Beinecke staff resolve early dismissal pay issue February 7, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Contract, Members.trackback
Beinecke Library second shift workers (left to right) Eva Wrightson, Jim Fisher, Susan Klein and June Can
On January 12th, another snow storm hit our campus. For safety reasons, library management decided to close several Yale libraries at noon. At the Beinecke and Social Science Libraries, management called and emailed the night shift C&Ts at home and instructed them not to report to work as the buildings would be closed before their start time. The Library administration instructed staff to take personal or vacation time for the missed shift.
“Article XL [of the Local 34 contract], Inclement weather, is quite clear on early dismissals; however, asking staff to use their own time in this circumstance just didn’t seem fair,” said Amelia Prostano, Local 34 Executive Board member and Beinecke employee for 26 years.
The second shift library staff did not have the choice to come to work that evening; that decision was made by management. As the union steward, Amelia spoke with her co-workers and decided a grievance would be filed if they couldn’t get management to reverse their decision.
In the first week of February, management reversed their decision and informed the staff that they would be paid straight time for the missed shift.
“We really appreciate the Union’s efforts to solve this problem so quickly on our behalf” said Susan Klein, Beinecke Public Services Assistant.
