Two City Park Workers won more than $3,200 in back pay after an arbitrator ruled that management had wrongly assigned them to out-of-title work.

Arthur Elmore Jr., a Local 1505 Shop Steward and 26-year Parks Dept. veteran, and James Monloe, who has been on the job since 1988, filed grievances in 2001 with help from DC 37 lawyer Leslie Jacobs and Local President Michael Hood. An arbitrator decided in favor of the two DC 37 members last month and awarded them $2,000 and $1,200, respectively. A similar third case is pending.

City Park Workers keep parks clean for New Yorkers and their children by maintaining benches and recreation equipment, removing litter and painting over graffiti-stained walls, which the job specifications describe as “minor rehabilitation.”

But minor painting became a “major job,” Mr. Elmore said, when supervisors had him paint the interior walls, pipes, floors, doors and exteriors of more than 10 Astoria park houses.

“We remove debris, that’s our job,” said Mr. Elmore. “When management assigned me to paint all day — and not clean — I knew I had a case.”

Knowing his rights, Mr. Elmore took before and after pictures of his work. The assignment lasted more than a month. The photos were introduced at the arbitration hearing as proof that the extensive painting was out-of-title work for CPWs.

Likewise, management assigned CPW Monloe to repaint the graffiti-covered columns of the Hell’s Gate Bridge, which is on Parks Dept. property but belongs to the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Parks should have notified TBTA to assign a Painter, said Shop Steward Elmore, but Parks wanted the eyesore eliminated and had Mr. Monloe do it.

Later Mr. Monloe was assigned to paint bacchi courts and a swimming pool, also the work of city Painters.

“CPWs are exploited because some of us just don’t know,” Mr. Elmore said. By assigning CPWs out-of title work, he said, “Management thinks it can save money and assumes we won’t fight back.”

“The members come first, and on that note we followed up on the grievance procedure and we won,” said Mr. Hood.