Public Employee Press

Local 372 drug counselor wins promotion and $40,000 back pay

When the Dept. of Education skipped over drug counselor Aida Lopez for a promotion that was never posted, the union fought for her rights and won the promotion plus $40,000 in back pay.

Lopez started at the DOE in 1978, became a Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialist in 1989 and a SAPIS II the following year. At Bronx P.S. 106, the Local 372 member teaches 15 drug prevention classes every week, counsels individual students and small groups and leads peer mediation classes.

"I love working with the kids," says Lopez, who looked forward to a promotion to SAPIS III. The position was not posted, and two other workers with less seniority got promotions. When her supervisor said he had no control over the process, she contacted the union and Council Rep Domenic Renzi filed a grievance on her behalf.

Management denied the grievance at Steps 1 and 2, and the union took the case to an arbitration hearing on June 11, 2010, where DC 37 attorney Dena Klein represented Lopez. The union showed that DOE had violated the contract because Lopez had more seniority than the other candidates and was more qualified. The union requested that Lopez be appointed to the position retroactive to June 20, 2005, when the grievance was filed, and receive the difference in salary between SAPIS II and III.

"They have to post the position for 10 days and they never did that," said Lopez, who is the most senior in the entire district. "My rep and the union followed through and we were able to prove our case."

The arbiter ordered DOE to appoint her as a SAPIS III retroactive to Sept. 1, 2005, with $40,000 back pay.