Public Employee Press

Out-of-title grievances cure problems at HHC

An epidemic is raging at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx — one that doctors can’t cure. The epidemic goes by the name of working-out-of-title and infects all departments, including Pathology, where Beverly Chisholm works, and Building Services, where Federico Tejeda has labored for five years.

The epidemic has spread throughout the Health and Hospitals Corp., said Renee Gainer, assistant director of DC 37’s Clerical Division. Mr. Tejeda was doing the work of a supervisor on top of his regular duties as a Clerical Associate. Management even sent him to Metropolitan Hospital to do more out-of-title work.

Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 and the division cured three outbreaks of the epidemic at Lincoln when members filed grievances with DC 37 Rep Sheila Lewis. In April, after a year of hearings, all three won upgrades and back pay. They were awarded the difference between the pay of their official title and the higher pay for the work they were actually performing.

Mr. Tejeda received $3,000 and an upgrade to Clerical Associate IV. Ms. Chisholm was awarded $7,000 and an upgrade to Clerical Associate III. The third grievant, Mary A. Perez, was upgraded to Assist. Coordinating Manager with a pay differential amounting to $12,000.

“We proved that these members were working out of title and management agreed,” said Ms. Lewis. “They’re happy and with the money they got, and I’m happy for them,” she said.

Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez was elated with the victory. “We’ve won a lot of out-of-title grievances,” he said. “We’ve put a lot of money in our members’ pockets and it helps them out. I applaud the members who trusted us when they filed their grievances.”