CWA, L. 1183, 17 OCB2d 7 (BCB 2024)
The Union claimed that the Board of Elections unilaterally changed the eligibility criteria for annual bonuses, in violation of NYCCBL § 12-306(a)(1) and (4), which resulted in the Board of Elections withholding payment of the bonuses to Trainer Assistants. The City contended that the petition should be dismissed as untimely or, in the alternative, deferred to arbitration because the Union is attempting to enforce a contractual provision, and that there was no change of criteria because the Board of Elections merely exercised its managerial prerogative to issue discretionary bonuses. The Board found that the petition is timely, declined to defer the matter to arbitration, and held that the eligibility criteria for annual bonuses is a mandatory subject of bargaining that the Board of Elections unilaterally changed in violation of NYCCBL § 12-306(a)(1) and (4). Accordingly, the petition was granted.