Much like road conditions in Harvard after a snowstorm these days, the personnel situation at the Department of Public Works has gone downhill.
On Jan. 20 a truck driver walked out and never came back. The next day another driver gave his two weeks’ notice; a third driver did the same on Jan. 25. With a weekend snowstorm on the way, DPW Director Tim Kilhart told the Press he is crossing his fingers that he’ll be able to get three of his five per diem drivers to fill in. Meanwhile, the “CDL B truck driver” wanted sign is back out on Ayer Road after only a few months’ hiatus.
At issue is the low hourly starting wage that Harvard pays its DPW truck driver-laborers, one of the lowest of area towns (see table below). Negotiations between the union and the town that might have raised that wage have been dragging on since the workers’ contract expired over 18 months ago. Adding to the impasse is a rise in the contribution percentage that town employees must now make for health insurance.
Before the pandemic hit, most employees contributed 25% of the cost of their health insurance; some who had been with the town for a long time contributed only 20%. When COVID-19 created fears of a shortfall in state aid, the Select Board looked for ways to cut costs, and it voted to raise employee health insurance contributions to 30%. That vote took place in June 2020, just before negotiations began on the DPW contract, and the town is now insisting the new contract abide by the Select Board decision, according to shop steward Nick Ammesmaki. One former DPW employee told the Press that had the union settled for the increase in wages the town was offering along with the rise in employee insurance contributions, he would have ended up with less money in his paycheck.
A plea for drivers is positioned at Ayer Road near the intersection with Route 2. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The Press spoke to the three workers who resigned during the past few days, and all cited low wages as the reason they left. Josh Sherber said he had been with the DPW for about a year, but with the current pay scale for a truck driver-laborer, it would have taken him 10 years to get from his starting $20.29 an hour to $25 an hour. He is leaving to drive a truck for the DPW in Hubbardston, where he said he’ll be making more money. “We’re not appreciated here,” he said. “I shouldn’t have stayed as long as I did.” Jake MacDonald, who worked here only about three months, echoed that sentiment, saying Harvard DPW workers aren’t treated with respect, and as a result, they are “starting not to care.”
Josh Sherwood also resigned for financial reasons. He told the Press he is a truck driver by trade but left the trucking industry during the pandemic when “things were getting a little wacky.” He started at the Harvard DPW about six months ago and was happy with the hours and benefits, but soon realized his paycheck for two weeks of work at the DPW was less than his paycheck for one week of work as a trucker. “The trucking industry is booming now—$28 to $29 an hour,” he said, and he’s going back.
With so much competition among local DPWs and the trucking industry, Harvard is not the only town struggling to find people to keep the roads plowed this winter. The DPW superintendent in Sterling told the Press he had just filled one position, but still had one open. Sterling’s starting pay is $1.63 an hour higher than Harvard’s and the town contributes 80% of health insurance costs. Chelmsford has an open position for a truck driver-laborer at a starting pay of $25.85 an hour, and in Stow, where starting pay for drivers is $1 an hour higher than Harvard’s, the town is not only looking for a full-time truck driver, but also for per diem plow drivers. Berlin is looking for two part-time seasonal plow operators and is paying between $25 and $28 an hour for drivers with a commercial driver’s license, although the job includes no benefits.
For now, Kilhart is trying to build his list of part-time drivers. He asked Fire Chief Rick Sicard to see if any firefighters might be interested in plowing during snowstorms. The town pays per diem drivers $27 an hour. While that wage is quite a bit higher than the $20.29 an hour starting wage DPW truck drivers earn, it does not include benefits or the on-call stipend that DPW drivers get. No commercial driver’s license is necessary, and in fact, none of Harvard’s existing part-time drivers has one. That means part-time drivers can operate only the DPW’s small trucks. Kilhart said the town is contractually obligated to offer overtime to DPW drivers first, but with 11 routes and only eight drivers, he thinks the per diem drivers will be needed. “We can’t plow faster or we’ll start taking down every mailbox on the street,” he added.
