Two stories at Bellevue Hospital recently concluded with happy endings for members of Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549.

Jack Goldfarb, a Clerical Associate in the Radiology Dept., and a doctor got into a heated lunchtime argument. But only Mr. Goldfarb, with six unblemished years on the job, was suspended for 10 days without pay.

With the help of Clerical Division Rep Nina Perez, he appealed successfully to the Personnel Review Board of the Health and Hospitals Corp. His record was expunged and he got his lost wages back.

Ms. Perez and Shop Steward Rosetta Liburd helped three Clerical Associates win working-out-of-title grievances. The grievances led to upgrades and assignment differentials for Local 1549 members Evelyn Zertuch, Ronald Pyatt, and Jafar Al-Kazim. Ms. Liburd, an 18-year veteran worker, has been a shop steward for two years. In that time, she’s taken the union’s basic and advanced steward training courses and attended the local’s educational conference for stewards.

“This was my first working-out-of-title grievance,” she said. “It went straight on through and the members didn’t have to wait years for it to be resolved. They got everything they wanted.”

Ms. Perez is encouraged by the new steward’s performance: “She’s eager, she does the proper research, and she’s also diplomatic when speaking to management. She’s a very valuable steward.” “People who are not being properly paid for the work they are doing should file a grievance immediately to get their full back pay,” said Local 1549 2nd Vice President Ralph Palladino.