Public Employee Press

Underpaid psych support staff gets pay bump
HHC raises salaries for Bellevue workers

The Health and Hospital Corp.'s Bellevue Hospital agreed to raise the salaries of 33 underpaid Behavioral Health Associates who earn less than newly hired, less experienced BHAs.

Without filing a grievance, Anthony Balfour, a Local 420 chapter chair, negotiated a collective pay hike of $28,000 for his workmates, with individual payouts ranging from $800 to over $1,800.

"The members need to realize that this pay increase is due to the union and Mr. Balfour's persistence," said Local 420 President Carmen Charles. "Not because of any generosity on the part of management."

Bellevue Hospital is renowned for its psychiatric care. But the hospital has grossly underpaid Behavioral Health Associates.

Despite years of experience, Bellevue BHAs earned only $37,000 a year. Nationally BHAs make $53,000 to $57,000 and those employed at New York State facilities are paid as much as $70,000 annually, according to the website indeed.com.

Local 420 advised each member in the title to request an earnings statement from payroll or the employment verification department. Balfour compiled the information and highlighted the pay disparities to management.

"Bellevue wants NYU caliber workers but offers WEP workers' pay," Balfour said.

"Even with the 2.5 percent contractual raise under the 2010-17 economic agreement and this bump, the BHAs at Bellevue will earn about $42,000, the minimum on the scale HHC offers on BHA job postings," said Carl Jones, a council rep in the DC 37 Hospitals Division.

"At other HHC facilities, BHAs can earn more," Jones said. "The union is encouraging BHAs to transfer to other HHC facilities where they can negotiate a better salary based on their education and experience."

"We are the lowest paid doing the most work in an extremely hostile environment," said Balfour. Bellevue BHAs in the Psychiatric Ward and the Forensic Psychiatric Ward deal with "patients hiding concealed weapons - hatchets, machetes, razor blades. We searched one patient and found a loaded gun. Our lives are at risk with no protections from the law or HHC," he said. "Police and Corrections Officers maintain a hands-off policy."

"Think of Oz," Balfour said, comparing Bellevue's psyche wards to the HBO series on prison life. "On any day anything can happen in a matter of seconds."

"I was a real pain in their ass until they agreed to compensate the members going forward," he said. Balfour and Local 420 were relentless for a year before management finally agreed to adjust the salaries.

"HHC's policy is equal pay for equal work, but new hires with less experience were earning more than BHAs who'd been on the job for years," Balfour said. "Tell me what's equal about that?"

— Diane S. Williams