Public Employee Press

Queens adult literacy staff win upgrades

The creation of a new job title series to better recognize the professional skills of adult literacy workers at the Queens Borough Public Library will raise their salaries by at least $3,000. The union and the library settled a grievance in December by establishing the new positions for about 15 Adult Literacy Center workers.

The library implemented the settlement immediately after the signing on Dec. 19. “This was like a Christmas present,” said one of the grievants, Jassica Chan, who works at a literacy center in Flushing.

The new titles are Library Literacy Specialist 1 and 2, Library Literacy Assistant Center Manager 1 and 2, and Library Literacy Center Manager 1, 2 and 3. Their base salaries will range from $33,919 to $45,586 — about $3,000 above comparable Community Associate titles — except for new hires, who will remain about the same as new Community Associates.

In addition, the workers now are entitled to longevity differentials after seven, 10 and 15 years of service ($267, $800, and $1,534), a service increment after five and 10 years ($1,371 and $2,743) and a city longevity after 15 years ($800).

“This improvement will help the library recruit and retain literacy employees, who give so much to Queens’ vibrant multi-ethnic community, which is one of the most diverse in the country,” said Margalit Susser, president of Queens Borough Public Library Local 1321. The local aims to improve representation of such members by creating a new elective position, vice president for non-librarian professional and technical employees, Susser said.

When the library established the literacy centers years ago, it classified the staff as Community Associates. This was a sore spot for them because Community Associate is a blue-collar title that doesn’t require a college degree and its job specifications don’t match their work.

Torn between dedication and low pay
“We really love what we do and these are great jobs,” said Anita Citron, who works at the Central Adult Literacy Center in Jamaica, Queens, explaining how the workers felt torn by their dedication to their jobs and the library’s failure to pay them adequately for their education, experience and professionalism. “You get very frustrated by the lack of money.”

With bachelor’s and master’s degrees, the literacy workers teach English reading and writing to the borough’s huge immigrant community; train volunteer instructors; run and oversee basic language skills, job readiness, computer and citizenship classes; and manage the collections of videos, books, DVDs and instructional material in the centers. Several of the workers have over 10 or 20 years on the job.

“The library ‘yessed’ us for years but never fixed the problem,” said Executive Vice President John Hyslop, who helped the Local 1321 members file their out-of-title grievance in 2005.

Both Susser and Hyslop praised Chen and her co-workers for their patience and meticulous gathering of information to bolster the union’s case. They said vital technical support came from former Local President John Socha, Director Dennis Sullivan and Assistant Director David Paskin of the DC 37 Research and Negotiation Dept., and Assistant Director Hector Coto and Rep Stephanie Miller of the DC 37 Professional Division.