Public Employee Press

Arbitration Victory
Substance abuse counselor wins promotion and wage increase

Local 372 Shop Steward Aida Ross, a veteran Dept. of Education worker who began her career in 1986, knows when things are wrong.

In March 2006, the DOE posted a job opening for a Level III Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialist, and Ross, a Level II since 1990, applied for the position in time. But she lost the promotion, not to another member with better qualifications and more seniority, but to a recently hired employee with no prior service in the DOE.

“I knew there was something unusual about this situation,” said Ross, who worked at MS 126 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She quickly contacted Schools Division Council Rep Peggy Benjamin, who filed a grievance charging that the DOE violated the contract by skipping Ross.

When management would not correct its error at earlier steps of the grievance procedure, an arbitration hearing was convened on Jan. 13 to resolve the matter.

Union attorney Jesse Gribben asked the arbitrator to promote Ross to Level III, effective March 13, 2006, and to award her the difference between her Level II wages and what she would have earned as a Level III if she had been promoted in accordance with the contract.

The DOE claimed that Ross did not have any “superior right to the position under any terms in the collective bargaining agreement.” But the arbitrator said the language of Article XIV, which requires the DOE to promote employees in SAPIS positions based on seniority and qualifications, “is clear and unambiguous.”

The decision found the DOE in violation and ordered the agency to promote Ross effective March 13, 2006, with back pay.

“She never lost her faith, even though it was a lengthy process,” said Benjamin. “She believed we could win, and we did.”

“It’s really important that members participate in union meetings and that they read their contract,” said Ross.