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Public
Employee Press Arbitration
payment May 15, 16 for Local 372 By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
In
discussions with the Dept. of Education, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts
convinced the agency to agree to May 15 and May 16 pay dates for a reported 15,000
Local 372 members covered by a recent arbitration decision.
The union won
a major decision in March when an impartial arbitrator ruled that the DOE violated
longstanding past practice by requiring the members to work on Brooklyn-Queens
Day, June 8, 2006, and again in 2007.
The department was ordered to pay
members who worked on the holiday with compensatory time off plus a 50 percent
cash premium and to restore leave days to those who did not work and used their
own leave time for the holidays. In addition to getting their money, members are
to have their comp time credited and leave balances restored on May 15 and 16.
From
at least 1959 through 2005, the DOE and its predecessor, the Board of Education,
had closed all schools in Brooklyn and Queens for the holiday.
This
is a monumental victory, and I am proud that we have convinced DOE to pay them
so quickly, said Veronica Montgomery-Costa, the president of Local 372 and
of DC 37.
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