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Public
Employee Press Local
376 wins $100,000 grievance
An impartial arbitrator awarded a total of more than $100,000
to eight Local 376 Watershed Maintainers because for three years they did the
work of Level 1B Surveyors for the Dept. of Environmental Protection.
These
members were doing work that was beyond their job descriptions, and we fought
hard to make sure they were appropriately compensated for work they actually did,
said Local 376 President Gene DeMartino.
Several years ago, DEP eliminated
its Inspector title and assigned upstate Watershed Maintainers additional duties
that included inspecting land, drawing new maps of upstate areas, and logging
the information they gathered into the agencys computerized database, said
grievant Raymond Frey in his testimony.
Noticing that the new responsibilities
were not part of their job specs, Frey and several co-workers went to their local.
With help from Council Rep David Catala of the DC 37 Blue Collar Division, Local
376 filed a group grievance in May 2006. DC 37 attorney Alan M. Brown took the
grievance to arbitration and presented a well-prepared, fact-based case that convinced
the arbitrator to rule for the members.
Though DEP continues to assign
many WSMs Surveyors work, only the eight who filed this grievance received
the additional pay, explained Catala. The local is following up with another out-of-title
grievance that is scheduled for arbitration.
They are a great group
who stuck together, kept faith with the union, and prevailed because of their
unity, said Brown.
No matter where members are located, this
union will follow up grievances with tenacity and commitment, he said.
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