Greenville borough maintenance and clerical employees voted Feb. 12 to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union by a vote of 13-1, according to news releases from the borough and from the district council of the union.

News of the employees' union vote was released this week.

The union will represent 14 workers from the sanitary sewer department, the street and public works department, and clerical employees from the borough offices.

Contract talks began last week. On April 25, employee representatives met with the AFSCME representative, the borough personnel committee, Borough Manager Vance P. Oakes and Act 47 Coordinator Joe Hohman to discuss the negotiating agenda.

Greenville has been declared a distressed community under Act 47, a state program that bails out financially strapped communities. In exchange for a cash infusion, municipalities give up some control of governmental operation.

Both parties have decided not to disclose information about the talks to the public, Oakes said.

"We've agreed not to negotiate the contract in the newspaper," he said, "and instead, to work the contract out between ourselves."

Oakes said each department sent a representative to the contract meeting. Representatives were Clifford F. Brant Jr., parks department; Dale J. Linton, streets and public works department, who also represented clerical workers; and Steven R. Vosler, sanitary sewer department.

Robert Calvin of AFSCME's Franklin office represented the union at the contract talks.