City Workers Complaints

A vocal group of Monroe city workers tell the Monroe Dispatch that Mayor Friday Ellis appears to have reneged on a promise to do something about temporary employees at city hall. Sources share with the Monroe Dispatch that Ellis allegedly made an announcement over a year ago that the city would “reduce” the number of temporary employees employed by the city, but this has not materialized. There are allegedly many temporary employees working for the city long past the 90-day clause that calls for those employees to be converted over to full-time status. One of the issues that the city appears to continue to be having is a problem with sexual harassment claims on the job. They are trying to bring attention to the community and to Mayor Ellis about the kinds of things happening within city hall. Female employees are allegedly being told highly suggestive comments made by male workers as if there are second-rate employees. Sources say that female employees want more respect on the job and don’t want to hear any more alleged comments suggesting that if a woman does a certain job, she should be treated like "one of the boys". One former city employee alleges that harassment was so bad it drove her to quit. Despite what is heard from city hall concerning "zero-tolerance" workplace harassment, some employees said that the problem persists. They believe that Mayor Ellis has failed to make conditions better for them so they can do their jobs without having to put up with unwanted advances from males who may think that they are insulated from any consequences. Those female employees know that the threat of job retaliation against them is very real, but this is their way of letting the community know, especially members of the city council. It is not just female employees who want the mayor to get involved, but also male employees who want to know why the city is contracting out some work that city employees can do. It was alleged that the city contracts out jobs such as plumbing, electrical, and trash pickup when licensed city employees are capable of doing that kind of work. Then there is inter-department crossover, where employees in one department will be told to go work in another department. Perhaps, the mayor may not know everything happening at city hall, they say. Just before the beginning of his term, Ellis said that he wanted “people to have faith” in their elected officials and restore public trust. He also said he wanted “city employees to feel cared for”. There is a group of people at city hall who don't feel that way. They say that they are waiting.