A rogue cadre of school safety agents plan to call in sick tomorrow morning in a threatened wildcat strike to protest low pay and sick leave benefits, The Post has learned.
The threatened word-of-mouth “sick out” could put the safety of city school kids at risk at schools where safety agents fail to show up — and while the NYPD does not believe the job action will turn out to be widespread, sources say they are nonetheless taking urgent action to deal with the issue.
The NYPD is expected to keep a watchful eye on problem schools in each of the city’s 76 precincts tomorrow morning and be ready to provide additional resources to schools where school safety agents fail to show up, a police source said.
The threat arose in fliers that began circulating at a number of city schools in recent days that advised school safety agents to call in sick tomorrow [Thursday] and on Friday as part of “Operation Blue Flu,” which cited “tired, stressed and under paid [sic] workers.”
“We are coming to you in the hopes that everyone will unite in this movement,” another letter that has been circulating at city schools adds.
“We are tired of unfair wages and treatement. We are tired of new recruits coming out of the academy making as much as those of us that have been with [School Safety] for years. We do the same jobs as NYDP and CORRECTIONS, yet we don’t make half of their salaries.”
The author of the letter, who didn’t sign his or her name, asked for participants to sign their own names and urged that information about the job action be passed along on both Facebook and Twitter.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said he believed few school safety agents would particiapte in the job action.
“This is not something promoted by the union and there’s nothing to suggest that this is anything more than an effort by a crank,” insisted Paul Browne, a department spokesman.
Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, the union that represents school safety agents, angrily decried an unautorized job action, noting that his members have contracts and negotiated their pay scale.
“A wildcat strike is no way to go,” he insisted.
“We have a lawsuit against the city because our school safety agents are 70 percent women and they get paid less than the peace officers in other city agencies who are predominantly men and that lawsuit is now going to discovery.
“We do not condone any strikes,” he railed.
Floyd said that he even though he believes few of his members will participate, there was sufficient reason to be alarmed.
“The NYPD must take it seriously because when you have the safety of children involved, you can’t ignore it and the police department must be prepared.”