By ALFREDO ALVARADO

DC 37 ended 2001 with a major victory for about 100 members who were scheduled to be laid off on Dec. 28 by the Health and Hospitals Corp.

On Dec. 24, arbitrator Maurice C. Benewitz ordered HHC to halt the firings.

He upheld the union’s charge that HHC and the city violated the Citywide Contract by not providing 30 days’ notice of the impending layoffs and by not meeting with DC 37 to discuss possible alternatives.

“It was unconscionable that HHC saw nothing wrong in laying off these dedicated employees — who make an average of $20,000 a year — at the same time it’s planning to hand out six-figure golden parachutes to top HHC officials,” said DC 37 Administrator Lee Saunders.

“Management’s attempt to go through the back door and not follow the contract was a callous act,” said Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez. “There’s a process that must be followed.”

HHC handed out layoff notices Dec. 13 to members of Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420 and Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 at Harlem, Metropolitan and Lincoln Hospitals.

Because the pink slips violated contract provisions, the union immediately filed a step 3 grievance and called for an expedited arbitration procedure. At the Dec. 21 hearing on the group grievance, Senior Assistant General Counsel Mary J. O’Connell represented the union, and Research and Negotiations Director Dennis Sullivan and Associate Director Evelyn Seinfeld testified.

Local 420 President James Butler called the impartial arbitrator’s ruling “a well-deserved Christmas present for union members.”

Adding rank-and-file pressure to the union’s case against the layoffs, Mr. Butler, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Saunders led over 200 demonstrators Dec. 19 at HHC headquarters in downtown Manhattan and vowed to fight to protect every member’s job. “We will fight this all the way,” Mr. Saunders told the rally.

“I came here today to fight for my job,” said Marisel Burgos, a Service Aide at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx who arrived with three other Lincoln employees who were also facing layoffs three days after Christmas.

Pink slip “broke my heart”
Many of the per diem employees are single parents and some, like Lynette Fields, a Central Supply Assistant at Harlem Hospital, struggled on public assistance for several years before finally getting an opportunity to work.

“I was crushed and completely shocked when I received the notice,” said Ms. Fields.

“It broke my heart,” said Service Aide Dawn Nieves. Ms. Nieves is also a single parent “trying to make ends meet.”

As per diem employees with less than 18 months on the job, these workers are not protected by the no-layoff clause in the economic contract. However, they are covered by a procedure that requires the city to give the union 30 days notice of projected layoffs so job-sparing alternatives can be found.

In the case of these employees, HHC and the city reversed a 25-year policy by failing to give the union 30 days notice. “I’ve never seen such an outright insult to the collective bargaining process,” said Mr. Sullivan.

The arbitrator’s award requires HHC to give the union proper notice of planned layoffs and to meet and confer with the union on alternatives. If that occurs, “We will discuss the situation with the new administration,” said Mr. Sullivan.