By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

As a volunteer in his Bronx community, Heriberto Velez spent three hours or more every day in the Pediatrics Ward of Lincoln Hospital. He enjoyed working alongside hospital staff and helping children get better.

When a per diem job as a Buildings Service Aide opened up, Mr. Velez said, “I jumped on it.”

“I really wanted this job bad,” said the tall and lanky Velez. On the application, he answered every question, including the one about prior convictions.

Mr. Velez had a few brushes with the law: As a teenager, he got a citation for smoking on a subway; there were a few outstanding traffic tickets and an arrest. So as a precaution, Mr. Velez attached his disposition, a court document that gave the status of the criminal cases.

“I had nothing to hide,” he said. “I wanted nothing to interfere with getting the job.”

In June 2000, Lincoln Hospital hired him and he became a member of Local 420. But six months later, management fired him for “failure to comply with background information.”

Somehow, the disposition had been lost. The bad news reduced Mr. Velez to tears. “He was doing the right thing, he had cleaned up his act,” said Hospitals Division Council Rep Felicita Creque, “and to lose his job was devastating. He didn’t want to go backwards.”

Mr. Velez got a notarized letter from the Coordinating Manager who had processed his job application. The letter stated that the court document was filed with his application. “When I saw the letter, I knew something went wrong,” said Ms. Creque. With the document in hand, she and Shop Stewards Migdalia Calderon and Joseph Cruzado went to bat for Mr. Velez.

Four weeks later, he was reinstated with an apology from Lincoln Hospital. “The union gave me confidence and hope. My friends at DC 37 never doubted that truth would prevail,” Mr. Velez said.