Public Employee Press

Grievance hits city on snow daze

Two of this winter's frequent snowstorms were so severe that city employees couldn't get to work, and DC 37 has filed grievances against management decisions to dock members' leave time for the unavoidable absences.

The 20-inch blizzard Dec. 26 exposed a total failure of leadership by the mayor and high officials, and the major storm Jan. 27 generated contradictory messages from the city as to whether workers should stay home or go to work.

Blizzard grievance

Those who missed work Dec. 26-28 were told to use annual leave or compensatory time in order to be paid. The union filed a grievance directly at the third step of the procedure and is pressing for a speedy resolution, said DC 37 Research and Negotiations Director Evelyn Seinfeld.

After the Jan. 27 storm, the administration took a few days to figure out its policy and finally on Feb. 1 directed agencies to have employees submit a request stating why they couldn't get to work to be excused for the day. Employees who do not follow the procedure will have their leave time charged.

"This is similar to what happened after the huge storm in 1996," Seinfeld said. "The mayor said stay home, the union fought for employees to get paid, the settlement called for workers to complete a form asking to be excused, and our members were paid."

No excuse for HHC

After the 1996 storm, it took a year for members to be made whole. "This time they are following the same policy but doing it right away," she said.

Assistant General Counsel Alan M. Brown said the union is watching implementation carefully "to make sure it's fair for all the members who couldn't report to work. The union understands that the city will excuse Jan. 27 absences, based on the severity of the weather." When it became clear that the Health and Hospitals Corp. was not excusing employees' absences, the union filed a grievance on their behalf.

City Council Sanitation Committee Chair Letitia James held a hearing Jan. 10 that exposed the lack of leadership that crippled the city's response to the December blizzard.

Assistant Clerical Division Director Ron Arnero testified on behalf of Local 1549's membership, pointing out that many 9-1-1 emergency operators, dispatchers and supervisors worked long hours and handled nearly 100,000 calls for aid in a 48-hour period.