Local 237 filed an Improper Labor Practice Petition against the New York Police Department and the Office of Labor Relations following complaints from school safety agents about inappropriate and offensive remarks made by School Safety Division Chief Gerald Nelson.

The petition charged that Chief Nelson violated the city’s Collective Bargaining Law when he told a group of 850 school safety agents during a training session that he, not the union, was negotiating a contract for them at City Hall. Witnesses say Nelson made several offensive comments at the session, attended by agents from Queens North, Queens South and Manhattan North, at Springfield Gardens High School on Feb. 25.

“We received about 50 phone calls and four letters” from members who complained about Chief Nelson, said Local 237 Secretary-Treasurer Gregory Floyd, adding that he was “in disbelief” until he received the fourth letter. “Members almost never put anything in writing, but they were angry that the chief belittled them and their union.”

According to one letter, “Nelson started to bad-mouth Local 237,” saying, “I’m at City Hall at least once a week fighting for your contract.” Members also complained that Nelson used inappropriate and profane language when he used the “B word,” meaning female dog, to describe some mothers of elementary school children, who, in Nelson’s opinion, were disruptive to the security efforts of the NYPD at city public schools. One letter writer alleges that Nelson said, “These mothers, who are real b.....s, need to be body slammed down to the ground, cuffed, and arrested.”

On the subject of the NYPD’s plan to train agents to use gas masks, Nelson made another improper comment that an agent quotes in her letter: “If NYPD gives you more responsibility like these gas masks and training, take it. I know the NYPD will personally take care of you if you do for them.” The union’s petition charges that this comment constitutes two violations of collective bargaining law: an “illegal promise” and “direct dealing” with employees represented by Local 237.

He Lacks Authority

The petition states that Chief Nelson does not have the authority to promise a benefit in return for the agreement by school safety agents to utilize gas masks and attend further training. Such a requirement is a mandatory subject of bargaining which can only be agreed to by Local 237 as the exclusive bargaining representative of the school safety agents.

In several interviews with the media, Floyd said he was surprised and disappointed that Nelson made the alleged remarks and interjected himself into the union’s contract negotiations. “The union negotiates with New York City’s Office of Labor Relations, not Chief Gerald Nelson,” Floyd said.

The petition calls for the NYPD to “cease and desist from interfering with the rights of employees” and “with the role of Local 237 as the exclusive bargaining agent” for school safety agents. It also requests that “Nelson be officially admonished” and “issue a formal apology for his improper statements.”

The union could not file a petition based on Nelson’s comments about unruly elementary school mothers, and the NYPD said in a statement that Chief Nelson does not recall making those comments as described by some agents, according to a WABC Eyewitness News report.

An internal investigation conducted by the NYPD found that “the complaints about improper language were substantially confirmed,” said police spokesman Paul Browne, as reported in the New York Post. Browne added that Nelson was reprimanded in a meeting with Commissioner Ray Kelly, and a letter to that effect will go into his file. Disappointed with the NYPD’s decision to keep Nelson as head of school safety, Local 237’s Gregory Floyd said, “This is no big surprise. This is a typical tactic of waiting until the smoke clears and then going on with business as usual.” Floyd also expressed concern that members may be retaliated against for complaining.