Public Employee Press

Local 420 preps future leaders

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

New York City Hospital Employees Local 420, the union that keeps New Yorkers healthy, got a shot in the arm at its Shop Steward Training held at DC 37 Jan. 21-23.

"This was the local's first shop steward training in about five years," said Christopher Watson, Local 420 director of operations, who coordinated the event with the DC 37 Education Fund and the Hospital Division. "Our goal is to empower and build the confidence of our stewards by teaching the tools they'll need to handle grievances and to improve communications between chapter chairs, the local, the DC 37 Hospitals division and the members."

About 36 shop stewards and chapter chairs and vice chairs from Metropolitan, Elmhurst, Seaview, Queens and Jacobi hospitals met over three evenings to learn how to distinguish grievances from gripes, understand the contract and its legal protections, and when to invoke Weingarten rights, which call for a union rep to be present at any meeting with management that may lead to the discipline of a member.

Protecting members

To grasp the breadth and depth of unionism, the Local 420 members heard from DC 37 Education Fund Associate Director Viviana Tillman, General Counsel Robin Roach, Safety and Health Director Guille Mejia, Hospitals Division Director Audrey McConney and Associate Director Tyler Hemmingway, Council and Grievance Reps, and Local 420 President Carmen Charles.

"The shop stewards are the union's eyes and the ears-they see and report back what is going on in the workplace so we can better protect our members," said Charles. "It is important that we work smarter, and more efficiently. By knowing how the local, the division and DC 37 operate and function, and by understanding their role as stewards as well as what the chapter chairs and reps do, we can really boost our efficacy."

The training is designed to establish protocol and processes. "We want to reduce wait time for members who bring issues and questions to their stewards and to improve member satisfaction," said Ed Fund Assistant Director Claire Menelas. "Too often when there is no communication, members can assume nothing is being done, and we don't want that to happen."

At the sessions, leaders discussed issues such as time and leave accrual, vacation requests, and documenting these requests using forms like SR-70. Menelas reminded the group to "submit and keep a copy of the SR-70, regardless of whether management approves or denies the request for leave, it is important to have documentation."

"I was happy because at times without training you can forget," said Chapter Chair Ursula Joseph of Metropolitan Hospital. "These reminders are good for everyone, old and new, to sharpen our skills. I have a new shop steward who attended the sessions and is now filing a grievance on her own. We learned to improve our writing to present clearly the member's statements. We are using everything we learned."

"The contract is the document we use to protect the members," Hemingway told the group. "Its importance can't ever be minimized - you have to read it, understand it, and know it inside and out, that's why you're here."

In February Local 420 repeated the training event for a group of 90 stewards, vice chairs and chapter chairs.