Public Employee Press

Local 372 straightens out an injustice
DOE stopped pay, never said she was laid off

The Dept. of Education never told Linda Marshall she was laid off.

The Family Assistant and Local 372 member kept punching in and doing her job at Brooklyn Collegiate School in District 23.

When she did not get her paycheck for the week of Oct. 11 through 21, 2011, she quickly contacted Grievance Rep Brenda Jimenez, who immediately filed a grievance on Nov. 9, 2011, on her behalf. The grievance claimed that the DOE violated the salary and pay practices article of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and demanded that Marshall be paid for all the hours she had worked with interest, benefits and seniority.

At step 2 of the grievance process the DOE acknowledged that Marshall did work and had signed time cards to prove it. At a hearing on Nov. 30, management agreed to pay her for the time she had worked, including all the benefits she was due.

"This is an important victory because it shows members that the union will continue to fight for them even when they lose their jobs," said Jimenez after the hearing. While not notified properly, Marshall was among the more than 600 school workers who lost their jobs in October.

Jimenez cautioned that members who lose their jobs and later are called back to work by the DOE in a different district need to report that to their union representatives.