Public Employee Press

Out-of-title work nets union Parkies $12,000

Six Local 1505 City Parks Workers recently shared a $12,000 grievance settlement for doing the higher-paid job of Crew Chief for three months.

“This is an ongoing issue for our members. The Parks Department assigns CPWs out-of-title work without offering appropriate compensation,” said Local 1505 President Dilcy Benn. “Once again the union got justice for our members.”

The CPWs filed their grievance with help from DC 37 Rep Tony Mammalello after reading in PEP about a similar case where an arbitrator awarded $80,000 to eight CPWs who were assigned to supervise Job Training Participants and scofflaws in the community service program.

Mammalello and Benn settled the instant grievance for CPWs Wanda Malave, Joe Lamberty, Nancy Callender, Jose Laboy Jr., Keith Outlaw and David Torres. Each member received about $2,000 in back pay for the out-of-title work they did from November through January.

The six work at St. Mary’s Park, where it takes a large staff to maintain the largest city recreation facility in the South Bronx. The verdant 35-acre oasis, a respite for thousands of Bronx residents and children, includes lawns, flowering shrubs and trees, a running track, and tennis, handball and basketball courts that face giant murals of superheroes.

In addition to the unionized full-time and seasonal employees, the city frequently uses Jobs Training Participants and assigns CPWs to train and oversee them.

In the earlier case, an arbitrator ordered Parks to pay CPWs for out-of-title work and to stop assigning them supervisory tasks without compensation. By asking affected members to come forward, Benn said Local 1505 is pressing the agency to honor the union contract and obey the arbiter’s ruling. Members who have been assigned Crew Chief duties like driving, training and supervising JTPs or community service workers should call the union, she said.

While Associate Parks Service Workers in Local 983 periodically supervise CPWs, ultimately the CPWs are accountable for a park’s condition — and whether it passes inspection.

“We are standing up to the Parks Department. It’s only fair that our members get extra pay for the extra work and responsibilities,” said Benn, who is urging Parks to appoint more Local 1505 members as Crew Chiefs, who receive an $8,000 annual pay differential. “That would be a step in the right direction.”