In February of 2010, AFGE Local 1770, representing employees on Pope Air Force Base, filed a grievance against the Air Force on behalf of all bargaining unit employees. The Grievances alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Title V (FEPA), among other violations. As part of the BRAC, the Air Force Base became Pope Army Airfield.
The Law Offices of Snider and Associates, as the legal representatives for the Union, are working hard for the bargaining unit employees to ensure that their rights under federal law are upheld. As part of the process, we have been contacting Pope employees about their job duties and how much unpaid overtime they have worked.
The Agency disputed that the Union’s Grievance was viable and in October of 2010 Arbitrator Jack Clarke was selected to resolve the dispute. The Agency challenged the Union at every stage, and filed several motions with the Arbitrator in an attempt to get the grievance dismissed or limited. Arbitrator Clarke ruled in favor of the Union each time. Beginning in November of 2013 and continuing until May of 2016, arbitration hearings were held in which the Agency attempted to prove that it correctly designated certain employees as FLSA Exempt. These have concluded, and Arbitrator Clarke will issue his decision.
Currently, the Union and law firm are preparing for arbitration hearings before Arbitrator Clarke to determine which employees were not properly compensated for overtime they performed, and to what extent. We expect this process to continue for some time as we gather more information about overtime work from bargaining unit employees, gather certain data from Agency records, and prepare witnesses for the hearings. The purpose of these hearings is to recover damages for the Union on behalf of bargaining unit employees. Employees covered by the FLSA may be entitled to compensation for suffered or permitted overtime, and employees covered by FEPA may be entitled to pay for work that was ordered or induced to be performed but not paid properly. Additionally, there are damages which flow from the Agency’s failure to properly designate certain employees as FLSA non-exempt.
If you are or were in the AFGE Local 1770 bargaining unit at Pope, please contact us if you believe you have information to share about overtime for which you did not receive proper compensation.
All bargaining unit employees, whether or not they are members of the union, and regardless of position or pay grade, are covered by this grievance and could potentially benefit from a successful result.
Also in February of 2010, AFGE Local 1770 filed another grievance alleging that the Agency failed to bargain with the Union before unilaterally implementing alternative work schedules, which caused employees to work more than 8 hours in day without proper compensation. The Law Offices of Snider and Associates represents the Union in this matter as well.
In August of 2011, Arbitrator Stanley Sergeant was selected to resolve the dispute. In March of 2012, Arbitrator Sergeant ruled in favor of the Union that the AWS schedules were illegal, and all that is left to do is determine the proper method for calculating back pay owed to the Union on behalf of the bargaining unit employees affected by the AWS. Accomplishing this was significantly delayed by the Agency failing to provide Snider and Associates with schedule and payroll data in a timely fashion. It is expected that the arbitrator will issue the back pay award in the coming months.
All bargaining unit employees, whether or not they are members of the union, as long as they were on an AWS during the relevant timeframe, are covered by this grievance and could potentially benefit from a successful result.