Ogunquit News
Returning Visitors' Services personnel contest assignments
By C. Ayn Douglass
OGUNQUIT - Real estate professionals will say it's all about "location, location, location," and apparently Visitor Services personnel would agree.The town of Ogunquit hired or re-hired 25 people to fill attendant positions at its six parking lots in 2006. Early in March, Ogunquit Chief of Police Patricia Arnaudin sent letters to those who served in 2005 to ask if they were interested in working for the town this summer and, if so, how many hours, which days and what lots they would be available for.
Of the 25 hired, 17 were returning staff with anywhere from two to 12 years of experience. An important part of many returning staff members' expectations was that they would be assigned to the lots chosen.
With the appointment of Kevin O'Neil as supervisor of Visitor Services, that element was no longer part of the seniority system.
In a letter dated April 20, O'Neil wrote, "I am informed that in the past, Attendant choice of where and when to work was based solely on 'seniority,' a.k.a., years of service. That provision regarding job assignment no longer exists. The needs of the Visitor Services Department take precedence over the individual needs of its employees…"
O'Neil went on to say he attempted to fulfill the requests regarding shift locations and times and although the schedule was not "cast in concrete," he saw little likelihood of revision.
Fifteen veteran visitor services personnel responded to O'Neil's letter on June 20 in a letter saying that while they agreed the needs of the department take precedence over the individual needs of its employees, seniority should be one of the major considerations when assigning employees to their work sites. Their rationale was that since pay increases were based on years of service, the location where they serve should also be factored in.
When contacted, the individuals declined to comment on their concerns.
The back-and-forth debate continued as O'Neil responded to the personnel in a letter of June 26 delineating his career background in corporate human resources and asking petitioners to define the term "seniority."
His own definition - "the preferential status, privileges, or rights given an employee based on the employee's length of service with the employer. Employees with seniority may receive additional or enhanced benefit packages and obtain competitive advantages over fellow employees in layoff and promotional decisions" - comes from Black's Law Dictionary, "considered incontestably supreme in matters of law."
Nowhere in that definition, O'Neil said, is there a mention of workload assignment, and that factor is left to management.
He noted further that each petitioner would find that nearly all the requested shift assignments were granted primarily on the employee's experience and abilities.
When asked about the issue, Town Manager Phil Clark said he met recently with a couple of the petitioners, but agreed with O'Neil.
"I always felt seniority had to do with rate of pay and you were rewarded for coming back. We have 84 shifts to fill. The more people who are willing to fill those shifts, the fewer number of people we have to hire. It comes down to needing people with various skills," he said, asking, "What do you do if three people worked three years and all want to work at the lower lot? How do you divvy it up? The fact is that these are part-time seasonal workers and we reward them with pay increases, but we have to think of the good of the town."
Ogunquit parking lot attendants collect more than $1 million annually in parking fees and that money is factored into the budget to reduce the property tax impact.
