NAPE/AFSCME member and union steward Sean Vilmont has worked for the Nebraska Department of Transportation in Fremont for more than three years. In the spring, Sean was a Highway Construction Technician II performing general construction duties like surveying, materials inspections, and construction site inspections.
In May, Sean was assigned to be a project lead on a construction project on Highway 275. Being a project leader is a duty assigned to Highway Construction Technician III classification, and the work that Sean was doing was outside of his job classification. As a union steward, Sean is trained and familiar with our union contract, and he knew he was entitled to temporarily be paid at a higher rate of pay.
“From my steward training, I knew that I should be paid at the minimum rate for a Construction Tech III as long as I was assigned the work more than eight hours over two consecutive days,” said Sean. “I was working on that project everyday, and it ended up being 240 hours that I worked out of class over a few weeks. It ended up being over $1,200 that I was due in out of class pay.”
Sean wrote up a grievance and went through the grievance process, where NDOT agreed that our contract required that he paid at the higher rate. Sean was paid the back wages, and eventually was promoted to Highway Construction Tech III permanently.
If you find yourself working out of class, be sure to contact your union representative right away for assistance. Strict time limits apply to the grievance process. If you’re ready to get trained on our union contract and serve as a union steward like Sean, sign up for an upcoming leadership training by clicking here. “I really encourage everyone to learn the contract,” Sean said. “Knoelwedge is important, and as a steward I’m able to make sure our rights are protected.”