Public Employee Press

Sandy absences: DC 37 battles Bloomberg

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The union is fighting Mayor Michael Bloomberg's order that workers must use vacation time to make up for absences during Hurricane Sandy.

Bloomberg called on ordinary citizens to stay home during the superstorm, but ordered municipal employees to report to work, even though many city offices were closed during the storm.

On Nov. 15, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts wrote Bloomberg to urge him to rescind the order. Subsequently, the union filed a mass grievance demanding that the order be thrown out. Assistant General Counsel Alan Brown is handling the case.

"DC 37 wishes to make it unequivocally clear that it opposes the City's policy of forcing members to use their own annual leave for time away from work due to Hurricane Sandy," Roberts wrote.

"As you know, many of our members were unable to report to their work locations due to hazardous conditions, damage to transit infrastructure, roads and the like, and the closure of City agencies and work locations."

In contrast to the city, the three library systems and several cultural institutions didn't penalize their workers for absences during the hurricane. That made sense as many of their worksites - like city workplaces - were closed. In addition, management recognized that employees faced difficulties getting to work and many were coping with damaged homes.

"Penalizing those who could not report to work through no fault of their own is unreasonable and unconscionable," Roberts wrote. Instead, she said, the city should follow the "reasonable and enlightened policy of years past" and excuse workers who did not get in and provide comp time to those who did.

"In a time of unprecedented natural catastrophe, severe loss of life and physical destruction to parts of the city, we wish to point out the dedicated, indeed heroic efforts our members are making round-the-clock to restore basic services, assist hundreds of thousands of our fellow New Yorkers in great need, and help the city recover from these calamitous and tragic events," Roberts wrote.

"In past disasters, the city has excused people," said DC 37 Research and Negotiations Director Evelyn Seinfeld, who underscored the union's commitment to fight for every member whose vacation time was docked. "Hopefully, rational heads will prevail."

The union filed a step 3 grievance on the matter, charging that Bloomberg's order violates the citywide contract. If the city turns down the grievance, the question will go to arbitration. The union will likely file similar grievances at various agencies.

"To penalize dedicated public employees who could not report to work or were told to stay home demeans their incredible efforts to bring about the City's recovery," Roberts wrote Bloomberg. "It breaks faith with and severely demoralizes the City's greatest asset - its workforce."