and you go to your sister cities like Lucian (Pawlak) did, spending taxpayers dollars to get there and back, I take offense." Still, he insists he got along well with the former mayor. Then how does he explain his vote for Stewart? "Lucian forgot where he came from," says Murphy, who says his is a different leadership style. When he met with the mayor last week and was asked to move his union offices from the fifth to the second floor Murphy didn’t make a fuss. "They thought I’d take offense," he says. "I didn’t. They need the space for the new fire chief. ‘Just find a spot for our girl,’ I told Stewart. She’s good with people and knows a lot more about computers than we do." Being president of Local 1186 has brought changes in Murphy’s life. "I’ve done more reading in the past two months than I have in my entire life," he says. "I’ve been learning about procedures -- and how to run ameeting I want to do things right. I’ve got people calling me from dawn to dusk." Challenges come in the form of layoffs, grievances. "If a person doesn’t belong to a union, they get nothing at the end of the rainbow," he says. "I got a pension because of the union." Murphy previously worked for Fafnir in Newington. "I was a screw machine operator," he says, and still remembers the smell. "The oil smelled. The machine smelled. Everything smelled. But I had afamily and needed a job." After that, he worked for Beckman’s Garage on East Street, then the Teamsters. Currently he snowplows the 700 city streets, and keeps the trucks running.He paves the streets during the summer, and scoops up leaves in the fall. Once he picked up a bag with deer guts in it. "We deal with things," he says. "But, we’re understaffed. We’re told the city is short of money. Why? I know I pay my taxes." Murphy’s biggest challenge as president of Local 1186 may be to get members to attend the monthly meetings. Though Connecticut employers are still in the layoff mode, many of the rank and file remain apathetic. "If they come to the meetings, they’ll find out what aunion is all about," he says. Murphy is primed and ready to tell them. Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 224. |
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