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Public Employee Press
Permanent status for 105 HPPTs
By JANE LaTOUR
Over 100 provisional High Pressure Plant Tenders are becoming permanent
employees beginning this month under a settlement reached by DC 37, Motor
Vehicle Operators Local 983 and the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services.
DC 37 lawyer Audrey Browne, Local 983 Vice President John Daprile and
Local President Mark Rosenthal turned up the pressure on DCAS to offer
two exams for HPPTs and Plant Maintainers.
After two years and a lawsuit under Article 78 of the state Civil Service
Law, their efforts paid off when DCAS conceded on the courthouse steps.
The agreement gave provisional workers, some with 15 years on the job,
their first chance in a decade to become permanent HPPTs.
This is real job security, Mr. Daprile said. These members
are relieved to have permanent civil service status and the rights and
protections that go with it.
With the DC 37 Education Fund, Local 983 offered members an 11-week course
in boiler operations to prepare for the test. Ed Fund Coordinator Fred
Lewis developed the program, with Nick Placco, a retired Sr. Supervising
Stationary Engineer from the Dept. of Sanitation, as the instructor. About
50 members attended each session.
These are good workers, but as provisionals, they face the burden
of possible layoffs, lack of seniority or status for vacation picks and
sick leave, Mr. Daprile said. Thats no longer a concern for
at least 30 who have been called from the list so far.
I needed job security and stability for my family, said Staten
Island College HPPT Joseph Esposito, a homeowner and father of two young
children. The union classes made the difference, he said.
After five years as a provisional HPPT, Mr. Esposito will become permanent
after his one-year probation.
Its been over 10 years since DCAS offered this test,
said President Rosen-thal. Now every title represented by this local
has had a test. In the last six years, Local 983 has gone from 50 percent
permanent to 90 percent. We truly are a civil service union.
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