PEP, June 2010: Schoolkids need us more than Wall Street

Computer Associate Reuben Muhammad’s base of operations is a small windowless office on the fifth floor at Norman Thomas High School.

Inside, he uses seven servers to run the network of nearly 700 computers for the 2,000 students and teachers at the 10-story building at 111 East 33rd St. in Manhattan.

“I’m it,” said Muhammad, a member of Electronic Data Processing Personnel Local 2627. “I’m the only computer technician in the building. Basically, this is a ‘mom and pop shop’ without the mom.”

Muhammad started out as a Computer Service Technician at the business school in 2003. Last year, after working out of title for many years, he won a promotion, pay increase and some back pay thanks to settlement of a grievance he filed with the support of DC 37.

Muhammad looks back at his early days at Norman Thomas as a technological stone age. “It was insane,” Muhammad said describing the computer system (if you can even call it a system) when he joined the staff there. Back then, there were about 300 poorly maintained computers in the school, which then had 2,400 students and 300 staff members. The machines were mostly “stand-alone” computers, which were not connected into a network. In one room, Muhammad found 5,000 viruses on the computers.

“In one of the labs, students had to save their work on a floppy disc and line up at the back of the class to print their material,” Muhammad said. “Now you can be in a computer lab on the fourth floor and print in a lab on any other floor.”

“Reuben has single-handedly taken a raggedy operation and converted it into a state-of-the-art wireless computer network,” said Local 2627 President Robert D. Ajaye. “We are pleased that the Dept. of Education has finally chosen to recognize his accomplishments and the responsibilities he has assumed as he runs the school’s complex computer system.”

Muhammad expressed his appreciation to DC 37 Rep Marianela Santana, and Local 2627 2nd Vice President Cynthia Perkins for encouraging him to file the grievance. They stuck by him throughout the process, which involved extensive documentation and three hearings. He also said he appreciated the support of Principal Philip Martin.

Management insensitivity

“Too often management doesn’t acknowledge the complexity of the work that our members do and fails to compensate them appropriately,” Perkins said.

Ajaye said it is important for members to understand that the union will always be on the job for them.

At the grievance hearings, the union argued that when Muhammad was hired years ago, his primary responsibility was computer maintenance. But over the years, he has taken on the tasks of a local area network administrator. In that capacity, he has:

installed software on all the computers;
set up students with secure personal computer accounts that have “roaming profile privileges,” which allow them access from any computer in the network;
blocked access to inappropriate Web sites;
opened a new computer lab with 35 computers each year; and
set up mobile carts with laptops for classroom instruction, research and writing.

In addition to his expertise in maintaining PCs, Muhammad is trained to maintain the Apple computers that students use in a class to run virtual, or Internet-based, business applications.

The computer network and students’ ability to log on throughout the building have improved the school’s library services, School Librarian Jean Conti said.

“He has been a tremendous help in the library by giving students access to the Internet,” Conti said.

For all the joy he gets from his technical work, Muhammad said he takes special pride in helping the kids.

“I want to work in the Dept. of Education,” he said. “Every time I fix a computer, I am helping our community. If everyone worked on Wall Street, what would happen to Main Street? The kids need us a lot more than Wall Street does.”

— Gregory N. Heires