Public Employee Press

Secretary gave more . . . and got more

Adah-Capri Adkins cares about children. The mother of three contributed far more than her skills as a Secretary IIIA to the Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health Program in the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene.

“The employees got to see the benefits of the program from the initial enrollment all the way to the births. Clerical workers felt we were really part of it, because the kids came to the office and we got to see them grow,” she said.

On top of her secretarial duties, Adkins was put in charge of things like purchasing supplies. “I also created a system to monitor the data we were collecting on the mothers. And I devised a process that we used with the case management teams to make sure they were providing the services,” she explained.

“I wanted my director to acknowledge that I was doing this work,” said the Local 1549 member. “When she didn’t do that, but kept giving me more duties, I called my grievance rep.”

Two days before Christmas 2004, Clerical Division Grievance Rep Phyllis Streeter helped Adkins file a working-out-of-title grievance. On May 23, she got her vindication when she won the grievance. “I feel good about winning because now they can’t deny that I was doing more than my actual job description and that I was a big part of the program,” she said. “I was awarded $1,100 for the out-of-title work that I did, but the principle is more important to me than the money.”

“Adah-Capri Adkins is an example of the dedicated city workers we represent,” said Streeter. “She really went the extra mile to make sure the mothers got all the help they needed to have healthy babies.”

“The grievance process works!” said Assistant Clerical Division Director Renee Gainer. “But members have to use it to make it work.”

“Phyllis Streeter is great,” said Adkins. “She was a real big help. She made it easy for me to go through this whole process.”