HRA Violated Staffer's Right To Union Rep

By HOWARD MEGDAL

The city's Board of Collective Bargaining has ruled that the Human Resources Administration violated the Weingarten rights of a Fraud Supervisor who demanded union representation at hearings that might have led to disciplinary action.

FAYE MOORE: HRA went too far.

Pierre Burton of District Council 37's Local 371 refused to attend multiple meetings with his supervisor to review his caseload after being denied the chance to have his union rep, Christopher Kapetanos, present during those conferences.

Union Wants 'Respect'

"Agencies are going to have to understand and accept that these workers do have rights," Local 371 Vice President Faye Moore said in an Aug. 10 phone interview. "They should move away from trying to act as if they don't. Maybe they will show a little more respect for the rights of workers."

A spokesman for HRA did not return calls seeking comment. Mr. Burton had reason to suspect that disciplinary actions could flow from such meetings. In 2001, a meeting to discuss 30 cases his supervisor said he had failed to complete in a timely manner resulted in unspecified punitive consequences.

After repeatedly refusing to attend these meetings without Mr. Kapetanos, Mr. Burton was issued a memo in April 2004 which described his failure to do so as "a recurring problem" and stated that "such behavior is insubordination."

Issue Led to Suspension

In September 2004, he was suspended for a week over the issue. He received another memorandum describing his refusals as "insubordination." Three months later, Mr. Burton filed an improper practice charge with BCB.

The BCB ordered HRA to "cease and desist from interfering with employees' right to request union representation during investigatory interviews which may reasonably lead to their discipline."

Ms. Moore believes that HRA's conduct represents a trend "where they don't treat workers as if they have constitutional rights. This decision makes me happy, because more workers are standing up - and we're more willing to protect their rights."