Vacation days restored for task force member

An arbitrator in Wisconsin has upheld the right of union member Anne Ziege to attend a two-day AFT Public Employees meeting, with pay, as part of her professional development.

Ziege traveled to Washington, D.C., in October 2003 as a member of the AFT Public Employees civil service task force. She did so with approval for two days’ time off with pay to attend the task force’s meeting, but when Ziege returned to work at the Department of Health and Family Services in Madison, she was told that her request was denied—but that she could use vacation days for her absence.

Ziege’s union, Wisconsin’s Professional Employees in Research, Statistics and Analysis (PERSA), an affiliate of AFT Public Employees, filed a grievance, arguing that Ziege had a right to the paid time off for professional development under PERSA’s collective bargaining agreement with the state.

In August, arbitrator Jay E. Grenig supported the union’s position, ruling that the department violated the contract and ordering Ziege’s vacation days to be restored.

The department had argued that the AFT task force meeting did not constitute professional development because it was not “career-related.” But Grenig ruled that professional development is a broader term that “can be defined as those experiences that enable an employee to acquire and apply knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities to achieve personal, professional and organizational goals.”

Under PERSA’s contract, bargaining unit employees are entitled to up to five days’ leave with pay to attend functions that are either career-related or are related to professional development, noted Grenig. The October 2003 task force meeting, he ruled, was clearly related to “professional development.”

The AFT Public Employees civil service task force was established by the union’s program and policy council to review civil service reform initiatives and the expansion of “shadow government” and contracting out in government service.

During the past year, the task force has met twice and heard from a variety of experts; in August the group issued a report outlining the extent of offshoring and contracting out of government services.

“It’s a fabulous ruling,” says Carol Weidel, president of PERSA, noting that it confirms that the union can be an important and legitimate source of professional development for employees. “It’s an important precedent for all public employees—it’s clear that professional development is much broader than simply ‘career-related.’”