Appellate Division Nixes CSA’s Parking Permits
by Anne Silverstein
In a reversal for CSA, an appeals court found in favor of the city in the matter of school parking permits. CSA plans to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals.
The city had appealed a lower arbitration award as well as a Supreme Court decision, both of which were found in CSA’s favor. The mid-September decision disregards the well-settled law that parking permits are a term or condition of employment and thus cannot be reduced without prior union negotiation, said union officials familiar with the case.
The union’s fight has been over the city’s right to take away parking permits from CSA members. In 2008, in response to heavy criticism about the abuse of parking permits by city employees, Mayor Bloomberg ordered city agencies to reduce the number of parking permits by 20 percent. The method of distribution at schools was changed and CSA grieved the matter claiming that a change in working conditions had to be negotiated.
In the most recent ruling, the Appellate Division said that the city Department of Transportation, and not the Department of Education, has the authority to distribute permits.
“It is undisputed that the power to issue parking permits rests in the exclusive control of the City,” the decision reads. “DOT is the preeminent City agency responsible for regulating traffic, including parking, within the City … In this case, the award directs DOE to issue permits in such manner and by such method that it directly overrides the authority of DOT. Indeed, it directs DOE to exercise a legal authority it does not possess. This not only means the arbitrator exceeded his authority, but did so in an entirely irrational way. Moreover, Supreme Court erred in attempting to soften or justify this irrational overreach.”
The decision goes on to say that the reduction of permits in 2008 did not violate the collective bargaining agreement because DOT is not a party to that agreement.
The Court stated that the city has a clear public policy in reducing pollution and traffic congestion and by reducing the number of parking permits, the city fulfills that policy. “The objectives of reducing congestion, pollution and the City's carbon footprint, and promoting the use of public transportation are all city initiatives encompassed in the City Charter and the Administrative Code.”
