Public Employee Press

Snow days now paydays for HHC clericals

Snow emergencies panic many Health and Hospitals Corp. employees, who are torn between leaving children at home alone and the need to report to work. When two HHC facilities docked clerical workers' pay on Feb. 10 and Feb. 26, 2010, the union went into action and won grievances that got their money back.

"There were mountains of snow. I had broken my leg before and I was slipping and sliding. I just couldn't get to the train and to work," said 19-year Gouverneur Hospital worker Judith Santiago. The hospital docked nine Local 1549 members, including Marlene Irizarry and Hazel Rosado, whose children were home from school with no babysitters available.

"As a parent myself, I understood the situation. I immediately got in touch with Assistant Clerical Division Director Renee Gainer, and I tried to handle the situation diplomatically," said Chief Shop Steward Derrick Davis. He settled eight of the cases at Step I, and one grievance is still pending.

"It's wonderful that we have the union's backup at Gouverneur Hospital," Judith Santiago said. "Management wants to do whatever they want to the workers, but the union didn't let them get away with it."

The Segundo Belvis Ruiz Diagnostic Treatment Center in the Bronx docked 17-year veteran employee Yolanda Rodriguez, the mother of two, including a 10-year-old son who suffers from cerebral palsy, mental retardation and seizures.

Despite difficulties, Rodriguez gets to work on time. But on Feb. 26, with her husband stuck at work and no school, she kept in touch with her supervisor,
calling in every half hour. Still, management docked her pay.

Shop Steward William Banfield went to bat for her. "When you have a worker like Ms. Rodriguez, with her situation, why penalize her?" he asked. When management wouldn't agree, Grievance Rep Donna McDuffie took up the issue and won the case at Step 2. "It was appalling to me that HHC could be so cavalier and cold toward one of their own with a situation that was unavoidable."

"This was an indignity," Rodriguez said. "I was very pleased that the union appreciated what I was going through. They approached it very professionally, and it felt good that I had someone to hold me up."

"Our members need to get paid. We'll take these cases all the way if we have to," said Gainer.