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 union’s 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.

“It’s 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.