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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The decision by the Police Benevolent Association not to endorse Tony George for mayor last year marked the beginning of a labor dispute with the city, the union said in a grievance filed last month.</p><p>The Feb. 22 unfair labor practice complaint, one of five on file with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, contained a lengthy description of what it said was almost daily retaliation by George&#8217;s appointed interim police chief, Marcella Lendacky, against union president Sgt. Phil Myers, ranging from assignment to the midnight shift to the lack of a staple on a pay request.</p><p>&#8220;The retaliatory action taken by the city was motivated by anti-union animus in reaction to the protected activities of the union president,&#8221; the grievance said.</p><p>The relationship between the union and Lendacky, the department&#8217;s first woman chief, has become more strained as the PBA expressed its concerns about her leadership ability in a 13-page letter sent to the mayor Monday, the same day she was officially named chief in a private ceremony at City Hall.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre City Hall was closed Friday in observance of Good Friday, making city and police officials unavailable for comment.</p><p>The city council also has been asked to request the state Attorney General&#8217;s Office or the FBI to investigate allegations made in the letter that Lendacky altered reports and misallocated police resources. The elected five council members have not yet acted on the resolution presented to them by a resident at Thursday night&#8217;s public meeting.</p><p>In the grievance, Myers, who was elected PBA president in the spring of 2015, traced the problems to Oct. 10 of last year, when the union decided against endorsing George, a councilman and former police chief running as a Democrat in the mayoral race. George beat Republican challenger Frank Sorick for a four-year term in office.</p><p>The friction between Myers and Lendacky increased upon her appointment to interim chief in Jan. 6, the grievance said. Two days later, it said, Myers questioned her after the city terminated office Kyle Rogers by letter without notifying the PBA and Lendacky said she did not know the content of the letter.</p><p>During a Jan. 8 discussion about the new administration and the PBA, Lendacky told Myers &#8220;the mayor does not think that (Sgt. Myers) can work with her or the administration,&#8221; the grievance said.</p><p>From then on, the grievance said, issues popped up daily.</p><p>According to the grievance:</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 11, the mayor removed Myers from his position as community policing/training sergeant. The job was eliminated and Myers was told he was returning to the patrol division.</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 12, Myers was informed the department&#8217;s firearms and Taser inventories would be taken over by other officers.</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 13, Myers&#8217; mandatory in-service training responsibilities were taken away from him.</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 13, Myers was informed his computer hard drive would be copied by the city&#8217;s information technology technician so that Myers could not destroy it. Myers said he kept PBA files that should not be copied by the city and Lendacky said the order to copy the hard drive came from the mayor. Myers asked if he failed to provide information that had been requested and Lendacky said she was not aware of any.</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 13, Lendacky informed Myers he would be assigned to work the midnight shift. He reminded her that he was entitled to bid another shift because of his seniority. That day, &#8220;the meeting became heated and Sgt. Myers inquired as to why these actions were being taken against him and not against other officers within the Police Department. Interim Chief Lendacky offered no explanation.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 15, Myers filed a grievance on behalf of Rogers contesting his disciplinary termination.</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 15, Lendacky offered Myers a position in the Records Department and confirmed he &#8220;is one of the best instructors that this department has had and you may even be able to continue to do training.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; On an unspecified date, Lendacky assigned the community policing/training sergeant duties to other officers.</p><p>&#8226; Jan. 26, Myers began to clean out his community policing/training sergeant office, but Lendacky stopped him until he could explain what belongs to him, the PBA and the city.</p><p>&#8226; Feb. 3, Myers was advised by Commander Joseph Coffay that Lendacky asked about his payroll submission for premium pay &#8220;and questioned why he had not used staples.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Feb. 5, Myers learned Lendacky did not approved the pay submission, altered it &#8220;and that she was not happy because he did not use staples.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Unspecified date, Myers asked Lendacky about the altered payroll submission. She said the payroll department disapproved it and she knew nothing about it. Myers contacted the payroll department and was told it did not change his submission. He received his premium pay.</p><p>&#8226; Feb. 12, Lendacky ordered all department master keys and firearms range keys be turned in to her office. Officer John Majikes tried to turn in keys but was told to keep them.</p><p>&#8226; Feb. 16, Myers turned in his keys and Lendacky asked for his training room key as well.</p><p>&#8226; Feb. 16, Lendacky ordered Myers to report for duty on Feb. 19 to close out the records for the firearms and turn them over to her. Two hours later, Lendacky demanded that the records be provided by the end of his shift.</p><p>The grievance said the &#8220;discriminatory and retaliatory action taken by the city has interfered with, restrained, or coerced all members of the bargaining unit.&#8221; It sought unspecified &#8220;appropriate relief.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Myers_Phil.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Myers </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Myers_Phil.jpg</photo0><caption0>Myers </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Lendacky_Chief.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lendacky </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Lendacky_Chief.jpg</photo1><caption1>Lendacky </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_George_Tony_mug_toned.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">George </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_George_Tony_mug_toned.jpg</photo2><caption2>George </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>PBA head: I was targeted for not endorsing mayor</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Police union’s decision not to endorse Tony George for W-B mayor sparked strained relationship, grievance says