5 SUSPENDED WORKERS MUST GO BACK ON CITY PAYROLL, JUDGE RULES

NIAGARA FALLS - State Supreme Court Justice Amy J. Fricano has ordered the
city to resume paying five suspended city employees and to comply with the
disciplinary process contained in its collective bargaining agreement with
United Steelworkers of America Local 9434-02.

John A. Soro, president of the union, said the circumstances leading to the
suspension of each of the employees were different, but two of them
involved mandatory random drug and alcohol testing required for commercial
vehicle operators.

In the cases of those two employees, the drug testing was ordered Dec. 18,
the morning after the union's holiday party, which Soro called very suspect.

"They chose that day because (of a presumption that) people would have been
drinking the night before," he said. Assistant Corporation Counsel
Christopher J. Mazur said two employees "skipped out on the test."

Soro said one employee refused the test, which is considered the same as a
positive result, and another never showed up for work.

Soro said the union's complaint isn't with the testing, but with the
procedure the city followed afterward, which violated newly negotiated
provisions of the union's contract.

He said City Administrator Albert T. Joseph ordered a civil service hearing
before a hearing officer of his choice. In this case, it was to be City
Assessor Dominic L. Penale. Under the procedure, the administrator doesn't
even have to take the hearing officer's recommendation, Soro said.

"Basically, it's a kangaroo court," he said.

He said the procedure negotiated in the contract requires the use of an
independent hearing officer. No action can be taken against the employee
before a hearing is held.

Mazur said there was a difference in the interpretation of the new
provisions and the city administration thought it had the right to choose
the disciplinary procedure.

He said the city administration will have to determine whether or not to
appeal the decision. If not, the cases would have to go to arbitration,
under Fricano's order, he said.

Soro said the employees have been off work since Jan. 7 at taxpayers'
expense. He said the city has not called them in for retesting even though
they are willing and could be back at work.