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‘This is why unions exist in the first place.’
Union activism gets justice for worker
FREDONIA — Village of Fredonia employee Jason Jakubowicz
was told by his employer 18 months ago he was fired because he didn’t have
Christopher
village. “It was obvious to me our employer was unfairly targeting Jason. They were violating terms of our collective bargaining agreement and infringing on his due process rights. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Above all else, I was going to protect the language of our contract.”
Christopher worked with our union’s Legal Department and regional attorney Chuck DeAngelo to get justice.
In April 2017, state Supreme
Court Justice Frank Sedita said the village’s firing of Jakubowicz violated state Civil Service law. Sedita ruled Jakubowicz was to be fully reinstated to his job.
The village appealed the decision, and the case was sent to the Fourth Department Appellate Division.
In March 2018, the appellate court upheld Sedita’s decision.
Village officials filed an appeal that was rejected, arguing first that an arbitration hearing should be stopped.
Village officials also argued that because a commercial driver’s license is a minimum qualification for Jakubowicz’ position, his failure to have a CDL required that he be fired.
The appellate panel unanimously rejected the village’s contention because the position’s job requirements note only that a valid state motor vehicle operator’s license is required.
Because the CDL license
wasn’t expressly stated in the job specifications, due process and fairness require civil service and collective bargaining protections to be followed before the employee can be terminated.
Christopher and DeAngelo knew this from the get-go and both were pleased the courts saw it their way.
The appellate panel also wrote that an employee charged with failing to possess a minimum qualification for their job is entitled to a notice
of the charge and an opportunity
to contest it. Village officials never offered Jakubowicz such a hearing.
The village requested a stay on the arbitration hearing, which the court denied because proper procedure was not followed.
The court instructed village officials to fully reinstate Jakubowicz with full back pay and benefits retroactive to his termination.
“I was very happy for Jason, and I was relieved at the fact justice prevailed in this case,” Christopher said. “We stuck with him throughout this process, and in some ways, his story is a good example why unions exist in the first place.”
Christopher said this was not just a win for Jakubowicz, but a win for all union workers statewide.
“I come from a union family. I believe in what I do,” Christopher said. “When you see positive outcomes like this, it just reinforces the idea that unions really can make a difference for members who have been treated unfairly. It makes all the union work and effort worthwhile.”
— Ove Overmyer
 a commercial
driver’s license (CDL).
That didn’t sit very well with Village of Fredonia Unit President K.C. Christopher.
Thanks to Christopher’s persistence and our union’s legal resources, Jakubowicz was recently reinstated to his village job.
Soon after Jakubowicz’ 2016 firing, Christopher put his union power
in motion and filed the necessary paperwork to get his co-worker reinstated.
“I knew right from the start management was on the wrong side of this issue,” said Christopher, also a motor equipment operator at the
 Union intervention overturns surprise health insurance cost spike
VALHALLA — In non-union workplaces, employees grappling with unexpected health care costs usually have no choice but to foot the bill.
Thanks to our union, when management blindsided Westchester Medical Center Unit members with higher out-of-pocket costs, we were able to get justice.
“Without a union, we wouldn’t have been able to fight this,” said Westchester Medical Center Unit President Susan Fontana. “We wouldn’t have had legal assistance like we did with CSEA. We would have had to fight individually and pay attorneys, case by case. We realized we were dealing with something that affects every single member, so having our union behind us made the difference.”
Benefit of a contract
With health insurance provisions spelled out in our union contract with the hospital, Fontana filed a class-action grievance when she realized management was violating a part of the contract stating that any CSEA member would pay no more than a 5 percent increase in costs following agreed upon changes to their health insurance plan design. The only exception was if members used Westchester Medical Center facilities for treatment.
That violation quickly hit
our members in the wallet. Unit Treasurer Jim Mazzella was one of
a number of members forced to dig into their pockets to pay unexpected out-of-pocket costs.
Mazzella went to a nearby hospital for outpatient knee surgery. Before the plan changes, he would have paid a $15 co-payment. Instead,
he was told to shell out $272.87.
“I got calls constantly,” Fontana
said. “When you see doctors or
go to urgent care, they want the co-payment upfront, so this was costing people a lot of money. Imagine you have a couple of kids who are sick in the middle of winter and need to go to urgent care? That’s a serious expense.”
The case ultimately went to arbitration, at which CSEA regional attorney Nathaniel Charny argued that the unit’s contract language was clear and that CSEA members were being forced to pay far more than a 5 percent increase in costs.
The arbitrator ruled in our union’s favor, ordering hospital management to reimburse members for the costs incurred.
Sticking together
It was roughly a year from the
time Fontana filed the grievance that the arbitrator’s decision arrived. Now, Fontana and her officers are working with CSEA staff and Charny to ensure members are reimbursed and the arbitrator’s decision is honored.
While members could have avoided the out-of-pocket costs by using Westchester Medical Center facilities and doctors, Fontana
said members want the freedom to choose their health care providers.
“We should have a choice,” Fontana said. “There are some services that aren’t offered here, such as urgent care. Some people want a little more privacy, and they feel more comfortable going somewhere other than their own workplace for medical care.”
Thanks to our union, members will retain that freedom.
— Jessica Ladlee
 May 2018
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