PEP March 2002: Play by the rules. Union teaches Parks Dept. a lesson.

Play by the rules
Union teaches Parks Department a lesson

By DIANE WILLIAMS

Play by the rules. Most New Yorkers learn this simple lesson through childhood games of stickball or hoops on playgrounds from Staten Island to the Bronx.

The concept carries into adult life - except for those who believe they are above the law. And if you just don't get it, the law is there to see that you do.

So it goes for the Dept. of Parks and Recreation, which since 1999 has subjected permanent park supervisors in Uniformed Parks Officers Local 1508 - some with 25 years of seniority - to involuntary transfers, replacing civil servants with provisional and less senior workers.

Here are the rules: Under the 1986 Working Conditions Agreement (WCA), the agency must notify the union of transfers and make them in seniority order. Transfer requests from the most senior, permanent employees take priority over those from workers with less seniority, provisionals or seasonals. Those with the fewest years on the job could be transferred as needed.

But the Parks Department thought otherwise:

Carl Lucia, a permanent Principal Park Supervisor, had over 20 years on the job. He worked Coney Island beach for more than six years until his involuntary transfer to Marine Park in June 2000.
James Bockowski, a PPS since 1991, found himself transferred against his wishes to downtown Brooklyn from the parks of Bay Ridge and Borough Park.
Benard Chan, a Park Supervisor since 1987, requested a transfer closer to his Staten Island home - to help his wife who was recovering from surgery. But the Parks Dept. filled the slot with a less senior supervisor on the transfer list.

In these and other cases, the Parks Dept. thought it could sidestep the WCA and the union. They claimed the transfer policy was limited to transfers between boroughs and did not cover moves within one borough.

"It took me 16 years of playing by the rules to get to my district, but after two years at the site, the Parks Department broke the rules and moved me out," Mr. Bockowski said. "It's about principle. They had no right or reason to move me."

Frustrated by the unfair treatment, he and 17 other Local 1508 members turned to DC 37 for help. Blue Collar Division Rep Tony Mammalello filed a group grievance against the agency.

Deliberate violations
The agency intentionally ignored the grievances, further delaying the process by 19 months, said DC 37 lawyer Mary O'Connell. The Board of Collective Bargaining sustained the improper practice charge the union filed, and the grievance advanced directly to arbitration.

The department's selective amnesia was exposed when the arbitrator heard testimony from Dennis Sullivan, director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept. Mr. Sullivan had negotiated the WCA in 1986. He presented compelling evidence, including his original notes, which showed that the city had clearly agreed to apply the WCA to transfers both within and between boroughs.

In November, the arbitrator ruled that the Parks Dept. had violated the WCA. The illegally transferred Local 1508 members have happily returned to their original job sites, and the agency finally approved longstanding transfer requests for several permanent PPSs.

"This was a big win, because it showed a tremendous amount of solidarity and patience on the members' part," said Ms. O'Connell. "It re-established precedent and showed that if members stick to their guns, management will have to think twice before they ignore the rules."