December 13, 2013

Sharon Butler, Director

Essex County Division of Welfare

18 Rector Street, Floor 9

Newark, NJ, 07102

Re: Step II Class Action Contractual Grievance

       Client Assault Upon FSW & Shameful Show of Security

       Article I. Purpose

       Article VII. Discipline

       Article XXV. Non-Discrimination

       Article XLIX. Safety of Staff

Dear Ms. Butler:

CWA Local 1081 submits this Step II Class Action Contractual Grievance on behalf of our members assigned to the privately-owned 18 Rector Street, Newark site to protest the shameful show of security yesterday following the physical assault on one of Union's male Family Service Workers by a male client:

1. The irate client irrationally demanded documents from the FSW which the latter did not possess.
2. When told this, the client twice spit in the face of the FSW, coughed in his face, punched him in the face and scratched his face with his fingernails.
3. A female private security guard was reportedly present and did nothing to intervene.
4. Another male FSW, whom reported had military training, bravely grabbed the client from behind and held his arms until the security guard finally escorted the client from the building.  
5. The guard should not have escorted the client from the building but should have instead called for either the sole armed Sherriff's officer assigned to the building and/or the sole armed security guard so that the client could have been detained and arrested.
6. As I was summoned to represent our assaulted and bleeding member FSW and watched as he completed an incident report within ASFS Aaron Crawley's office, three officers from the Newark Police Department responded approximately forty-five minutes after the incident.
7. All efforts to contact the County Sheriff's Officer assigned to the building had purportedly been unsuccessful prior to the arrival of the Newark officers whom normally defer to  the Sheriff's department to respond to the site due to the significant presence of Essex County Division of Welfare employees.
8. Finally, one or more Sheriff's Officers arrived and interviewed our assaulted and injured member and the Newark officers left.

The resolution CWA Local 1081 demands to this grievance consists of the following:

1. The County shall immediately launch an investigation of the incident, including the respective whereabouts of the Sheriff's officer and the armed security guard immediately following the incident until when the Newark officers departed.
2. The County shall immediately arrange to have at least four or five armed Sheriff's officers deployed, full time, to the nine-story 18 Rector Street site. The County-owned 50 South Clinton Street, East Orange site has at least that many armed Sheriff's officers assigned to that building daily and there are far fewer County employees working within that five-story structure. 
3. The County shall flag the offending client within the 18 Rector Street and 50 South Clinton Street offices `3and if he were to show up in either he should be arrested, detained and charged with assaulting our member.

We seek a hearing in this regard.

Sincerely,

David H. Weiner, President

CWA Local 1081