Public Employee Press

Grievance wins back pay, assignment differentials for 11 at Harlem Hospital

Solidarity and persistence paid off for 11 Local 1549 members at Harlem Hospital, who will be getting an extra $1,300 a year plus some back pay, now that management has agreed to pay them the assignment differential they deserved all along.

The Citywide Clerical Contract provides that Health and Hospitals Corp. employees who collect financial and biographical data from patients are to receive an assignment differential - extra money - in their paychecks. Management wasn't paying the differential to the 11 members, who work in the hospital's Finance and Admitting departments, so Clerical Division Grievance Rep Eugene Williams filed a grievance last fall on their behalf.

The union pressed the grievance through earlier steps in the procedure until management agreed to do the right thing.

Keith Mason, one of the winning grievants, appreciated the union's role. "I'm thankful that they are watching over us," he said.

"Patience is a virtue. Working together makes all accomplishments possible," said Clerical Associate Olympia Small.

Zaid Abdur-Rahman, chief steward at Harlem Hospital since 1991, applauded the "tireless efforts" of Williams. "He's always working for the members and eager to help them. Without the union, we wouldn't have fairness and equity in the workplace," he said.

"These members stood up against what they knew was an injustice and Zaid followed through with them," Williams said. In addition to the increase in their paychecks, the 11 members got the differential retroactively for the period from Oct. 1, 2010 through Aug. 5, 2011.

"It was management's responsibility to give them the assignment differential," said DC 37 Clerical Division Assistant Director Renee Gainer. "They shouldn't even have had to grieve this."