Volume 41 Number 9 October 2011

Official Publication of Social Service Employees Union Local 371-DC 37 AFSCME, AFL-CIO

www.sseu371.org

Mr. Richter, Take Note

Child Welfare Workers Have Some Ideas for the New ACS Chief
ormer Family Court Judge Ronald Richter has taken the helm at the Administration for Childrens Services, and the thousands of SSEU Local 371 members in that agency have a few suggestions for him. Central to workers concerns is a new mandate that field staff carry agency-issued cell phones with GPS tracking, which members fear will be used to discipline them and believe sends a message of distrust to the workforce. This new order comes as the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office has subpoenaed 14 of our members as it widens its investigation into ACS practices. On top of that, despite the Unions successfully campaign to save programs offered under the Teenage Services Act (TASA) from City budget cuts last year, these programs are threatened under the Governors Medicaid redesign plan. On the positive side, workers do have the feeling that Richter may be more open to staff input about how to reform ACS in order to raise morale and improve conditions. Union Delegate and Bronx-based Child Protective Supervisor II Sandi Salas noted that she already spotted him making the rounds at locations and talking to individual workers, unlike his predecessor who only talked to workers who were handpicked by location management, and thus unable to give a more candid account of working conditions.
Pat Arnow

More Open?
Sandi Salas said she hoped that the new commissioner would hear ideas from veteran workers like herself.

We need to have a commissioner who hears us, and hopefully he will come to hear from staff, she said during a recent BCW Chapter meeting at Union headquarters. Being a Judge, I think hes more open. One of the last acts of the previous commissioner was to mandate that ACS field workers carry cell phones with GPS tracking in order to record where workers are at all times. The membership wants new

language added to the mandate saying that it wont be used to discipline workers, and Union lawyers are reviewing the legality of the order. In response to this policy, the BCW Chapter voted that members should not do any voluntary overtime to send ACS management the message that the GPS system is unacceptable.
Continued on page 3

Injustice at DoITT
Page 3

Latino Heritage Celebration

Pages 4-5

Due Process for Provisionals

Page 7

CALENDAR
OcTObeR
18 Alumni Association Meeting: 2:00 p.m. Union Office, 12th Floor 19 Delegate Assembly Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Advance Realty Building, 235 West 23rd Street in Manhattan 26 Political Action Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Office, 12th Floor 26 Civilians in Law Enforcement Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Office, 15th Floor

A Fall Fight back

NOveMbeR
2 8 9
Executive Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m.

Union Office, 12th Floor

Concerned Social Workers Meeting:

6:30 p.m. Union Office, 12th Floor

Womens Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m.

Union Office, 12th Floor 15 Alumni Association Meeting: 2:00 p.m. Union Office, 12th Floor 16 Delegate Assembly Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Advance Realty Building, 235 West 23rd Street in Manhattan 23 Political Action Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Office, 12th Floor 23 Civilians in Law Enforcement Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Office, 15th Floor

Published monthly except for a combined issue in July/ August and a Supplement in January by the Social Service Employees Union Local 371, District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO. Subscription Price $2.00 annually. Periodical postage paid at New York, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to: The Unionist, SSEU Local 371, 817 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y. 10003. USPS# 348990 (212) 677-3900 ISSN# 0041-7092 President Anthony Wells Executive Vice President Yolanda Pumarejo Secretary-Treasurer Joe Nazario V.P. Negotiations & Research Rose Lovaglio-Miller V.P. Organization & Education Ingrid Beaumont V.P. Grievances & Legal Services Lloyd Permaul V.P. Publicity & Community Relations Patricia Chardavoyne V.P. Legislation & Political Action Michelle Akyempong Trustees Vincent Ciccarello Yolanda DeJesus Melva Scarborough Editor Ari Paul Visit us on the web at www.sseu371.org

utumn is upon us, and with the leaves changing colors and falling from the trees, many new changes and challenges have come to our members. Lets not fool ourselves: It isnt pretty. We mounted a fight back against the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications heartless termination of 18 dedicated 311 call center workers. We met with City officials and worked with our attorneys to stop the cuts. We did everything in our power. While we were unable to save these specific jobs, we are currently assisting these members with finding spots in other agencies. In the Administration for Childrens Services, we face new challenges and a new commissioner. We had a frank discussion with him concerning the issues facing our workers and it was a positive first step. However, what remains are heavy caseloads, low morale and most disturbingly, a new policy mandating child protective staff to carry phones with GPS that allow the agency to track our members. The GPS policy is unnecessary, insulting and demeaning. It is a distasteful leftover the previous commissioner gave to us just before he went out the door. We are vehemently opposed to the policy and supportive of the BCW Chapters position not to do any voluntary overtime while the policy is in effect. This is how we fight back. We came together, energize each other and decide a course of action. As we take action on the GPS issue, the Occupy Wall Street movement gains momentum. We support that protest because the people are doing something, not just complaining. They are angry and energized. They are becoming more organized and their message is being heard: Main Street is hurting and Wall Street is not helping. It will continue to be a challenging road ahead, but this Union has always found inspiration in its ability to confront management. We are strong because of our informed membership. We are strong because our membership is willing and able to fight back. We will fight back because WE all of us are the Union. Anthony Wells

We are strong because of our informed membership.

