February 22, 2009
Anibal Ramos, Director
Essex County Department of Citizen Services
18 Rector Street, Floor 9
Newark, NJ, 07102
Re: Step III Class Action Contractual Grievance
Vacation Schedules Submission
Article I. Purpose
Article VII. Discipline
Article IX. Vacations
Article XXV. Non-Discrimination
Dear Mr. Ramos:
CWA Local 1081 submits this Step III Class Action Contractual Grievance, on behalf of all of our adversely affected and potentially adversely affected members employed by the Essex County Division of Welfare, to protest the verbal directives our members assigned to OCSE (Office of Chile Support and Enforcement) received on January 30, 2009 from their respective managers and supervisors they submit their requested vacation schedules by February 1, 2009:
- Past practice has required all of our Union’s members to submit their requested vacation schedules on or about March 1st each year, and there has been no notification to CWA Local 1081 of any changes in that most important regard.
- For management to alter this policy to only one working day before the schedules were technically due, and only for employees assigned to OCSE, is highly unreasonable, discernibly discriminatory and creates extreme hardship for many of our members as they had reasonably expected another month with which to make their vacation plans and submissions.
- With the excessive and ever increasing client caseloads, and decreasing staff, combined with other malignant managerial machinations such as the Administration’s reneging on our Union’s negotiated contract, this new vacation schedule submission edict only exacerbates conditions within the agency which may well lead to consequence that could have easily been avoided.
As the resolution to this grievance, CWA Local 1081 reiterates the following:
1. The County shall abandon the February 1st mandate and allow all of our Union’s members until on or about March 1, 2009 to submit their vacation requests.
We seek a hearing, in this regard.
Sincerely,
David H. Weiner, President
CWA Local 1081