This morning the only authorized bargaining agent for the City of St. Louis was thrown out of a closed-door meeting of the mayoral-appointed Civil Service Commission.
The St. Louis City Charter authorizes the director of Personnel to negotiate with unions representing civil service employees. Richard Frank currently holds that position, which also entails a responsibility as secretary to the Civil Service Commission.
“I attended this meeting this morning, which was about pending legal issues – basically, the city counselor was going to be offering legal advice to the commission,” Frank said.
“My administrative assistant also attends meetings. I asked if she was needed. I was told she was not. And then I was also excused.”
As reported on http://www.stlamerican.com/ yesterday, a number of unions are filing suit against the City, claiming that their negotiations with Frank were illegally undermined by Mayor Francis G. Slay, who appoints all three members to the Civil Service Commission.
Frank said he has been in his position since June 1, 2004 and been attending commission meetings “every two to three weeks” for more than four years. He said he has never before been asked to leave a meeting of the commission.
“My role is to keep politics out of the system,” Frank said. “But I have learned when you do that you can get into trouble with the politicians.”