Public Employee Press

DEP call center grievance wins back pay and upgrades

Eleven Local 1549 members at the Dept. of Environment Protection's call center in Queens won a total of nearly $28,000 through a group out-of-title grievance.

Several of them were upgraded during the grievance process, which took over a year.

"This case was unusual because members won upgrades while the grievance was still going on," said Rep. Eddie Douglass, who handled the case. "Once we reached arbitration, we told the agency it didn't make sense to go on because by upgrading people they had agreed that we were right. Then we insisted on working out the retroactive pay quickly."

On April 10, DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Alan M. Brown signed an agreement with DEP for the back pay.

Workers at the call center handle inquiries about water meters and bills, and requests from homeowners to shut off their water. Those in the Clerical Associate 1 and 2 titles were doing the same work as Clerical Associate 3s, but they learned that call center employees are supposed to be 3s.

Outraged at the unequal pay, Jennifer Sayers became the lead grievant and took their concerns to Douglass, who then worked with DEP Chapter Chair Wilfred Thomas to encourage members who were doing out-of-title work to join in a group grievance. Thomas said he was happy that members decided to fight collectively for pay increases through the grievance process because earlier, more informal appeals to management didn't work.

"Some people didn't want to make waves, but I wanted to take the initiative," Sayers said. Unfortunately, because her assignment was temporary, she was among the few who didn't get upgraded, although she received over $800 for her out-of-title work.

The back pay awards range from $673 to over $4,000. The upgrades for Clerical Associate 1s meant pay raises of up to $5,700 and for Clerical Associate 2s they provided increases of $3,400.

"The union is always here to help when we learn that people aren't being paid what they deserve." said Clerical Division Director Renee Gainer.

The $4,000 in back pay came just in time for grievant James White and his fiancé. "I have been saving for a ring," he told PEP.