‘Disgruntled’ RI airport workers accused of allegedly toxic workplace

“We have had tremendous success here over the last eight years and, as you know, there are things we need to work on, including some of the toxicity from some union officials and also (from) some disgruntled employees,” Ahmad said.

Steve Parent, president of Local 2873 Council 94, a union representing about 113 airport workers, told The Globe, however, that the union “is in no way creating a toxic work environment.”

“The people that (Ahmad) brought in from all over the country came here and then left with no choice but to leave,” Parent said, pointing to turnover among the airport’s nonunion management team in recent years. “I think he’ll probably try to say they left because of a toxic union environment, but I’m pretty sure most of them left… because of a toxic management culture.”

Tuesday’s press conference came after unions recently voted to reject a new three-year contract.

The contract, if approved, would give union members a 3 percent annual pay raise for the next three years, but would also waive the right to file a grievance if a job description changes, Parent said. Of the approximately 108 members who voted, only one voted in favor of the deal, he said.

Ahmad’s reprimand also came two months after the Warwick Beacon published a report on the airport’s work culture, citing former and current employees who alleged that the CEO regularly belittled and belittled airport workers – allegations that Ahmad denied on Tuesday .

Still, people who spoke to the Beacon said the environment has contributed to high turnover at the airport, where more than 50 nonunion administrators and executives have left or been fired since Ahmad took over.

These allegations also surfaced in several anonymous letters sent this summer to the media, public officials and the Federal Aviation Administration, alleging that employees would walk off the job on Aug. 13 if no action was taken to address these and other issues. Ahmad said Tuesday’s airlines also received the letters.

But that day, no employee left. Parent said union leaders were “absolutely” not involved in the letters Tuesday and did not condone or condone a potential strike.

The parent added that he was not aware of any union member being responsible for the letters.

“We have a no-strike clause in the contract, which means anyone who leaves will at least be fired,” he said.

Still, on July 30, Julie Ann Seltsam-Wilps, director of the FAA’s New England office, wrote in an email to Ahmad that the FAA was aware of “serious allegations affecting airport operations and maintenance, staffing, law enforcement, response capabilities emergencies, legal issues of obligations and potential misconduct with respect to public procurement and federally funded project requirements.”

The email was recently obtained by the Globe through a public records request.

RIAC officials said that even without a strike, RIAC still had to satisfy the FAA by setting up plans to maintain service in the event employees stopped working that day.

Brittany Morgan, who heads legal affairs and human resources for RIAC, said the situation cost the airport “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to pay outside contractors who would have been willing to take union positions that day. Officials are still adding up the exact amount, she added.

Morgan said the airport has hired a law firm to find out who is behind the letters and possibly pursue legal action against “individuals who are delicately interfering with our business relationships.”

She added that RIAC officials had suspicions about which current and former employees wrote the letters, but officials did not release names on Tuesday.

Ahmad did not say how many people were likely involved, but suggested the letters were written as part of a pressure tactic by the union.

“Doing nothing is no longer an option,” Ahmad said. “We have to stop this.”

The airport management, which spoke to reporters on Tuesday, rejected what they said were “baseless” accusations of mismanagement and corruption, including allegations regarding the tender procedure for external contractors.

Nicole Williams, RIAC’s director of finance and administration, said there were allegations that, among other things, lucrative offers for airport contracts were passed directly to board members.

She pointed to a two-year FAA audit, which she said analyzed seven years of RIAC data.

“If they wanted to find something, trust me, they would,” Williams said.

Morgan said she and her colleagues love working at the airport, but “we are dealing with toxic behavior from union leaders.”

“We have asked trade union leaders to tell the trade union body to spill dirt on their superiors, which can be used in negotiations; union leadership that actively calls potential employees and tells them not to work here and then takes overtime to fill the vacancies,” Morgan said, adding that some workers allegedly left the airport because of the environment created by union leaders.

In a presentation to reporters, RIAC officials listed 22 separate incidents of alleged misconduct or unprofessional behavior by union members, noting that in some cases the union defended its members but did not provide additional documents about them.

In his office, Ahmad pointed to two stacks of documents that he said contained HR records of disgruntled employees. He said he could not release the personnel records under public records laws, but encouraged reporters to look for them by contacting the Attorney General’s Office.

Asked about the list, Parent said the union has a mandate to defend its members under threat of potential litigation.

“Sometimes we’re in a situation where… we’re not 100% comfortable, but you have to do your due diligence,” he said.

The parent also said Ahmad never told him that union leadership was to blame for employee dissatisfaction. He stated that he was not aware of any indications from the union’s leadership that members would dig up dirt on RIAC officials.

“I’m not even going to answer,” he said.

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Christopher Gavin can be reached at [email protected].