"A day is a day, not a day and a quarter," was the message Plainedge Educational Secretaries Unit Barbara Fisch brought to the Nov. 20 board of education meeting, where fellow CSEA members had gathered en masse to show their support. That was the recent ruling of Supreme Court Justice Joseph Covello, which upheld the contractual vacation claims of 35 of the unit's members against the school district.

Since then, the district has filed a notice of appeal that Fisch called, "a waste of taxpayer money and a delay in our members receiving what we are contractually entitled to."

However, according to Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Burns, "The district believes it has a legitimate claim and we are pursuing all of the avenues available to us to correct it."

In June of 2000, the union and district agreed that the clerical staff would work a four-day week in July and August of that year, and vacation days would be charged at the rate of one-and-a-quarter days for each vacation day taken. The agreement was applicable only to that summer.

Later that year the union and district negotiated a new agreement. The district proposal on vacations said union members would have either 10 working days (two weeks) or 15 working days (three weeks) off, depending on length of service. The union negotiators gained the district's agreement to remove the words "two weeks" and "three weeks" from the clause, so the contract set vacations solely in terms of days.

In the spring of 2001, the district sent vacation request forms to the secretaries and indicated that vacation time would be charged at one-and-a-quarter days for each day of vacation in the summer. The union objected, saying the day and one-quarter rule applied only in 2000.

The union won an advisory arbitration decision last year that ruled that the secretaries were entitled to the number of days set forth in the collective bargaining agreement and compensation for the days they had not received.

The Plainedge Board of Education rejected the arbitrator's determination. The union then took the matter to court, seeking implementation of the arbitrator's finding.

In the decision supporting the union position, Covello disposed of the district's claims. He found the June 2000 agreement clearly stated it applied only during the summer of 2000, and denied any intent by negotiators to extend the provision past that period.

Covello also rejected the district's claim that the union had been deceptive or misleading at the bargaining table. He noted the district was represented by experienced and able negotiators.

"The district was free at all times to request the inclusion of whatever provisions it deemed advisable to protect the rights and to ensure that the collective bargaining agreement ultimately conformed to its understanding of the bargain struck," he stated.

Covello "ordered and declared that the parties' collective bargaining agreement does not authorize the district to deduct vacation time at a rate in excess of one day for each single vacation day taken."

"Most of the ladies are entitled to three more days vacation for the year," said Fisch. "The newer employees, two days a year. So it's six to nine days vacation for each member, depending on the length of service."

Louis G. Stober, Jr., CSEA's Regional Attorney in Nassau County said, "We had our interpretation of the contract confirmed. The employee will get either a sum of money or the time."