Posted on 12/03/2009 6:14:30 AM PST by Born Conservative
Lackawanna County improperly reduced the paid lunch break for about 200 employees from an hour to 30 minutes, according to an arbitration ruling in favor of Service Employees International Union Local 668.
The Monday ruling restored the six-hour workday for union employees and returned the full hour break. The employees are paid for a seven-hour workday.
The ruling mentions no back pay for the 30-minute break the county mandated in March.
The county reduced the lunch hour after signing a new contract with Local 668 in February. County spokeswoman Lynne Shedlock said the administration sought to enforce language in the contract that specified employees had 30 minutes for lunch.
But the language had existed since at least 1989 and had never been enforced by previous county administrations, according to the union grievance. The union argued the county did not repudiate the past practice of allowing an hour for lunch during contract negotiations last year. An arbitrator agreed.
"It was the county's decision to eliminate a 20-year practice, so the onus was on the county representatives (during contract negotiations) to make sure their intention was clearly communicated to the union negotiating team," the arbitration ruling reads.
Local 668 business manager Michelle Williard said the union would not comment on the ruling. The union represents clerical workers, maintenance staff and 911 center employees, but the ruling applies only to about 200 of its 320 union members - those who had previously received an hour break for lunch.
Mrs. Shedlock said the majority commissioners were "terribly disappointed" by the ruling. They had not decided whether to appeal, but she said they would continue to enforce the 30-minute lunch break with other employees.
Having employees work only six hours in a day is inefficient, Mrs. Shedlock said.
"This practice diminishes the efficiency of county government and is inconsistent with the goals of this administration," she said. "The 30-minute lunch period will be a county demand in all present and future union negotiations."
Texas teachers get a 30-minute lunch break for a seven-hour class schedule.
Oh, the humanity!
This demonstrates how the deck is stacked in favor of union labor.
Traditional perks become mandated obligations....liberal utopia.
It is no wonder that we have Government which can't get the job done.
Imagine if we had SEIU representing the Enlisted men and women in out Military?
The County of Lackawanna’s 2009 Budget Message
Upon taking office on January 7, 2008, the Washo & O’Brien Administration (the “Administration”) discovered a significant budget deficit looming in 2009 due to the fact that the County’s debt service more than doubled from $8,342,000 in 2003 to an anticipated $18,843,000 in 2009. The increased deficit equated to an annual debt service payment increase of $10,501,000.
Go figger...
Federal workers get a 30 minute lunch break, but it is tacked on to the 8 hour work day for a total of 8 1/2 hours.
when read carefully this story is even more surreal.
The contract spells out a 30 minute lunch break in BLACK AND WHITE
The union AGREED to 30 minutes in 1989!
Just because no one from the county ever cracked down on the hour lunch the arbitrator read in a provision that DOES NOT EXIST and awarded an hour lunch!
That is the sort of empathy for the individual that will earn this arbitrator an appointment to SCOTUS by Obama.
O’Brien is now running in the 2010 election for the US House against Kanjorski. The local media also made a big deal about O’Brien attending the Obama coronation.
If any of these employees actually did any useful work for 6 hours a day they would be totally different from most government employees. They may show up for 6 hours but they probably work less than 1 hour a day. And if anyone tries to get them to actually do anything difficult they probably file a union grievance. This is how our tax dollars are spent.
This shows what can happen when mediators get to make the call. That's part of the plan with the so-called Employee Free Choice Act--to have mediators step in and resolve disputes between labor unions and management.
I have dealt with past practice issue when dealing with Unions, my argument has been and I have won my arguments with Unions, where in the contract is past practice mentioned. If past practice is not mentioned in the contract, past practice does not exist. Take the friggin’ Union to court for Breach of Contract and kick the Union out.
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