They won’t even talk to him until they’d had their coffee.
Fed up workers for Southampton Village on Long Island fought back against the town’s mayor and his cronies after their cost saving became so dramatic they stopped supplying hot beverages.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was that the Mayor, William Manger Jr., and his employees had the bright idea to remove the coffee, plates and utensils from the lunchroom.
“These are all the employees that take care of the beaches, the parks, the boats,” a source close to the situation, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post.
Another source added: “Those are low-cost items that mean a lot to workers who are coming in at 2 a.m. to clear snow.”
The coffee-cutting move prompted unionized workers to appear at the picturesque area’s village hall last month with “show some respect!” signs. They were also protesting against cutbacks on overtime and hold ups which prevented them from signing their 2023 contracts, which they said were worded incorrectly.
“You have a Mayor who lives in a multi-million dollar beach front home and he’s taking the coffee and vacation days away from the employees,” a source close to the situation told The Post.
“It started because they hadn’t gotten a signed contract. He [Manger] was trying to take some of the sick days away from the employees, tinkering with their sick days and vacation days. They were upset about the contracts; that created the rally,” the source added.
Manger Jr. was sworn in as the mayor of Southampton Village last July, and at the time vowed to lead the administration with a “balanced approach” that would “respect our cherished traditions while embracing progress.”
A representative for his office denied providing coffee was ever actually stopped, but said “the ordering is being controlled better for better budgeting.”
But workers in the Civil Service Employee Association say there’s been turbulence over the last few months, as cutbacks in overtime has resulted in unkempt village streets and complaints from local business owners about about garbage overflow, according to the union.
Another source in the union told The Post: “We had a contract. It’s been in place since last year. It took the village months to get us a copy that basically didn’t have mistakes. They dragged everything out. The village board was getting angry because the attorney was charging hundreds and thousands of dollars.
“As of January they exhausted the legal budget and had to get more money because the attorneys dragged everything out. It cost the village more money,” the union source said.
Fearful of the scene the rally would cause, a source told The Post, The CSEA contract was presented to the union representatives and agreed on during a Village Board meeting moments before the rally on Aug. 8.
“They came to us 10 minutes before the rally started and told us that they wanted to sign the agreement,” CSEA Village of Southampton Unit Vice President Maryanne Wright said in a statement.
A representative for Manger referred The Post to Manger’s recent “Letter to the Editor,” titled “False Claims,” he penned for the Southampton Press last month.
“Under my administration, the village makes every effort to address employee concerns and treats all employees with respect,” Manger wrote to the Southampton Press last month in response to a Letter to the Editor from former Mayor Jesse Warren on Aug. 15 regarding the labor relations matters.
“The mayor and trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to protect taxpayer dollars and eliminate unnecessary expenditures. We provide our employees with fair compensation and generous benefits, and we are grateful for their efforts in providing great services to our residents.”
In an emailed statement to The Post, Manger added: “The village has not broken the Taylor Law. The village honors its contracts with the unions in the Village. All Union employees receive their salary raises as outlined in the contracts. All necessary overtime is provided to employees.”
