Public Employee Press

The city targeted clerical workers with disabilities for layoffs
Back on the job

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

A group of laid-off clerical workers with disabilities has returned to work with back-pay awards after the union won a long fight to restore their jobs.

The workers were among 11 members of Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 who were let go in 2011 as the city laid off about 50 union members who were hired through the state's 55-a program for people with disabilities. They worked at the Dept. of Health, the Administration for Children's Services and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. A couple of the members found other jobs and decided not to accept the callback. DC 37 is still fighting to bring back the rest of the laid-off 55-a workers.

"The city callously targeted vulnerable workers in a misguided move to downsize the workforce," said Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez. "We weren't about to let the city take away their livelihood."

"Due to their disabilities, these folks would find it very hard if not impossible to find work in the heartless private sector," said DC 37 Clerical-Administrative Division Director Renee Gainer. "They were lucky enough to find an opportunity to be productive, thanks to a special jobs program in the public sector, and then the city pulls the rug out from under them. We were morally bound and deeply committed to using the union's resources to defend them."

After being off the job for three years, the members were happy to return to work with back pay awards ranging from $25,000 to over $50,000.

Indignity

During their unemployment, they suffered serious economic hardships - trouble meeting daily expenses, a loss of savings and exorbitant health insurance bills. But they said the indignity caused by the lack of gainful employment was as painful as the financial pressure.

Francis McMahon, 40, who suffers from spina bifida, appreciated the warm welcome he received from his co-workers when he returned to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He said he is very excited about being back but acknowledged his frustration about needing to adapt to a new clerical job with tasks different from his old job.

"It was very difficult," said McMahon, looking back on his three years out of work. Fortunately, he lives with his father. Nevertheless, he said he needed to rely on his $8,000 in savings, unemployment compensation and Social Security disability payments to get by. Without insurance, he was stuck with paying for his expensive medical supplies.

Clerical Associate Migna Ortiz, who was laid off after 14 years of service, now has a new job in the Long Island City labor ­relations unit of the Health Dept. She has a nervous-anxiety condition and said she was unable to hold a steady job after her layoff. She had to use up her retirement savings, which she has now replenished with her back-pay award.

"I went through a lot of hardship, and it was very stressful." Ortiz said. "Fortunately, I was called back. I love my job."

Clerical Associate Meredith Kent, who started working for the city in 1998, is on a new assignment in the child care office at the Dept. of Health at 125 Worth St. in Manhattan.

Shameless firings

"It was very depressing," said Kent, describing her layoff. "You felt hopeless. They told you that you had a secure job, and then they lay you off."

Kent, who has Asperger's Syndrome and a nervous tic condition, managed to find a part-time job for a few months and then went to school to learn medical coding. "It feels great to be back," Kent said.

Grievance Rep Donna McDuffie handled the members' grievance against the layoffs with the help of DC 37 Associate General Counsel Steven Sykes and Assistant General Counsel Jesse Gribben. The agencies and the union signed a settlement in February.

"I am very glad that the right thing occurred in the end and that our members were able to get their jobs back," McDuffie said. "What occurred was shameless. Management picked on vulnerable people while they were hiring assistants."

The laid-off Local 1549 members were among about 50 workers in the 55-a program who got pink slips. About 40 Local 1113 members from the Finance Dept. remain out of work while their case is in court and DC 37 negotiates with the city.

"We are happy the Local 1549 members have returned to work," Sykes said. "We are now working hard to get everyone else back to their jobs."