Dated: August 22, 2014
In the Matter of the Arbitration
between
TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 100
and
NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT AUTHORITY
OPINION AND AWARD
In an Award dated March 7, 2014, related to the parties’ so-called Broadbanding Agreement, the undersigned Arbitrator found that, “The Authority violated Section 4 (H) (1) of the Agreement by failing to conduct a system wide Pick for the Car Inspector A title in the Division of Car Equipment,” and he ordered that, “The Authority shall conduct a system wide pick for the title of Car Inspector A forthwith.” In addition, the Arbitrator retained “jurisdiction over any dispute that may arise in the implementation of this Award.” Thereafter, the Authority, in an effort to comply with this Award, prepared and posted a Pick for the Car Inspector A title (CI-A) for 202 CI-A jobs, which is the remaining number of CI-A employees in the Division of Car Equipment. 64 of the 292 posted CI-A jobs required that the employees picking these jobs be locked-in to the jobs for three years.
The Union promptly filed a grievance objecting to, among other things, the Authority’s putting only 202 jobs on the CI-A Pick instead of putting all of the approximately 579 jobs in the Division of Car Equipment on the Pick, and to the three year lock-in period for some of the jobs on the Pick. After the parties were unable to resolve their differences, and the Authority denied the grievance in the Step 1 and Step 2 decisions, the Arbitrator held a hearing on August 19, 2014, at the offices of the Transit Authority in New York City, regarding this grievance. At the hearing, the Arbitrator made several rulings, and, at the parties’ request, he is memorializing these rulings in this Opinion and Award.
Discussion
The full history of this case is set forth in the earlier Opinion and Award, so just a brief background is necessary here. Section 3.4 of the Agreement is entitled “DIVISION OF CAR EQUIPMENT.” Section 3.4(H) requires the Authority to “conduct one (1) annual system-wide pick for each title during odd numbered years and two system-wide picks for even numbered years beginning in 2006.” For many years, the parties did not implement the clear terms of this provision, but after the Union filed a grievance, the Arbitrator issued the Opinion and Award containing the findings referred to above. However, the Authority did not prepare and post a system wide Pick; instead, the Authority limited the number of jobs on the CI-A Pick to 202, the number of employees who are currently in the CI-A title. The inclusion of only 202 jobs on the CI-A Pick is not a system wide Pick; rnoreover, it undermines the seniority rights of the CI-As by preventing them from exercising their seniority on all of the jobs in the Division of Car Equipment. For these reasons, the Arbitrator directed the Authority to prepare a new CI-A Pick for the Union’s review which would include all of the approximately 579 jobs in the Division of Car Equipment.
With respect to the Authority locking in employees on jobs for three years, or for any other period of time, the Arbitrator advised the parties that the Authority has the right under the Agreement to require lock-in periods for certain jobs on the CI-A Pick depending on the training required for the individual employee who picks the job, and the parties agreed that some of the lock-in jobs did not need a lock-in period for as long as three years, and that employees who did not need any training for the job they picked would not be required to have any lock-in period. The parties also agreed, at the suggestion of the Arbitrator, that the Authority would prepare a new CI-A Pick with all of the approximately 579 jobs in the Division of Car Equipment for the Union to review in accordance with the terms of the Agreement, that the parties would try to work out any disputes that arose related to this Pick, and that any disputes that could not be resolves would be submitted to the Arbitrator.
Therefore, based on the facts and circumstances of this case, and for the reasons explained, the Arbitrator issues the following
Award
The Authority shall prepare a Pick for CI-As that includes all of the approximately 579 jobs in the Division of Car Equipment, with appropriate lock-in periods for those jobs for which training might be required, for the Union to review as per the terms of the Agreement. The Arbitrator shall retain jurisdiction over any issue regarding the CI-A Pick that remains unresolved.
It is so ordered.
Dated: August 22, 2014
RICHARD ADELMAN