Public Employee Press


Teamwork wins grievances at Local 1549
Local 1549 members get fairness in the workplace


"Clerical Associates take a civil service exam to secure their jobs," said Olivia Crum, Local 1549 chief shop steward at Elmhurst. "There is a hiring list at Elmhurst, and members who took the test should be called off the list if there are clerical positions open."


By MOLLY CHARBONEAU

A major benefit of union membership is having a voice in the workplace when management is unfair. Members of NYC Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 recently benefited from the power of this solidarity.

After reaching out to their union in two separate out-of-title grievances at NYC Health + Hospitals and the Dept. of Environmental Protection, the members worked as a team with their shop stewards, reps and union attorneys to win victories.

At Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, Clerical Associate Maribel Gonzalez contacted her union when she realized that management had assigned community liaisons - at higher pay - to do clerical tasks, and that she was the only Clerical Associate in Referral Operations performing the clerical duties of her title.

"Clerical Associates take a civil service exam to secure their jobs," said Olivia Crum, Local 1549 chief shop steward at Elmhurst. "There is a hiring list at Elmhurst, and members who took the test should be called off the list if there are clerical positions open."

Instead, management was unfairly circumventing this process and the union team proved it.

In a reverse-out-of-title victory, the arbitrator ordered NYC Health + Hospitals to stop assigning clerical tasks to community liaisons in Elmhurst's Referral Operations, a decision that protects Local 1549 members.

In the Dept. of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Wastewater Treatment in Valhalla, Clerical Associate 3 Joseph Borchetta faced an out-of-title situation related to vehicle management work.

Although his job specifications called on him to perform clerical duties, DEP management violated his union contract by assigning Borchetta to a variety of out-of-title tasks in its Management Services and Budget Directorate without a pay increase. So he contacted the union and filed a grievance.

"They had him doing everything imaginable," said Clerical-Administrative Division Sr. Council Rep Eddie Douglass.

DEP-owned vehicles are signed out using reservation and tracking systems. Among other tasks, Borchetta was called on to troubleshoot these systems; track mileage and provide mileage charts; fix flats and drive vehicles to and from the mechanic, and even jump-start dead batteries - duties well beyond his job description.

By working with the union, Borchetta reached a settlement that won him almost $2,800 in back pay and a promotion to the Principal Administrative Associate 1 title.

"These cases clearly show how belonging to a union brings fairness to members at the workplace," said Clerical-Administrative Division Director Renee Gainor.