In August of 2012, NFFE Local 1442, representing employees at Letterkenny Army Depot, filed a grievance against the Army on behalf of all bargaining unit employees. The Grievance alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Title V (FEPA), among other violations.
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 LEAD employees about their job duties and how much unpaid overtime they have worked.
The Agency failed to timely respond to the Grievance, which necessitated a second grievance and triggered a default in favor of the Union. In November of 2014, Arbitrator Ira Jaffe ruled in the Union’s favor in all aspects and retained jurisdiction to determine the appropriate relief. The Agency completed presenting its evidence as to which employees should stay FLSA exempt, and the Arbitrator will issue a ruling in the coming months.
Currently, the Union and law firm are preparing for arbitration hearings before Arbitrator Jaffe 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. If you are or were in the NFFE Local 1442 bargaining unit at LEAD, 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.