Public Employee Press

Unionists meet with new HHC chief

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts opened the door to a strong partnership between public hospital workers and management as labor leaders met June 17 with new Health and Hospitals Corp. President Dr. Ram Raju.

Dr. Raju praised DC 37's members at HHC employees for their reliable and rapid response during Hurricane Sandy and said, "I want to work with you to provide the best care for the patients."

After Dr. Raju expressed his desire to "raise the credibility" of HHC hospitals to match renowned nonprofits like Minnesota's Mayo Clinic or New York's Sloan Kettering, Roberts wasted no time in explaining members' needs and concerns.

"We need to be at the table during decision making, to increase opportunities for training, and to end unnecessary outsourcing in the public hospitals," Roberts said. "We have proven that we can do the job and do it well, because as public servants, we put patients' needs before profits."

The HHC head also heard from Associate Director Henry Garrido, DC 37 local presidents Anthony Wells (371), Carmen Charles (420), Fitz Reid (768), Local 1549 1st Vice President Ralph Palladino, Local 983 Vice President Marvin Robbins, DC 37 Field Services Director Barbara Edmonds, Clerical-Administrative Division Director Renee Gainer and representatives of other unions with members at HHC. DC 37 represents about 18,000 HHC employees.

With its responsibility to provide health care for some 1.4 million uninsured patients despite a staggering $1.4 billion budget deficit, HHC faces monumental challenges in implementing Obamacare and coping with cuts in Medicaid and other federal and state aid. In recent years, HHC slashed some 3,700 union jobs through layoffs and attrition.

The agency's consultant-designed Road Ahead program "does not deliver the savings it promised," Charles said. "We need a seat at the table for solutions that work for all."

HHC's Labor Relations department "has not been effective in resolving issues and grievances," said Wells, expressing members' frustration. "HHC is plagued with inconsistent policies regarding civil service issues and continues to use draconian managerial tactics that are holdovers from the Bloomberg administration." DC 37 leaders also told Raju that using temporary workers to cut payroll costs does not provide quality health care.

Past administrations sold off revenue-generating services, like the laundry and dialysis, to private contractors, Garrido said, with little regard for the employees they put out of work or the damage this did to the economies of local communities.

"The for-profit businesses HHC contracts with care only about money, not patients. Civil servants - our members - care about people, and only qualified civil servants should be used to provide the vital public services and health care New Yorkers have come to expect from HHC," Garrido said.