Public Employee Press

A hunch, a grievance, a $5,000 raise

About a year ago, Local 2627 member Ron Cardee got a hunch he was being underpaid. A Computer Service Technician 2 at the Dept. of Probation, Cardee discussed his concerns with colleagues whose titles pay more, and he checked out different job descriptions.

His research showed that he was performing duties ordinarily assigned to Computer Associates, who earn thousands of dollars a year more than the Computer Service Technicians.

“It’s interesting. When you look at both titles, there seem to be a lot of similarities,” Cardee said. “But there are issues of supervision that distinguish the titles. And I spend a lot of time supervising vendors and interns.”

Cardee acknowledged that he was a little worried about possible retaliation from management if he filed a grievance over his out-of-title work. But he decided to move forward after discussing his situation with coworkers who’d been down that route.

So, earlier this year, Cardee called Electronic Data Processing Employees Local 2627 and spoke to 2nd Vice President Gary Goff. Cardee’s grievance was filed Jan. 18. Goff worked on it with Local 2627 President Edward W. Hysyk and Rep Tyler Hemingway.

After a step 2 grievance hearing, the department agreed on March 25 to pay Cardee at the rate of the Computer Associate (operations) I title — which gave him a raise of about $5,000. Noting that grievances often drag on for several months or even years, Goff attributed the quick settlement to the merits of the case and the department’s recognition of Cardee’s strong work record.

Cardee spends much of his time setting up new sites and overseeing the planning and installation of new equipment. The department also relies upon him to deal with emergencies.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Hysyk. “Ron is being fairly compensated. And the department is doing what’s right to retain a loyal and highly-competent employee.”