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Unions press city on 29 Teamsters vacancies and long‑running contract positions; HR outlines recruiting activity
Summary
Heather Dehoske, business agent for Teamsters Local 243, and other union representatives told the City Council Committee of the Whole on May 12 that the city has dozens of funded but vacant positions and that some long‑term work has been performed by contract employees rather than full‑time staff.
Heather Dehoske, business agent for Teamsters Local 243, and other union representatives told the City Council Committee of the Whole on May 12 that the city has dozens of funded but vacant positions and that some long‑term work has been performed by contract employees rather than full‑time staff.
Dehoske said she counted 29 current vacant positions represented by Teamsters Local 243 and told council that some contract employees have been renewed year after year, noting that “some of them since 2015.” She said the prevalence of long‑term contract staff reduces incentives for workers to invest in the city and asked what the plan is to convert continuing contract roles to permanent positions.
Nut graf: The exchange matters because it raises questions about how the city fills funded vacancies, whether contract staff are displacing permanent hires, and how recruitment and retention affect service delivery for residents.
City HR representatives told council they have filled 42 full‑time positions since Jan. 1, have about 23 current job postings visible on the city website, and reported that roughly 101 positions were in some stage of the hiring process (vetting, conditional offers, onboarding). HR said the team attended 13 recruiting events in the fiscal year and worked with departments on targeted recruitment including outreach to vocational programs and neighborhood resource centers.
Council members asked for follow‑up detail on how many contracted positions are effectively filling funded vacancies and requested a breakdown for specific long‑running contract roles. HR said it can provide time‑to‑fill metrics from its applicant tracking system (NeoGov) and will supply vacancy and contract conversion details to council on request.
Ending: Unions urged the council and administration to accelerate conversions of long‑term contracted work into permanent positions where the workload is ongoing; city HR said it will provide vacancy tracking and recruitment details and acknowledged continued work to shorten time‑to‑fill for critical roles.
