Wilkes-Barre pays for DPW employees to get CDLs, increases pay – Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice

Matthew Williams, a DPW employee from Wilkes-Barre who received his CDL in September, watches his colleagues with his mirrors while driving a garbage truck on Sheridan Street on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Matthew Williams, a DPW employee from Wilkes-Barre who received his CDL in September, drives a garbage truck on Sheridan Street on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Matthew Williams, a DPW employee from Wilkes-Barre who received his CDL in September, drives a garbage truck on Sheridan Street on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Matthew Williams, a DPW employee from Wilkes-Barre who received his CDL in September, watches his colleagues with his mirrors while driving a garbage truck on Sheridan Street on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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The city of Wilkes-Barre spent over $15,000 to send four Department of Public Works employees to commercial driver’s license courses, resulting in wage increases of more than $3 an hour for each employee.

“Much like my administration supports the fire and police departments, as mayor I want to ensure that public works employees have the equipment and training they need to work efficiently,” Mayor George C. Brown said in a statement detailing the details to the initiative that the newspaper had requested.

While the move would increase efficiency, it wouldn’t necessarily result in a reduction in overtime, Brown said.

“How many drivers we have to pick up for overtime depends on the situation/weather; It doesn’t necessarily depend on how many drivers we have available,” Brown explained.

“This increased availability of CDL drivers supports the City’s flexibility in responding to severe weather. It would reduce the amount we spend on third-party providers when our CDL roster is exhausted due to either availability or Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) hour limits,” the mayor said.

Brown said that prior to the four employees they received recently – Matthew Williams, David Iskra, Michael Simon and Tyler Kurilla – there were 25 DPW employees with commercial driver’s licenses. However, the existing 25 include some employees who do not receive workers’ compensation insurance or the Family Medical Leave Act. So while they are on the roster, they may not be able to work at the moment.

Training sessions for the four employees took place every Saturday and Sunday between August 3rd and September 8th. The training cost $3,900 per employee, for a total of $15,600.

Brown said his administration has applied to the CareerLink/Luzerne/Schuylkill Workforce Development Board for partial reimbursement of costs through the incumbent worker program.

“We have received approval to participate in the program, but have just received the information we need to complete the application for actual reimbursement. If approved, we can recover up to $1,500 per employee, for a total of $6,000 in this case,” Brown said.

Securing the CDLs came with salary increases for the four employees. Their hourly wages increased from $21.36 for the Labor II designation to $24.73 for the CDL Driver designation. This is evident from the orders establishing the new wage rates signed by Brown on September 11th and 18th.

“The language of the collective bargaining agreement dictates that anyone who holds a CDL will receive that rate of pay for all hours regularly worked, regardless of whether they actually drove or not,” Brown said.

Brown said the CDL initiative is just one example of his efforts to ensure employees have the equipment and training they need to work more efficiently.

Another recent example of this is the $157,000 purchase of a bucket truck in October, made possible by a Local Share Account Gaming Revenue Grant from Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, and the State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, received. Wilkes-Barre helped secure it through the Commonwealth Financing Agency, Brown said.

“DPW will use the new bucket truck for a variety of tasks throughout the city, including repairing over 250 traffic signals, 2,250 streetlights and parking lot lights, tree felling, and traffic and directional sign maintenance,” Brown said.

Brown said 25 DPW employees and four supervisors were trained in the safe use of the bucket truck and received certification in mobile aerial work platform training from Jeff Philips of EHD Insurance, a safety training subcontractor.

“By training our DPW employees, the city promotes skills acquisition, career advancement and employee retention,” Brown said.