A group of managers and professional city employees voted Thursday to look into unionizing. The nearly 140 “M class employees” are among the less than 10 percent of city employees not represented by a union.

Among their ranks are engineers, police captains and attorneys and managers just a step or two below their department heads.

And they are some of the city’s most highly paid employees, with salaries ranging from $46,000 to more than $116,000.

Managers typically aren’t unionized.

“It’s an interesting situation,” said Gary L. Young, labor counsel to several Lincoln, Lancaster County and statewide public employee unions.

The employees are being uncharacteristically quiet about their meeting Thursday night at the firefighters’ union hall.

Assistant City Attorney Steve Huggenberger, who in the past has acted as a spokesman for the employees, said Friday: “We’re not going to have any comments.”

One member of the employee group who wished to remain anonymous because nothing is finalized yet said a show of hands at the meeting indicated enough support for unionizing, so the group is going to talk to an attorney about beginning the process.

He said the employees are interested in unionizing in part due to uncertainty over the future of benefits.

“Management feels we’re not represented and we don’t have a voice in what happens to our future unless we organize —  when you look at the direction of the city and the conflict between the mayor and the City Council…”

Some City Council and mayoral candidates have talked about cutting city government and firing city employees — even though their authority to fire employees is pretty limited.

Voters will elect a new mayor and four council members in May.

City-county Personnel Director Don Taute said he’s aware the M class employees were meeting to discuss unionizing.

To get certified as a bargaining unit, Young said, the employees must obtain signatures from at least 30 percent of their employees and file a petition with the Commission of Industrial Relations.

They would have to show they are a “community of interest” — that the nature of their jobs is sufficiently related.

Then the Commission of Industrial Relations can order an election in which a majority of employees must vote to be represented by a bargaining unit.

Georgia Glass, former personnel director for the city, said it may be difficult to show they’re a “community of interest.” Police captains, for instance, would be lumped in with health department workers.

“I’m really surprised and I don’t understand what they hope to gain,” Glass said of the employee move to unionize. “My curiosity is how will the CIR (Commission of Industrial Relations) conclude that they have a community of interest with each other. It could result in three different unions, I suppose.”

City Council members have talked about cutting personnel costs and looked into the legality of trimming employee retirement benefits. But they learned they have few options when it comes to touching employee salaries or benefits because public servants are protected by a variety of city, state and federal laws.

On Monday, the council will consider passing a pilot early retirement incentive program designed to entice veteran employees to retire, cutting personnel costs.

M class employees can’t negotiate pay raises; they just get what the City Council and mayor give them. Generally, their raises are based on what other unions negotiate.

There were rumblings in the M class about unionizing in 2005 when their raises were put on hold for months after inaccuracies were unearthed in a salary survey that had been used to justify new pay ranges to the City Council in late 2004.

The survey discrepancy was not the employees’ doing, but they were affected anyway.

While the rest of the city’s employees had already received raises, it took until February 2006 for the salary survey to get sorted out and raises approved.

The council adopted a new pay plan eliminating cost-of-living raises and allowing maximum merit raises of 4 percent, with the possibility of another 1 percent with mayoral approval.

Young said the city employees he represents are concerned about recent negativity toward them from the public.

“The rhetoric from some politicians in Lincoln is plainly unfair to these good city employees that have served the city for many years,” he said.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.