Public Employee Press

Grievance wins $20,000 for Local 375 member

An arbitrator has ordered the New York City Transit Authority to pay a Civil Engineer more than $20,000 for overseeing design work on subway projects that were beyond his job responsibilities.

The arbitrator found that Askar Khan performed tasks far beyond the responsibilities of his position as a Civil Engineer Level 2 when he served as the task leader on three subway projects with a combined budget of over $550 million.

Arbitrator Jay Nadelbach ruled Feb. 1 to uphold the union’s contention that Khan deserved to be compensated as a Civil Engineer Level 3. The difference in pay between the titles is about $10,000.

“I felt confident we would win the case, since it was clear that I was working out of title,” Khan said. But Khan said he was frustrated that the grievance process didn’t lead to a promotion.

“It’s been nine years since my last promotion, and I have been working very hard,” he said. While arbitrators can order additional compensation, they cannot order management to promote employees.

The union initiated the case with a grievance in June 2004. DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Melissa Brown handled the arbitration.

The union documented Khan’s work overseeing a $350 million Flushing line project that covered 17 buildings and 10 locations as well as two other projects. The Flushing work involved reinforcing and supporting the elevated train lines.

“This was a very challenging and complicated project,” Local 375 President Claude Fort said. “Asker ensured that new and existing structures would be sufficiently sturdy to withstand the forces of nature and the tremendous weight and pressure of subway trains.”

Khan also headed a $100 million job repairing an old structure and constructing a new building on Chambers Street in Manhattan and oversaw a $106 million 5th Avenue and Lexington project in Manhattan, that involved designing and excavating ventilation shaft openings in a particularly difficult location.

“We are pursuing many grievances, and this was a great victory,” said Behrouz Fathi, president of Local 375’s TA chapter. “When cases don’t lead to promotions, we are committed to pursuing ‘revolving door’ grievances in which we will continue to insist that our members get compensated properly. It’s only fair.”

“We have a lot of members who are doing out-of-title work, and we want to encourage them to file grievances,” said George Dames, the local’s grievance chair at the TA.