By MIKE LEE

Cutting budgets has unforeseen and emotionally damaging consequences, as was the case for several Local 983 Motor Vehicle Operators (MVOs) and Traffic Enforcement Agents Level IIIs (TEA IIIs) working at the New York City Police Department.

After the NYPD budget was cut by $1 billion in June 2020 to make up for lost expenses, management made numerous changes, including shifting job responsibilities for members of NYPD’s civilian workforce. One of the “solutions” was to do away with overtime for Motor Vehicle Operators.

In July 2020, the Department instructed its Fleet Services Divisions that MVOs would no longer be assigned to evidence tows — removing of vehicles from crime and emergency scenes — historically their responsibility.

The first consequence of the NYPD’s action was a loss of overtime and pay differentials for the MVOs, who have special training, equipment, and experience working at accident and crime sites.

“If you look at the specs of the Motor Vehicle Operators, it’s their responsibility to respond to any situation that involves the NYPD,” said Marvin Robbins, First Vice President of NYC Motor Vehicle Operators Local 983. “That’s their job.”

Robbins explained the difficulties inherent in the job.

“In their work, they have exclusivity. MVOs are responsible for recovering vehicles at homicides, suicides, and other crime scenes,” Robbins said.

Instead, NYPD forced TEA IIIs to take on the gruesome duties.

“TEAs are traffic agents. Their job is to tow vehicles violating parking in order to generate revenue for the City,” Robbins said.

The TEA IIIs were unprepared for what their new job responsibilities entailed. They had no hazmat suits or training to handle motor vehicles without contaminating evidence. They dealt with the aftermaths of suicides and gun violence crimes, all involving blood and bodily fluids.

In February 2021, Local 983 filed an improper practice petition on behalf of 27 MVOs, stating that the NYPD violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement by refusing to bargain with the union regarding assignments of vehicle tows formerly done by the experienced MVOs to another job title.

During testimony, one TEA III testified that after an assignment in which he had to tow a bloodstained, bullet-riddled automobile, he experienced mental health issues including anxiety, panic attacks, and loss of sleep.

“The member notified NYPD supervisors about this, telling them, ‘I’m not trained for this. I’m having panic attacks,’” said Onya Brinson, an attorney at DC 37’s General Counsel’s Office who handled the case for Local 983 during arbitration.

“They never gave this member a reasonable accommodation. Eventually, the member was transferred to another tow pound,” Brinson said. “My goodness, it was just horrible.”

In a Nov. 30, 2022 decision from the Office of Collective Bargaining, NYPD was ordered to cease unilaterally transferring evidence tows from MVOs and reinstated the procedures and responsibility in handling the job.

The OCB panel further ordered the NYPD to compensate the Motor Vehicle Operators impacted for lost wages resulting from the improper practice of transferring their work to the TEA IIIs. The compensation timeline began from the initial decision in the summer of 2020 until the policy was restored.

As PEPtalk goes to press, the NYPD is complying with the OCB order, which entails the likelihood of tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for the affected Local 983 members.

“Local 983 will always fight for our members’ rights,” said Local 983 President Joe Puleo. “Thanks to the help of DC 37’s Research and Negotiations Department, the union’s Legal Department, and the DC 37 Safety & Health Department, we were once again successful. We stand against and will never tolerate exploitation or management setting workers against each other.”