Sup II and Sup III Exam Victory

The Union and the City have settled the lawsuit we filed in regards to the Sup II and Sup III promotional exams. Our problem was that provisional employees were given an advantage while people who did not supervise anyone were at a disadvantage, due to the flawed point system. The City will redo the exams as a result. Letters will be mailed to those candidates who filed for the exam so they can get their money back or take the exam again.

The Unionist | October 2011

DoITT Does IT Wrong

Unconscionable Layoffs Hit Members at 311

eRliNe PieRRe is eight months pregnant and has worked a decade in City service. But the City doesnt care. Pierre is one of 18 Community Coordinators at the 311 call center in downtown Brooklyn who were told September 23 that they would be laid off in two weeks time, and then escorted out of the building by security officers in a humiliating and degrading fashion. Pierre, who previously worked at the Department for the Aging before coming to the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), could be without health insurance right as she is about to bring another life into this world, unless, of course, she uses COBRA to extend her insurance coverage, a pricey option in todays world. Its very devastating, she said.

Looking Elsewhere
Pierre added that between getting laid off and previously having to struggle with her managers for time off to see her doctor while working at DoITT, she is more inclined to look for jobs in other agencies. If I had a choice, Id rather go somewhere else, she said. SSEU Local 371 fought to stop the layoffs. The Union filed a Step 3 grievance regarding the terminations, arguing that the agency did not follow the proper termination procedure. Further, the Union brought up Equal Employment Opportunity concerns, as an overwhelming number of workers on the chopping block are women.
Dave Sanders

Erline Pierre is one of the dedicated workers who was terminated this month.

Child Welfare Workers

Continued from page 1

Im a little offended, said Child Protective Specialist Danette Ruiz, who has three years on the job. Its like they dont trust us. It invades our privacy. Vice President of Research and Negotiations Rose Lovaglio-Miller noted that at present workers would be held responsible if they lost their phones, and she is currently speaking with the agency about this concern. We find it to be disgusting, offensive, President Anthony Wells said of the requirement. It interferes with the client/ worker relationship. Youre bringing stress to an already stressed environment.

Eyes on the DA
Workers have also voiced concerns about a widening investigation of the agency by the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office. Fourteen SSEU Local 371 members were subpoenaed in order for the office to understand their jobs; it is
October 2011 | The Unionist

the Unions understanding that they were picked at random. The fear is that this will lead to more blame being placed on workers rather than management. The Union is still dealing with the baseless charges of negligent homicide against two former members in the tragic case of 4-year-old Marchella Pierce. ACS workers are bogged down not only with excessive caseloads, but also mountains of bureaucratic procedures that keep them from spending enough time in the field. Delegate Sheila McCrae noted that supervisors can spend up to an hour in a required meeting with a worker and typing up a report on that meeting. So if she has five meetings in a week, thats five hours a week she cant devote to more pressing matters affecting clients in the field. Its really overwhelming, she said. We cant do the case work because were required to do all these other things.

A Model Worker
Kayon Rose, who has worked at DoITT for 10 years, said she loved her job at the 311 call center and it showed. I was never late and never written up, she explained. That is unheard of in 311. But the humiliation of both being terminated and made to feel like a security threat was still painful, she said, adding, I feel like dog food. The Union isnt the only entity upset by the layoffs. In an editorial, The ChiefLeader wrote, The inexcusably clumsy
Continued on page 6 3

Scholarship Winner
Annabel Hidalgo, daughter of SSEU Local 371 member Margarita Minino, received a $1,000 scholarship from the Human Resources Administration/Latino Heritage fund September 28. An early childhood education major at Hostos Community College, she said she is committed to getting a higher education like her mother. She also urged other members children to apply for this scholarship. For more information about this award, contact Eduardo Sanchez at (718) 963-5167.

Fighting Cancer
SSEU Local 371 members will be participating in walk to help fight breast cancer in Central Park October 16. This disease doesnt only affect women, but also men. The members are walking with survivors and for those who fought the good fight and did not survive. This group of members has raised more than $500 for the American Cancer Society and will continue to support this organization, which provides services for those in need.

AFSCME Womens Convention: Local 371 Present!

