Birmingham Water Works employees who expressed no confidence in the utility’s senior management last year now say they have a voice in processes and decisions related to salaries, promotions and disciplinary actions, and they believe all issues they were concerned about will be resolved.

“We feel that we’re moving forward,” said Derrick Maye, chairman of the Birmingham Water Works Employee Association, who addressed the organization’s board during a regular meeting Wednesday. “We’ve had access that we’ve never had before.”

In December 2023, the employee association delivered a letter to board members alleging discrimination in salaries, promotions and disciplinary actions. The letter stated racial and preferential bias were behind the disparities, which it said had led to an all-time low in morale at Alabama’s largest water utility.

Maye said Wednesday the employee association has created panels of peers to be involved in disciplinary procedures and salary processes. Members have been attending all related meetings and have been speaking with management every week, he said.

“The next thing would be promotions within the departments,” Maye continued. “We are going to give a list (to management) of all the jobs we feel that needs to be adjusted and measures directly making sure that we have understanding with each other.”

Maye thanked the board and its chair, Tereshia Huffman, for allowing the employee association to have greater access.

Since the employees’ vote of no-confidence, most senior-management positions at the Water Works have turned over, with interim General Manager Darryl Jones beginning work in that role in June and four other interim managers starting appointments in September.

Water Works employees also took a vote of no confidence in 2005 and submitted a similar letter.

Attention for Potential Disparity in Purchasing and Contracting

The board also voted Wednesday to put together a team to assess the advantages of conducting a disparity study and report back to the board by Jan. 31. Such studies determine whether inequities exist in purchasing and contractor selection that affect minorities, women or other disadvantaged businesses.

Jones also announced that two new employees who will do similar work internally will join the staff Dec. 16.

“They’re going to help try to get women- or minority-owned businesses more access to services that we may need,” Jones said. “So just some internal support.”

Board member George Munchus said the disparity study is a great opportunity if it’s done right. “I think it could also help spur some economic-development opportunities the Water Works could probably begin to participate in,” Munchus said. “This could really be a game changer, for a lot of different reasons, for people in this community.”

He encouraged the team assessing the advantages of a disparity study to think broadly. The team will be made up of the interim general manager, interim deputy general manager and the board’s legal counsels, Parnell Thompson LLC and BHM Law Group LLC.

Huffman said she appreciates support from Munchus and Water Works leadership with regard to a disparity study.

“I asked, ‘How can we push the envelope to make sure we are really reaching minority businesses and helping them qualify?” she said. “And this was recommended to us from our team.”