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Grievance News
Grievance brings $63,000 to Local 983 member

An arbitrator recently awarded Local 983 member Kevin Pope $63,000 — the difference between the pay he earned as a Motor Vehicle Operator and the salary he should have received for doing the work of a Class A Laborer for four years at a Bronx women’s shelter.

Grievance Rep Steve Shaw and Blue Collar Division Council Rep Edwin Badillo filed an out-of-title grievance on his behalf in 2005. Staff at the Human Resources Administration shelter for battered women is mostly female, and Pope was one of two male staffers supervisors used daily for heavy-duty lifting and carrying.

Management regularly filled the 6-foot-tall driver’s day with assignments to haul cases of water, desks, boxes of dishes and files and industrial-size trash bags filled with shelter residents’ belongings around the building.

The heavy lifting resulted in back injuries for Pope, who never refused the out-of-title assignments. The other male employee, an aging social service worker in Local 371, retired.

Management refused to acknowledge that it was using Pope to lift and tote heavy objects and violating the union contract by assigning Pope to the work of Class A Laborers, who are represented by DC 37 Local 924. HRA stalled, rejecting his grievance at earlier steps of the process, until union attorney Dena Klein took the case to arbitration. Arbitrator Alan Viani ruled for Pope on March 18.

“Despite his injuries, Pope continued to do the work and help the shelter run well,” said Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal. “While we are happy with the outcome for our member, there was no reason for the city and HRA to take four years to resolve a grievance. They need to respect the workers more by settling grievances faster.”

“Management delayed this grievance for a very long time, but finally justice has been served,” Badillo said.