Public Employee Press

Grievance gets $11,000 for City Parks Worker

An impartial arbitrator ruled recently that City Parks Worker Melvin Powell deserved an extra $11,000 for the year he worked as a Crew Chief.

As part of his duties cleaning leafy St. Vartan Park in the East 30s, the Local 1505 member supervised a Jobs Training Participant.

"Management did not consider me a supervisor because I did not have a badge, but I supervised the JTP, taught him traffic safety and equipment safety and told him when to take breaks," Powell said. "I did everything a supervisor does."

Powell also collected trash at parks in several Manhattan districts, completing trip tickets for each run with the mini-packer truck, clocking arrivals, departures and the 200 miles a week he put on the vehicle and checking in with his supervisor by cell phone.

Powell contacted Local 1505 President Dilcy Benn, who filed his grievance with Blue Collar Council Rep Tony Mammalello. When the Parks Dept. wouldn't pay, DC 37 Attorney Jesse Gribben took the case to arbitration.

Powell holds a commercial driver's license, and is certified to work with hazardous materials and drive bus coaches. "Parks assigned him to supervise the JTP, but didn't give him a summer step-up to Crew Chief," Benn said. "They were taking advantage of his credentials and not giving him the higher Associate Parks Service Worker pay. They thought he wouldn't say anything because they could lay him off."

"Dilcy was in my corner and believed we could win," Powell said. The arbitrator ruled that his assignment was "significantly different" from his CPW job spec, more like APSW duties, and ordered Parks to pay him the $11,000 difference between the two titles.

"I tell members don't just complain. If you are working beyond your job description, come to your union. We can help," Benn said.