A union representing more than 100 water and sewage workers in Greater Portland has asked the utility’s trustees to help pick up the pace of contract negotiations.

Joseph Piccone, business agent for Teamsters Local 340, told the Portland Water District’s board of trustees on Monday evening that issues such as restoring a pension that was eliminated in 2012 are not being negotiated. A three-year contract expired in November, and the union first reached out to management to begin talks in December 2023, he said.

“We’ve gotten literally nowhere,” he told the board. “We are asking that there be a trustee assigned to negotiations. We get you have the right to hire a lawyer and have them be your agent. We don’t know, though, what the trustees’ position is on anything other than minimal contact with the attorney on specific dates and times.”

“We have no idea where you’re at with us other than, ‘No, no, no,'” Piccone said.

He asked the board to appoint a labor trustee who would serve as a “point person” for the union in negotiations and said that union members believe “nobody has any interest.”

“At the end of the day, only the trustees get a vote on the contract or approve it, not the managers,” he said.

Piccone said the district general manager mentioned a possible 10% pay raise, but union representative said wage issues are “all dependent upon whether the pension is implemented.” Wages range from $24 to $32 an hour across 20 wage classifications, he said.

Piccone was accompanied by about two dozen union members. “These folks aren’t here because they’re happy. They’re not.”

Board President William Lunt said trustees “do listen. Believe it or not, we do listen.”

“We are in the process of working through this whole situation as well as you guys are,” he said.

Trustees speak regularly with the utility’s lawyer, and “I will just leave it at that,” Lunt said.

Michelle Clements, director of communications and public relations for the water district, said in an interview that trustees are not involved in “day-to-day discussions” on most topics. The district’s labor counsel and human resources director typically handle labor relations, she said.

Piccone said negotiations began in July 2024 and that the two sides met several times, though the union didn’t get a response. The Maine Labor Relations Board has been mediating talks at the Teamsters’ request. The union met with a mediator in November and December, and he reported back “that with the pension it was now a hard ‘no,'” Piccone said.

The only agreement between the two sides so far was to rename Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day, he said.  

The district supplies water to Falmouth, Raymond, Scarborough, South Portland, Standish and Windham, as well as water and wastewater services to Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Gorham, Portland and Westbrook. Trustees approved a $63.8 million operating budget for 2025, calling for a 6.2% increase over last year’s budget.

The typical residential customer’s bill increased in January by $1.49 a month, or 5.9%, according to the district’s projections.

The budget includes $54.5 million for ongoing infrastructure improvements, including water main renewals, installation of new water meters and the construction of a North Windham wastewater treatment facility that’s expected to come on line in early 2026.