Miramar pays out $168K in fight over holiday wage

Miramar overlooked one sentence in an 85-page contract and — after four years in court — it means a big payday for city staffers who worked a holiday shift.

They’re getting 31⁄2 times their normal pay for each such shift they worked.

Some 127 employees of the city’s public works, utilities, parks and recreation and other departments this week were given a total of $168,000 in back pay. The employee who benefited most received a check for $8,915, said Natasha Hampton, city spokeswoman.

The dispute focused on the interpretation of a clause in the city’s contract with the General Association of Miramar Employees Union.

It stated that all workers would be given holidays off with normal pay, but those who had to work would get 21⁄2 times normal pay. The union said that meant a total of 31⁄2 times normal pay — the holiday pay plus what they would have made anyway.

After four years of arguing — and $13,000 in legal costs — the city conceded on Nov. 1.

Jeremiah Edmond, president of the union that represents 365 full-time and 17 part-time employees, did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

The disputed contract was effective Oct. 1, 2012, through Sept. 30, 2015. Its language had been borrowed from previous contracts but was never formally challenged until the union did so in 2013. Because the language was borrowed, the city’s legal staff did not review it.

“We thought it was in the best interest of both sides to put an end to it, put it behind us and move forward,” said Mayor Wayne Messam.

He said the city froze the wages of many of those union employees during the recession and he was sympathetic to them because they stuck out those hard times.

“I’m just happy now that things have come to a settlement,” he said.

The city’s legal staff has gone over the current contract line by line. The clause that cost the city back pay plus legal fees has been cleaned up.

Employees will be paid 21⁄2 times normal pay — with no dispute.