HONESDALE, Pa. — One sign after another covers utility poles throughout Honesdale, showing support for the borough's Department of Public Works.
Many of the signs popped up after all of the borough's DPW employees resigned late last month.
"But if I had a team of guys that did a great job, some of them working here for 40 years, I would've kept them, and I would've made it work," said Annette Kulick-Hickey, former Honesdale Borough Employee.
Annette Kulick-Hickey used to work as the borough's administrative assistant before leaving last month. She says several DPW workers walked out after Honesdale Borough Council refused to negotiate salary increases. Hickey says those employees were in the process of unionizing but had not officially joined a union yet.
"Toxic atmosphere. They would ask for more money; they weren't given more money; They asked to be in the union. The papers were held back. We don't know what happened to those papers," added Hickey.
"I've been very appreciative of all the hard work the DPW crews have done for years prior and especially very recently. But we understand that we need to provide those services to the community to keep Honesdale, you know, both safe, cleanly, and a place people can take pride in," said James Hamill with Honesdale Borough Council.
James Hamill is one of the seven borough council members who accepted the resignations of the DPW employees. While he did not go into detail about the reasoning behind the mass exit, he says the borough is working to find a solution.
"Certainly, in the short term, I think from my understanding, the plan would be to bring in some contracted services, you know, there's various other companies that could do some of the heavy lifting on the DPW side that those crews had done," added Hamill.
Hickey hopes the resignation of Honesdale's DPW workers serves as a lesson learned.
"Mutual respect goes a long way. If we have people who you value and respect, then you work with them," said Hickey.
According to the borough council, Honesdale will continue contracting out services until a permanent solution can be reached.