Evanston could waste “untold thousands of dollars” if it does not voluntarily allow the city’s unrepresented employees to join a union, members of the local movement alleged in a statement released last week.

But City Manager Roger Crum said the press release issued Wednesday was “a very strange way to do business.”

Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees accused the city of racking up unnecessary legal fees in an attempt to “engineer opposition” to AFSCME.

In the release, the union criticized the city’s decision to retain Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson as its representative in negotiations, saying the Chicago law firm is “notorious for its hard-line, anti-union approach — as well as the fat fees it collects.”

AFSCME is seeking to organize workers throughout various city departments into one or more new local unions. According to the union, about 300 employees are eligible, but the city estimates that the number is closer to 400.

AFSCME, which already represents about 170 city workers, has asked Evanston City Council to voluntarily recognize the new union instead of going through the usual petition process with the Illinois Labor Relations Board. City Council has not yet scheduled a vote on voluntary recognition.

The city is wasting taxpayer money by retaining the Chicago firm, union organizer Kathy Steichen said.

Crum defended the firm, saying the city has never used it to oppose a union.

“We are spending time as we speak negotiating with people, trying to come to a method to go forward,” Crum said. “The city has done absolutely nothing to try to stop the process. To see a press release that seems to imply we’re trying to stop it certainly doesn’t seem appropriate.”

But Steichen said Crum or Judith Witt, the city’s human resources director, could represent the city in the negotiations without a law firm. Additional legal fees are especially inappropriate during the current budget crunch, she said.

“This year they’re talking about closing the South Branch Library,” Steichen said. “It’s not fiscally responsible for them to be wasting money on legal fees when they’re making all these cuts. I think the two are closely tied.”

Crum said the legal fees were “not a major budget issue.” AFSCME will also have legal representation in the negotiations, he said.

The city would rather have non-union workers follow state procedure, which calls for them to vote on whether they want union representation, Crum said.

If the city recognizes the union voluntarily without an election, the labor board must verify that a majority of the workers support unionization.

Steichen said voluntary recognition would be preferable to the “slow wheel” of the state process.

“We’d rather have the employer be neutral and have the employees make up their mind on their own, rather than have any dealings with a (law) firm notorious for this kind of action,” she said.

Evanston is also currently in contract renewal negotiations with the existing AFSCME union, Local 1891, over workers’ salaries and benefits. In the press release, Ray Summers, the local president, said an attempt to delay unionization “flies in the face of good government and should offend every homeowner who pays property taxes in the city of Evanston.”

Crum said AFSCME’s accusations will not affect negotiations with the existing AFSCME employees.