Public Employee Press

Out-of-title claims pay off for Coney Island workers

Communication is at the core of the work that Jacqueline Drew and Yelena Lovchin do at Coney Island Hospital’s Psychiatric Unit. Dealing with distraught clients, scheduling doctors and student medical personnel, collecting statistics and devising new ways to use the data are a part of their daily routines.

The two Local 1549 members know each other so well that they can complete each other’s sentences. This comes in handy since Ms. Lovchin works inside the unit while Ms. Drew communicates from the Mobile Crisis Team.

But communication became a problem for the women. “Management added more duties to my job description,” explained Ms. Drew. “At first I tried to negotiate with them verbally, but they were never willing to talk about salary,” she said. Ms. Drew filed a working-out-of-title grievance in June 2002.

One month later, Ms. Lovchin filed her own grievance. “Before me, there were three people doing the job. They left and I had to do their work and more, including translation,” explained the Russian-born worker.

On May 20, an impartial arbitrator ruled in favor of the women, who received upgrades, Ms. Drew to Clerical Associate III and Ms. Lovchin to Secretary III A. Both got checks for about $6,000, representing the difference between what they were paid and the higher rate for the work they actually performed.

Grievance Rep Nina Perez said, “The members, union attorney Fausto Zapata and I worked together to achieve the results.” “Thank you a thousand times to Nina Perez and the union,” said Ms. Lovchin. “It’s just absolutely wonderful,” echoed Ms. Drew.

Assistant Clerical Division Director Renee Gainer agreed. “Once members communicate with their union reps, we take them every step of the way to a win,” she said.

The victory gave both women a boost. Ms. Lovchin started as a volunteer 13 years ago. “My English was zero,” she explained. Now she has completed her bachelor’s degree. Ms. Drew was spurred to become a shop steward. “It’s amazing how she tries to help people,” said Ms. Lovchin.