On November 6th, the 005/008 bargaining team met with the department for the second time regarding the closure of the 28th Street bureau. Previously, UPE proposed that all HSSs in the Yellow & Green groups be allowed to bid by location based on seniority. Today, the department officially accepted that proposal and agreed to allow CSRs to bid by location regardless of special skills. These are both victories for our 28th Street members. UPE was also able to negotiate bidding by seniority for all 005 members regardless of function. Members in clerical who currently have a telework schedule must relocate to East Commerce or Greenhaven to maintain their Telework. According to management, all other locations are not conducive for telework schedules. The department stated that they have no intention of changing 008 members' telework schedules after they move to their new locations.
Bidding will commence for both bargaining units in the week of November 17th. At UPE's insistence, the department agreed to post supervisors' bidding results to be viewed by our members at the time of their own bidding (management made clear that there is no guarantee of what unit or supervisor they will be assigned to). UPE requested a timeline of the order of departure for our members in both bargaining units. They committed to providing that by the end of the 2025 calendar year. UPE requested that the impact of the disbandment of the General Information line be discussed and negotiated in a separate meeting. The department agreed, and we will be setting up meeting dates in the near future. UPE will be closely monitoring this situation & demanding meetings as needed.
Stay tuned.
Special thanks to our bargaining team members: Nichole Gorman, Stephanie McCall, James Starr, Cassidy Burdick, Debbie Tellez & Jennifer Avalo.
