National AFSCME News
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TA Worker Rescues Man Stuck on Subway Tracks By GREGORY N. HEIRES Patrick Burke, an administrative project manager at New York City Transit, stopped by the Yankee Stadium station of the D subway line to do a routine check on construction. Such visits are a regular part of his job, which includes evaluating whether contractors are meeting city regulations. “Nothing was going on, so I was heading back to my work site,” said Burke, 59, a licensed engineer with more than 30 years on the job. But as he proceeded to make his way out of the station, Burke spotted someone –apparently intoxicated or high—sprawled out on the train tracks. Alarmed, Burke raced toward the man as he called for him to get up, fearing a subway train would be soon arriving at the station. But this didn’t turn into an easy rescue. “I got under his arms and was yanking him up on the platform,” Burke said. “But he started wrestling with me.” Burke said he feared the man was going to pull him off the platform. The man was insisting on picking up his wallet—which had fallen out of his pocket onto the tracks–before allowing Burke to hoist him up on to the platform. “I said, [...] — Aug 19
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Brooklyn Botanic Garden Worker Wins Wage Hike and Back Pay By DIANE S. WILLIAMS After eight months of labor-management meetings, DC 37 Local 374 has won a wage hike that adds about $1,400 to the annual salary of a Brooklyn Botanic Garden employee. “I love this job and everyone who knows me knows that I love what I do,” said Claudia Navas, a Clerical 4 project coordinator who spreads the message that composting is good for the environment, leads workshops and offers technical advice. A team player, Navas shoulders extra responsibilities to help out when Brooklyn Botanic Garden is short-staffed. But when she asked to be compensated for her hard work, she unearthed a problem only her union could resolve. “I was surprised to learn that although I am the most senior employee, as a Clerical 4, I earned $1,285 less than my colleagues, who are all senior museum instructors. So I called my union,” Navas said. White Collar Division Council Rep Dan McCabe said, “We investigated and provided support and some clout to get a pay equity deal done.” The union resolved the matter without filing a grievance. Besides the pensionable wage hike, the settlement includes 18 months in back page. In addition, Brooklyn Botanic Garden agreed to pay [...] — Aug 14
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Top National Honors for NYC Public Hospitals and Their Hardworking Employees By DIANE S. WILLIAMS In August, the American Heart Association gave high achievement awards to all 11 NYC Health + Hospitals facilities for implementing AHA’s national standards to achieve healthier outcomes for heart failure and stroke patients. Some 18,000 DC 37 members work at NYC H+H, the nation’s largest public hospital system. They are committed to giving quality care to the one million patients treated each year. Also this summer, U.S. News & World Report named seven New York City public hospitals as high performing in their 2019-2020 Best Hospital issue, which compares outcomes at 4,500 medical facilities nationwide in 16 specialty areas. The study helps patients and their doctors make better informed medical care choices. The high performing H+H hospitals for heart failure are: Bellevue, Coney Island, Harlem, Jacobi, Kings County, Lincoln and Elmhurst, which is also named for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease care and orthopedics. “These accolades are national recognition of the dedication and hard work of DC 37 members at NYC H+H facilities and shine light on the vital role they play,” said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. More than one third of the unionized workforce is represented by 13 DC 37 Locals 154, 299, 371, [...] — Aug 13
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Contract Fight of Westchester County Day-Care Workers Heats Up By GREGORY N. HEIRES About 40 day-care center workers in Westchester County staged a one-day strike on Thursday, protesting years of frozen pay and their employer’s most recent outrage, a failure to repair a summertime breakdown of the air conditioning system. “Enough is enough,” said Kim Medina, deputy administrator of District Council 1707, which represents day-care workers Local 205 and will unify with District Council 37 in September. “Because of management’s failure to negotiate seriously, our members are struggling to meet their daily expenses,” Medina, who will become the special assistant to the executive director for the new Non-Profit and Private Sector Division of District Council when the unification of the two councils occurs. “The agency’s failure to address the scorching working conditions is only the latest abuse.” The parents of infants and toddlers at the center joined workers on the picket line. They provided Local 205 members with coffee and donuts in the morning and pizza later in the day. Shop Steward Onja Overby, a head teacher for infants and toddlers, expressed her disgust over the unwillingness of the Lois Bronz Children’s Center to shut down the facility as students and the staff coped with temperatures nearing 90 degrees. In [...] — Aug 12
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Education is Power By GREGORY N. HEIRES For three decades, Sherif Fawzy devoted himself to his job at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but didn’t take any particular interest in the union. He was okay with paying his dues, recognizing that the union fulfilled its responsibility to negotiate periodic wage increases and protect his rich packet of benefits. But he felt no need to get involved. His outlook changed a few years ago after DC 37 successfully defend him against unfounded disciplinary charges by managers. That’s also when he decided to educate himself about labor law and his contract. One day, while checking out the union’s website, he learned he was entitled to take courses for free at the City University of New York. And so he enrolled. Fawzy, an engineer who works in the Dept. of Subway Car Equipment at the MTA, is one of the nearly 30 DC 37 members in the first graduating class of the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. He studied public- and private-sector labor law, labor history and contract negotiation. Fawzy, 58, is a Christian who fled religious persecution in Egypt after earning his engineering degree at Alexandria University he immigrated to the United States. While [...] — Aug 10