Birmingham Water Works employees delivered a vote of no confidence in senior management, saying that morale has dipped to an all-time low at Alabama’s largest water utility.

The Birmingham Water Works Employee Association delivered a letter last week to all eight board members detailing several grievances regarding inequity in discipline, promotions, and salaries.

In the letter obtained by AL.com this week, members said their vote of no confidence was a last resort, a step they took with “great hesitation after much discussion and contemplation.”

The letter, signed by Derrick Maye, the chair of the employee association, accuses senior managers of leading an agency where employees fear for their jobs.

“Under this Executive Staff, morale has plummeted to depths never seen before,” the letter states. “In spite of potential overt or subtle retaliation, we are willing to pay the price for what we know is the right thing for the employees and customers.”

The letter lamented the leadership of General Manager Michael Johnson, Assistant General Manager Derrick Murphy, Chief Financial Officer Iris Fisher, and Human Resources Manager Paul Lloyd.

Employees said the agency practices inconsistent discipline among employees including some instances in which workers are unfairly penalized or fired. The water works has about 600 employees and serves about 770,000 customers in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties.

“We believe the inconsistencies are based on racial and preferential bias. Disciplinary results are written and executed not according to company policies; they are written and executed based upon emotion and attachment,” Maye wrote.

Rick Jackson, spokesman for the Water Works Board, told AL.com in a statement that executive leadership will meet with employees to discuss issues raised in the letter and seek a timely resolution.

Jackson noted that the utility meets regularly with association members and said the leadership takes employee concerns seriously.

“We believe that open and transparent communication is crucial in addressing these issues effectively,” Jackson said. “Our goal is to find opportunities to meet the needs of our employees and ensure that BWW remains a great place to work.”

In the letter, Maye said he received an “evasive” response from Johnson when he attempted to get data regarding disciplinary actions among staff and a racial breakdown of those workers.

Maye declined to comment when contacted by AL.com on Tuesday.

The letter from the employee association also said the utility’s new pay scales are unfair, benefiting the highest paid employee at a greater level than lower wage workers.

Jackson said that during the past year, the water works implemented several to enhance its employee culture, including improvements to its salary structures to provide competitive salaries, initiatives to retain employees and recruitment of new talent.

“It is important to note that we take employee concerns and the employee association’s role seriously. We will handle internal matters internally to protect the confidentiality of our employees,” Jackson said. “This approach is intended to create a safe and trust-based environment where employees can openly discuss their concerns without fear of reprisal.”

This isn’t the first time Water Works employees have taken a vote of no confidence. Workers in 2005 issued a similar letter of grievance, citing eroding morale and concerns about the HR department.