Public Employee Press

Fighting the cuts
New labor-management teams at HHC

By starting new labor-management committees in September, the union and the administration of the Health and Hospitals Corp. expanded their joint work to improve health services and relations in the workplace and to organize hospital staff, management and the community to fight cuts in health-care funding.

The united effort gained importance as the state’s growing fiscal crisis threatened to hit HHC with potentially destructive budget reductions.

The new committees started up at Brooklyn’s Kings County Hospital Center, Coney Island Hospital and the Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, also in Brooklyn, already has a functioning committee.

“It is important for our members to actively engage in constructive teamwork with management,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts Sept. 29 at the DSSM Center. “That is why we applaud this initiative and look forward to a good working relationship.”

Committees are revitalized

The union and HHC have recently revitalized joint labor-management committees initiated earlier at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and Bellevue Hosp. in Manhattan, and one is already functioning at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Hospital Center.

The September meetings included representatives of Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 and other locals and unions with members at the institutions.

“We are without a doubt committed to this partnership of labor and management as an effective tool to improve our overall productivity,” said DSSM Executive Director Perola Smith.

“These committees are essential for our members because they give us a seat at the table with management,” said Carmen Charles, president of Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420. “And working together to resolve issues helps everyone involved.”