Public Employee Press

Arbitration payment May 15, 16 for Local 372

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

In discussions with the Dept. of Education, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts convinced the agency to agree to May 15 and May 16 pay dates for a reported 15,000 Local 372 members covered by a recent arbitration decision.

The union won a major decision in March when an impartial arbitrator ruled that the DOE violated longstanding past practice by requiring the members to work on Brooklyn-Queens Day, June 8, 2006, and again in 2007.

The department was ordered to pay members who worked on the holiday with compensatory time off plus a 50 percent cash premium and to restore leave days to those who did not work and used their own leave time for the holidays. In addition to getting their money, members are to have their comp time credited and leave balances restored on May 15 and 16.

From at least 1959 through 2005, the DOE and its predecessor, the Board of Education, had closed all schools in Brooklyn and Queens for the holiday.

“This is a monumental victory, and I am proud that we have convinced DOE to pay them so quickly,” said Veronica Montgomery-Costa, the president of Local 372 and of DC 37.