Public Employee Press

Grievance winner: I'm fortunate to be a union member

The dealer handed him the keys and Senior School Lunch Helper James Hayes was ready to go with his brand-new car.

He drove off the Kia Auto World lot and immediately ran into trouble. On the way home he was pulled over and arrested by a city police officer. The dealership had failed to register his car with the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, so Hayes was ticketed for driving without valid license plates and registration.

Hayes, who works at P.S. 232 in Queens, quickly informed his supervisor of the arrest. He was suspended from his job. Since the dealership was responsible for registering the vehicle and Hayes had paid for the car and assumed the paperwork was in order, he called the union. Grievance Rep Latreva Scott filed a grievance to get his job back.

"He didn't do anything wrong; this was all the fault of the dealership," Scott said. The grievance also demanded compensation for the wages and time Hayes lost during the suspension.

After Step II of the grievance procedure, the DOE agreed with the union that Hayes was not at fault. The Local 372 member was awarded back pay of $2,742 and assigned to his old job. Kia Auto World apologized to Hayes for its blunder and even sent him a check.

"I'm very fortunate to be a union member," said Hayes, who was represented by DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Thomas Cooke. "They helped me get my job back and I got my car back."