Pasadena Termination Settlement!

After ten years as an employee of the City of Pasadena, Helga Kuhn, a Staff Assistant III, was told in December of 1999 that she was being “let go” from her position in the Fire Department. Helga had worked there for six months, after transferring from her prior position, and was on a six-month probation as a result of the transfer. “It took me almost two months to convince the prior Human Resources Director that Helga had Skelly rights to an informal hearing before her being terminated!” reports Business Manager Fred Lowe. They finally brought her back at the end of January, 2000, with full back pay, and then proceeded to terminate her for cause (including a Skelly hearing) even though in ten years all she had ever received was a written warning!

Local 777 then turned the case over to their law firm and, while the lawyers were battling it out Helga decided it was not worth returning. The City clearly violated the MOU as they had an obligation to return her to her previous job if she did not pass the transfer probation—as well as

“Over the years I have had my suspicions about the union showing favoritism with certain employees and never thought that they would fight for ‘me’ but they really did,” states Helga Kuhn. “Fred and the attorney the union provided to represent me were very supportive and were the ones that ‘knew’ that I had done nothing wrong and that my rights had been violated.”

to try and find her another job if her old job was now filled.

They had to finally acknowledge responsibility and offered Helga TWICE what her full back pay would have been if she still wanted to return to work—which she longer desired as a result of her treatment.

Five Day Suspension Rescinded

Robert Potter, City of Los Angeles Wastewater Collection Supervisor, was successful through the grievance procedure in having his five day suspension rescinded at the third level of the grievance procedure. Potter was suspended when two employees he supervises became involved in potential workplace violence issues. Management finally determined that training rather than discipline for Robert is the more appropriate course of action and has agreed to give him a written counseling memo which will be removed after one year, retroactive to the date of the suspension.

Every year roughly 1.8 million workers report Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs—formerly called repetitive motion injuries) which account for over half of all occupational illnesses. One-third, or 600,000, are forced to take time off from work to recover.

On March 20, President Bush signed a bill repealing new workplace safety regulations. The measure, revoking rules issued late in the Clinton administration, was the first substantive policy Bush signed into law. Repealing the rules hits women the hardest, as they make up 46 percent of the work force, but account for 64 percent of repetitive motion injuries.

The rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were aimed at preventing carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and other health problems associated with repetitive motion, awkward postures, contact stress and the like. When OSHA, a branch of the Department of Labor, issued the rules last November, it said the rules would cost $4.5 billion to implement, but would save businesses $9 billion in a year in increased productivity and fewer sick days. OSHA had predicted that the new standard would have prevented 6.4 million injuries in the first 10 years alone.

The new federal standards Bush killed are significantly different from the state’s ergonomic standards, as they would have mandated that OSHA require employers to provide Work Restriction Protection (WRP). WRP would have guaranteed employees on restricted duty maintain 100 percent of earnings and full benefits or be allowed to transfer to a temporary alternative duty job at full pay and benefits.