SSEU Local 371 members and officers traveled to Milwaukee, Wis. for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Womens Convention last month. While the event allowed our members to meet and work with members from all around the country, the location had special significance. Wisconsin is where the world watched thousands of workers and labor supporters resist the Republican-led assault on the rights of public-sector unions. Being there was really inspiring, said Vice President of Publicity and Community Relations Patricia Chardavoyne, who attended the convention. This Union has captured the spirit of the Wisconsin protests and brought it back to New York City.

Unconscionable Layoffs Hit Members at 311

Dave Sanders

The Union is working hard to find other open spots for these members in other agencies. One worker has already been relocated.
Continued from page 3

treatment of those 18 workers will do nothing to dispel the growing perception that [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg is insensitive to those who would fit under the heading of ordinary New Yorkers. Nor is it going to be helpful to morale among those
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who remain on the payroll at DoITT, which counts for something when youre asking staff to do more with less. During a meeting at the Unions headquarters, the members expressed their fear and outrage about the cuts. In the two weeks after the terminations were handed

down Union officers focused their energies on these members. How can the City layoff these workers when it it still throwing money down the drain on disastrous projects such as CityTime? asked President Anthony Wells. There is no excuse for these job losses.
The Unionist | October 2011

Restoring Due Process Rights for Provisionals

ollowing lengthy negotiations between the City and DC 37, due process protections against wrongful disciplinary action have been restored to numerous long-term provisional employees under the Due Process Agreement for Provisionals. In 2008, New Yorks highest court dealt a harsh blow to provisional employees by stripping away collectively bargained due process rights that had prohibited the City from taking wrongful disciplinary actions against them. For years, the collective bargaining agreement protected employees who were classified as provisionals persons who worked in a competitive title but were not hired from an existing civil service list for that title. Provisional employees with more than two years of service in the same or similar title were entitled to protections under the contract that were similar to those provided to permanent employees. This required the City to provide such provisionals with written disciplinary charges and a formal grievance arbitration procedure.

Nine Month Policy

Under the civil service law, provisional appointments must be temporary, up to a maximum of nine months. In practice, however, the City has long had thousands of provisionals working for years beyond the nine month maximum because Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) had either failed to establish civil service lists by regularly holding exams or because DCAS was slow to hire off an established list. In that context, Unions negotiated due process rights for provisional to help ensure that all employees, whether provisional or permanent, were treated fairly; provisionals could not be taken advantage of or summarily fired simply because of provisional status. But in a 2008 court case known as Long Beach, the Court of Appeals found that the due process protections for provisional employees were contradictory to the merit and fitness in civil service required by the state constitution. The civil service system has long sought fairness and competency in hiring through lists established from competitive civil service exams. According to the court, the provisional protections in collective bargaining agreeOctober 2011 | The Unionist

ments acted to discourage hiring from civil service lists. As a result, the Court of Appeals invalidated those protections in every collecting bargaining agreement across the State and City. However, rather than ensuring that the City more expeditiously hired from existing civil service lists, or established new ones, the immediate effect of the 2008 court decision was to jeopardize the job security of thousands of provisionals who had been working for the City for years. City agencies were once again free to fire provisionals without providing them any reason for doing so and provisionals, who no longer had a right to disciplinary charges or arbitration, had little to no recourse to challenge such discharges. Over the past three years since Long Beach was decided the City has acted to reduce the need for provisionally appointed employees by hiring more people from civil service lists. While many provisionals who were on those civil service lists were able to keep their positions and become permanent, there still remains a significant number of provisionals in City service. The Union has long argued that workers regardless of statuswhether non-competitive or competitive, and if competitive, whether appointed on a provisional basis or certified as permanentdeserve job protections that ensure their dignity and prevent abuse by management.

Progress, For Now

The new Due Process Agreement for Provisionals addresses the concern cited by the states highest court to encourage fair and competent hiring through the civil service system while providing due process protection to workers where no civil service list is available. Under the new agreement, in order for a mayoral agency to discipline or discharge any eligible provisional employee, it must serve written charges and afford the employee an opportunity to be heard, with a right to appeal through the disciplinary procedures that lead to arbitration. Eli-

