Public Employee Press

Local 924 stewards armed with tablets

Responding to a question from Local 924 President Kyle Simmons, the manager said, "We'll get back to you," meaning "This meeting is over!"

Then Simmons took out his tablet computer and called up a document that answered the question; the labor-management discussion continued instead of waiting weeks.

Simmons got the tablet as a Christmas gift from his wife, Renee, six months ago.

A Laborer, he said he feared the learning curve for the new machine might be steep, but he soon understood the value of the device for both entertainment and union activism.

In the local's office at DC 37, Simmons loaded the tablet with civil service and labor laws and decades of union contracts and documents until it became a high-tech weapon in the union's mission of protecting members' wages and benefits, he said.

The tablet proved itself in the local's victorious 10-year struggle for a wage increase. The pay fight ended in March, when a state appellate judge ordered the Bloomberg administration to implement Comptroller John C. Liu's "determination" of fair pay for the Laborers.

Simmons learned additional uses of the computer from President Robert Ajaye and 1st Vice President Michael Lanni of Electronic Data Processing Personnel Local 2627.

He explained the value of the computers to about 200 members at an April meeting. They voted unanimously to equip their stewards with the tablets, giving them instant access to union contracts and agreements, agency rules and regulations and other documents to help them answer members' questions and resolve grievances as well as take photos to document safety and other workplace violations.

Simmons also sees the tablets as an invaluable communication device, with a Local 924 email network and an electronic library with information on benefits and labor relations documents.

"The sky's the limit." Simmons said. "We want to use the tablets to help stewards and members become more aware of their rights and get involved in the union."