Lakemoor reduces staff

LAKEMOOR – The same night that Lakemoor officials voted to reduce expenses by cutting staff, one village employee said she wasn’t reappointed to her job because she and others wanted to unionize.

The village board voted, 5-1, on Thursday to lay off village employees to cut spending, with only Trustee Kimberly Beach voting against the measure. President Todd Weihofen said there weren’t alternatives.

“We’re in some tough financial times, operating in the red,” Weihofen said. Last year, the village spent an average of $80,000 over budget every month, he said. This year, the village has been spending an average of $100,000 over budget every month.

However, earlier in the meeting, Weihofen promoted Deputy Clerk Bonnie Sikora to be the village clerk, a position that had been held by Phyllis Odarczenko since 2005.

Odarczenko alleged that she wasn’t reappointed because she was among a group of village employees seeking to unionize.

After the meeting, Odarczenko said Weihofen assured her “several times” that he would reappoint her to the top clerk post, until officials caught wind of her unionization efforts. After making these comments, Local 150 union officials told Odarczenko not to comment further.

Stephen Karpowicz, an Operating Engineers’ Union Local 150 organizer, would say only that there was village resistance to unionization.

“I wouldn’t be here if they didn’t [resist unionization],” Karpowicz said.

Meanwhile, Weihofen was adamant that he was not bothered by employees unionizing and that whether they joined a union wouldn’t influence their job status.

“I’m a union member, and I stand behind the union,” said Weihofen, who said he was a member of Plumbers’ Local 130 and is a member of Local 196. “I’m an advocate and everybody has the right to unionize.”

During his campaign, Weihofen was endorsed by three union locals, including Local 150.

Weihofen insisted that all employee cuts would be performance based to help reduce village expenses. He said the layoffs could begin as early as today.

The accusations that employees will lose their jobs because they want to unionize might linger. Local 150 has an attorney investigating the matter in Lakemoor.

After about 25 seats were filled with residents, the meeting became standing room only.