When custodians were assigned out of their bidded area more than five times in a month, our union filed a grievance over the violation of Article 6B2 of our contract. Management fought us, but we wouldn’t back down, and eventually we took the issue all the way to arbitration—and won!

The arbitrator ruled the Port had violated the language of the contract, and that the Port can not assign a custodian to work in another area in addition to their bidded area more than five times a month. They also ruled that the Port violated the contract when custodians on the call list didn’t get called for OT because another custodian was assigned out of their bidded area.

Now that the arbitrator has ruled in our favor, our union is negotiating what the Port must do to make things right. Keep an eye on seiu1021.org/port-oakland for updates!