|
Public
Employee Press Local 1455 makes
meter supervisors permanent
About 37 Supervising Parking Service Meter Workers
will become permanent civil service employees thanks to negotiations Local 1455
and DC 37 conducted in March with city agencies.
We are protecting
these members by making them permanent labor class employees and preserving their
benefits and seniority, said Local President Mike DeMarco.
The city
had never offered exams for the supervisor position, hiring or promoting them
as provisionals instead.
Associate Director Evelyn Seinfeld of the DC 37
Research and Negotiations Dept. worked with the Dept. of Citywide Administrative
Services and the Dept. of Transportation to reclassify the supervisors as Level
2 Parking Meter Service Workers.
DCAS accepted the unions suggestion
to reclassify PMSWs into Levels 1 and 2 to help the city comply with the Long
Beach court decision and legislation that seeks to cut the number of provisional
employees. While DC 37 is generally opposed to DCAS consolidating titles unilaterally,
in this case protecting the supervisors and winning permanent status made the
move worthwhile, DeMarco said.
The supervisors have the high security requirements
of overseeing the collection of millions of dollars in coins from parking meters
as well as the physical demands of handling heavy steel canisters of the coins.
Under
the reclassification, salaries and the Recurring Increment Payment remain unchanged
and the provisionals get credit for their years of service. Those who completed
the one-year probationary period will not have to repeat it, and others will get
up to nine months credit toward their probationary period. In the new title, the
supervisors will have full civil service protections, including due process and
seniority.
This is a good deal that provides real job security. After
14 years on the job, to go from provisional to permanent means a lot, said
Supervisor Wilson Rodriguez, who started as a PMSW in 1996.
Its
a win for our members because by making them civil service we removed the threat
of being laid off as provisionals, and their experience meant they did not have
to take an exam, DeMarco said.
| |