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Dozens of Port Authority Employees Call In Sick

March 13, 2009 — Between 35 and 50 employees of the Virgin Island Port Authority's Aviation Bargaining Unit called in sick Wednesday, prompting a memo from the authority requiring a doctor's certificate in order to collect sick pay, according to Monifa Marrero, the authority's public information officer.
Marrero said the authority is not clear on the reason for the employees' action, but the contract for the bargaining unit is currently in negotiations,.
The employees involved are members of the United Industrial Workers. The same unit staged a peaceful lunchtime protest during a Port Authority board meeting last October. (See: "VIPA Employees Stage Peaceful Lunchtime Protest in Board Meeting.")
The bargaining unit at the authority represents all sorts of job functions from accounting positions to custodial and police and maintenance, Marrero said.
The authority's assistant executive director, David W. Mapp, issued a memorandum requiring a doctor's certificate for any employee seeking sick leave pay for March 11.
Mapp declined comment on the internal memo.
Operation at the authority's facilities functioned Wednesday as normal, Marrero said.
Eugene Irish, vice president for the Caribbean region of the UIW, said he was not aware of any union-sanctioned job action.
"As far as I know the union has not sanctioned any activity nor has the union received any notification [from Port Authority management]," Irish said.
Irish said he became aware of the situation when a union member faxed him a copy of Mapp's memorandum. It is customary for an employer to notify the union when a work action occurs, Irish explained.
"Nobody from management from the Port Authority has contacted the union," Irish said, noting that he had been in telephone conversation twice that day with the Port Authority's general counsel, Don Mills.
Irish questioned whether 50 employees calling in sick out of over 200 employees in the bargaining unit really sounded like a legitimate work action.
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