gible provisional employees under the new plan are those who have served for more than two years in the same or similar title within the same agency AND where there is not an active civil service list for that title. Additionally, there can be no break in provisional service greater than 31 days with certain specific exceptions; and provisional service eligibility cannot be achieved by aggregating periods of prior provisional and prior permanent service. So the key compromise of the plan is to provide due process disciplinary protections to long-term provisionals in titles for which DCAS has not established an active civil service list, encouraging expeditious and competitive hiring whenever a list has been established. Because not every provisional is covered under the new plan, the Union encourages its members to take civil service exams whenever offered by DCAS for positions for which they may be qualified. A provisionals eligibility under the plan is dependent upon whether or not there is an active list. Provisionals should be careful to note that just because they might now be eligible because there is not a current list for their title, does not mean that the City will not establish one in the future. The Union routinely alerts the membership to civil service exams in covered titles and, in many instances, provides courses to prepare for them. Although the current plan covers mayoral agencies, the Union is committed to negotiating with HHC and other non-mayoral agencies to achieve a similar plan to cover their provisional employees. After three years of negotiations, the Due Process Agreement for Provisionals is a victory for the Union and its members. Lloyd Permaul, VP of Grievances and Legal Services If you have questions, or if you have been subject to discipline or discharge as a provisional and believe that you may have rights under the Due Process Agreement for Provisionals, please contact Grievances and Legal Services.
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Condolences
Condolences are extended to the family and friends of Yvonne Martin, Fraud Investigator assigned to the Application Division of 250 Livingston Street in Brooklyn, who died October 3. Condolences may be sent to her husband Owen Martin, 2698 8th Avenue, Apt. 18D, New York, NY 10030

Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY Social Service Employees Union Local 371 817 Broadway New York, N.Y. 10003

Congratulations
Congratulations to VP of Legislation and Political Action Michelle Akyempong on her re-election as Secretary of the Richmond County Democratic Committee.

BULLETIN BOARD
SWAP- Community Assistant at 78 Catherine Street would like to swap with Community Assistant at 300 Skillman Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. If interested, please call (212) 877-4434. SWAP- AJOS at (Center 67) 45 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, NY would like to swap with AJOS at (Center 54) 165-08 88th Street, Jamaica, NY. If interested, please contact (347) 995-6127. SWAP- Caseworker at OCSE in Manhattan would like to swap with Field Caseworker in HASA in Brooklyn or any non-field position in Brooklyn or Manhattan. If interested, please call (917) 723-0956. SWAP- Caseworker at HASA in Manhattan Homemaking Unit non-field position. Would like to swap with Caseworker in Queens. If interested, please contact (212) 620-9817. SWAP- AJOS worker at Center 99 in Richmond, Staten Island would like to swap sites to 109 East 16th Street, New York, NY. If interested, please contact (347) 398-4891. SWAP- Caseworker at HASA Queensboro Office located at 33-28 Northern Blvd, LIC, would like to swap to HASA/ Greenwood or HASA/ Brownsville. If interested, please call (917) 226-5931. SWAP- Supervisor I at APS in Manhattan (South) would like to swap with a non-field Supervisor I position in lower downtown Manhattan or upper midtown Manhattan. If interested, please call (212) 971-2651. SWAP- AJOS I in the Fair Hearing Unite at 32-20 Northern Blvd, LIC, NY would like to swap with AJOS I at Center 54, Jamaica, NY. If interested, please call (917) 684-3498. FOR SALE: Large ceiling fixture, stereo record player, dolly, luggage, dishes, pots, glassware, gift items, never worn size small ladies clothes including dark brown borghese faux fur jacket, books, new cordless phone with clock radio, and lots more. Call (718) 430-1796.

MEMBERS

Solidarity With DOE Workers, and Other Campaigns

sseU lOcAl 371 rallied in solidarity October 4 in City Hall Park to protest the planned termination of more than 700 of our brothers and sisters at the Department of Education. These vital workers in the schools are members of District Council 37 Local 372, and they are facing the gruesome budget axe while the Mayor refuses to cut wasteful private contracts or consider raising taxes on the wealthiest citizens. It is an outrage that City Hall would lay off these workers, who are necessary to educating our children, while still pursing the multi-million dollar losing CityTime program, said President Anthony Wells. The protest came during a time of increased public anger at the austerity measures the City and State have heaped on the people. The members of the Public Employees Federation rejected their concessionary contract with the State, and Governor Andrew Cuomo is working with PEF to come to a new agreement and avoid layoffs. In addition, the State and City have filed a lawsuit against a major Wall Street player, the Bank of New York Mellon, alleging that it cheated its pension funds through overcharging foreign exchange fees for the last 10 years. The New York Times reported that, those affected by the banks actions were pension funds operated by the State University of New York and New York City retirees, as well as thousands of investment funds Meanwhile, thousands continue to pour into lower Manhattan for the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, where many are demanding that higher taxes be placed on the richest 1 percent.

African American Day Parade

Get In Touch
Do you have questions for the officers? Is there something going on in the field you think the officers need to hear about? Do you have suggestions on how the Union can better wage our campaigns? If so, we want to hear from you! Contact Patricia Chardavoyne, Vice President of Publicity and Community Relations, either through the main switchboard, or by emailing pchardavoyne @sseu371.org. You, the members, are the backbone of this Union. We need your input. SSEU Local 371 members and their families turned out for the annual African American Day Parade in Harlem September 17. DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts received recognition for her lifelong commitment to the labor movement.
8 The Unionist | October 2011
Pat Arnow