Public Employee Press

Local 372 arbitration wins member $14,000

A member of Board of Education Employees Local 372, School Lunch Helper Olga Nanadakis, has worked in the cafeteria at Francis Lewis High School in Queens for the last four years. She assists in preparing meals for a student body of 4,500.

In her career with the New York City public school system, Nanadakis has helped serve nutritious meals to thousands of students for a total of 26 years. But despite her years of service and dedication to duty, when the Dept. of Education passed out extra work in 2005, she was ignored. The hours and wages of other employees in the cafeteria went up, but not hers.

Nanadakis reached out to Council Rep Vicki Feola, who filed a grievance on her behalf against the DOE on Dec. 15, 2005.

Management rejected the grievance at earlier steps of the procedure, and it was finally presented to an arbitrator in a hearing held April 18 at the agency’s Manhattan office. Representing Nanadakis, union attorney Cynthia Hernandez argued that the DOE had violated the collective bargaining agreement when it failed to increase her workday by two hours in September 2005. Article 16 of the agreement addresses seniority policy and states clearly that any extra time is to be awarded on the basis of seniority.

The arbitrator agreed with the union and on May 6, 2008, ordered the DOE to increase Nanadakis’s workday by two hours, to give her back pay for the hours she had missed, retroactive to the date the grievance was filed, and to “make the grievant whole in connection with any other appropriate benefits.”

The retroactive pay awarded to Nanadakis amounted to $14,000.

“My union was with me every step of the way,” said Nanadakis, “and my council rep did a great job.”

“Members have to realize that when they fight they have a chance to win,” said Feola.