Parks Employees Stand Together for Change

City Agrees to Investigate Supervisor Workers Call Abusive

Fed up with their supervisor’s longstanding intimidation and disrespectful behavior, union members working for the City of Riverside Parks Dept. are taking action.

In February, a group of worksite stewards brought City Parks Director Ralph Nunez a stack of written complaints against parks maintenance supervisor Ruben Lopez and crew leader Felix Soria.   

The complaints portray a hostile, abusive work environment and describe several incidents in which Lopez flagrantly violated or ignored safety standards.

“Lopez really cracks a whip, and people used to be intimidated by him, but no more,” says worksite steward Frank Coral.  “They realize the abuse has gone on long enough, and they want to step up and do the right thing and put a stop to it. They’re adamant and they’re united – I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Parks Director Nunez promised a timely investigation. But seven weeks went by and he had done nothing.

In March, union members tried a different tack. They sent Human Resources a letter they call a “vote of no confidence” in Lopez.  The letter charges that Lopez:

•    required employees to operate equipment they weren’t trained on

•    saw employees performing a task in a dangerous way, but did nothing

•    caused workers tremendous stress on a daily basis with his intimidating style and retaliatory tactics.

The letter, signed by 11 employees, declares, “we can no longer be subjected to this type of work environment” and asks the City to take immediate action.

About three weeks after the letter was sent, HR Director Rhonda Strout notified the union that due to the serious nature of the complaints against Lopez, the City will hire an outside law firm to conduct an investigation and interview both current and former employees supervised by Lopez.

Over the last six years, at least twelve employees have quit in disgust over Lopez’s abusiveness –a turnover rate of almost 50%, says worksite steward Al Ineichen. “Four people who were close to retirement got so upset,” Al says, “they quit without notice, they just walked in and said, ‘today is my last day.’ ”

The union is working to ensure that the firm the City selects to conduct the investigation is genuinely impartial and that Parks Dept. management will meet with workers again to discuss the progress of the investigation.