‘Disgruntled” R.I. airport employees blamed for allegedly toxic workplace

“We’ve had tremendous success here in the last eight years and, you know, there are things that we need to work on, and that includes some of the toxicity that has been created by some union officials, and also [by] some disgruntled employees,” Ahmad said.

Steve Parent, president of Local 2873 Council 94, the union representing approximately 113 airport employees, told the Globe, however, the union “is in no way creating a toxic work environment.”

“People that [Ahmad has] brought from all around the country have come out here and then have quit with nowhere else to go, just to quit,” Parent said, pointing to turnover among the airport’s nonunion executive team in recent years. “I guess he’ll probably try to spin it that they quit because of the toxic union environment, but I’m pretty sure the bulk of them have separated … because of the toxic management culture.”

Tuesday’s press conference followed a recent union vote to reject a new three-year contract.

The contract, if approved, would have given union members an annual 3 percent pay raise for the next three years, but also would have removed grievance rights for when job descriptions are changed, Parent said. Of the approximately 108 members who voted, only one cast a ballot in favor of the contract, he said.

Ahmad’s rebuke also came two months after The Warwick Beacon reported on the workplace culture at the airport, citing former and current employees who alleged the chief executive regularly belittles and humiliates airport employees — allegations Ahmad denied Tuesday.

Still, those who spoke with the Beacon said that environment has contributed to high turnover at the airport, where more than 50 nonunion administrators and executives have either left or been fired since Ahmad took over.

Those allegations also surfaced in several anonymous letters sent to the media, public officials, and the Federal Aviation Administration this summer that claimed employees would walk off the job on Aug. 13 if no action to address those issues, and others, was taken. Ahmad said Tuesday that airlines also received the letters.

But no workers walked out that day. Parent said Tuesday that union leadership had “absolutely” no involvement in the letters, nor did it condone or approve any potential walkout.

Parent added he is not aware of any union member as being responsible for the letters.

“We have a no-strike clause in the contract, which would make anybody that walked out subject to termination, at minimum,” he said.

Still, on July 30, Julie Ann Seltsam-Wilps, director of the FAA’s New England office, wrote in an email to Ahmad the FAA was aware of “serious allegations impacting airport operations and maintenance, personnel, law enforcement, emergency response capabilities, legal obligations, and potential misconduct with regards to procurement and federally funded project requirements.”

The email was recently obtained by the Globe through a public records request.

Even without a walkout, RIAC still needed to satisfy the FAA by setting up plans to keep services running in case employees did stop working that day, RIAC officials said.

Brittany Morgan, who helms RIAC’s legal affairs and human resources, said the situation ended up costing the airport “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to pay for outside contractors to be ready to cover union positions that day. Officials are still tallying an exact total, she said.

Morgan said the airport has hired a law firm to find out who was behind the letters, and possibly bring litigation against “those that are tortiously interfering with our business relationships.”

She added RIAC officials have suspicions about which current and former employees wrote the letters, but officials did not provide names on Tuesday.

Ahmad did not say say how many people are believed to be involved, but suggested the letters were written as a leveraging tactic by the union.

“Not doing anything is not an option anymore,” Ahmad said. “We have to stop this.”

Airport executives who spoke to reporters Tuesday rejected what they said are “baseless” accusations of mismanagement and corruption, including allegations about the bid process for outside contractors.

Nicole Williams, RIAC’s head of finance and administration, said there were allegations that lucrative bids for airport contracts were given to board members directly, among other accusations.

She pointed to a two-year FAA audit she said analyzed seven years of data from RIAC.

“If they wanted to find something, trust me, they would,” Williams said.

Morgan said she and her colleagues love working at the airport, but “we do deal with toxic behavior from union leadership.”

In a presentation to reporters, RIAC officials listed 22 various occasions of alleged misconduct or unprofessional behavior from union members, noting how in some instances the union defended its members, but did not provide additional documentation about them.

In his office, Ahmad pointed to two stacks of paperwork he said were human resources records of disgruntled employees. He said he could not release personnel files under public records laws, but encouraged reporters to seek them by appealing to the attorney general’s office.

Asked about the list, Parent said the union has a mandate to defend its members, or else open itself to potential litigation.

“Sometimes we’re in a position that we … are not 100 percent comfortable, but there is a due diligence that has to be done,” he said.

Parent also said he has never been told by Ahmad that union leadership is to blame for employees being unhappy. He said he was not aware of any direction from union leadership for members to dig up dirt on RIAC officials.

“I’m not even going to give that a response,” he said.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at [email protected].