Paterson pays $250,000 to settle unfair labor practice claim
By Jayed Rahman
Published: July 13, 2018
The city council has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle an unfair labor practice claim filed by the emergency medical technicians’ union.
Council members agreed to settle the claim on Tuesday night. Khalifah Shabazz, the city’s chief attorney, said the Paterson Emergency Medical Technicians Association accused the city of violating labor laws by failing to make retroactive payments on time.
Shabazz said the settlement covers owed retro pay and the association’s legal expenses. $83,333 is being paid to the Bsceglie and Associates law firm and $166,667 to the EMTs, according to municipal records.
In 2010, the union filed the complaint with the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission alleging the city was “deliberately” withholding the processing of retro pay from 2002-2006.
The city’s civilian emergency medical technicians (EMT) service was disbanded in 2011. The function is carried out by firefighters.
Neither Victor Stewart, who was head of the union when the complaint was filed, nor the group’s attorney, Angelo R. Bisceglie, Jr., could be reached for comments on Friday morning.