Unionist Sept 2011

8/4/2019 Unionist Sept 2011

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Volume 41 • Number 8September 2011

Ofcial Publication o Social Service Employees Union Local 371-DC 37 AFSCME, AFL-CIO www.sseu371.org

Part o Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid reorm plan would essen-tially destroy the Community Alter-

native Systems Agency (CASA), which—through 15 oces in the City—provideshome-based care or the elderly and dis-

abled. I Cuomo has his way, thousands o people who depend on elderly-care will bemoved out o their homes and into man-aged-care acilities. Seven hundred socialservice workers, most o whom are SSEULocal 371 members—would lose their jobs.

Simply put, this is a lose-lose situationor the State. People in need o elderly carewould suer by having to leave the saety o their homes and communities and gointo the hands o managed care, whilehardworking civil servants would be orcedto join the ranks o the unemployed.

This can’t be what the Cuomo adminis-tration has in mind or the state, can it?

Reachng Out

“We are reaching out to all o our alliesin the government on the State and City levels to right this wrong,” said Vice Presi-dent o Legislation Michelle Akyempong.“I think most lawmakers will see that thisis a raw deal or the elderly.”

Akyempong urged members to get in-volved in the ght back campaign whether

by writing letters to City and State law-makers or by attending demonstrations.She believed that there would be a speciallobby day to ocus on saving CASA.

Anthony Sweeney, a CASA Caseworkeror 10 years, loves his job despite the heavy caseload. “Most o the people I work withhave a heart, and we are concerned aboutthe people we serve. That’s benecial tothe client, o course,” he said. “I benet

Stopping Workplace Violence Rights for Non-Competitive Workers ACS Tracking Our Members Page 3 Page 5 Page 8

Th Stgg to Sav CASArom the satisaction I see. The people arehappy to see you.”

“It’s a comortable environment,” he saido home-based care. “They get personalcare with us.”

Vice President o Publicity and Com-

munity Relations Patricia Chardavoynesaid that the Union would also reach out tosenior care advocates to orm a united ghtback campaign.

“Advocates or the elderly are aware thathome-based care is preerable to being ina managed-care acility,” she said. “The workers stand with the clients.”

SSEU Local 371 members who work inCASA should be involved in the ght back campaign. Talk to organizers about how toget the word out, and get in touch with theLegislation and Political Action section. We want the rank-and-le membership to

speak directly to the people in power whocan save CASA.“I’ll go to demonstrations, and i we have

to talk to people, I’ll do that,” Sweeney said. “Politicians? I’m going to tell themhow I eel.”

He added, “Deep down, this is some o God’s work.”

Some people get a job theydon’t care about, put in a day’s

work, take the paycheck and go

home. Not Anthony Sweeney.

It’s hard, stressul work, but

rewarding, he said. Case-

workers in the agency work

directly with patients who are

home-bound o ten because o

debilitating conditions, making

sure they are receiving the

care they need. For Sweeney,

there is a reason CASA existsor these people: they are better o under

the supervision o people like him so that

they can stay in the comort and saety o

their homes rather than live at the hands in a

sterile managed-care acility.

For 10 years, he’s a been a Caseworker at

CASA, assisting the elderly and disabled

in home-based care. “Iwanted to do something or

the common good,” he said.

Sweeney, like many other

ront line CASA workers,

spends hal his time in

the ofce dealing with the

voluminous paperwork as-

sociated with his cases, and

the other hal in the feld

dealing one-on-one with

clients. “Sometimes, you

get an emergency call, andyou have to respond,” Sweeney explained.

With the governor’s plan to do away with the

program, Sweeney is worried or his job and

or the uture o his clients. He is attending

SSEU Local 371 unctions and organizing his

co-workers or the Union fght-back campaign.

“This is major,” he said.

On the Front Line: Anthony Sweeney

S a m L

e w i s



2 The Unonst | September 2011

SepTember12 Latino Heritage Meeting: 6:30 p.m.

Union Ofce, 12th Floor

13 HPD Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Ofce,12th Floor

14 Women’s Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m.Union Ofce, 12th Floor

20 Alumni Association Meeting: 2:00 p.m.

Union Ofce, 12th Floor21 Delegate Assembly Meeting: 6:30 p.m.

Advance Realty Building, 235 West 23rdStreet in Manhattan

22 Shelter Chapter Meeting: 6:30 p.m.Union Ofce, 12th Floor

23 Latino Heritage Celebration: 6:00 p.m.125 Barclay Street, Manhattan

28 Political Action Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Ofce, 12th Floor

28 Civilians in Law Enforcement Meeting:

6:30 p.m. Union Ofce, 15th Floor

OCTOber5 Executive Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m.

Union Ofce, 12th Floor

12 Women’s Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m.Union Ofce, 12th Floor

18 Alumni Association Meeting: 2:00 p.m.Union Ofce, 12th Floor

19 Delegate Assembly Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Advance Realty Building, 235 West 23rdStreet in Manhattan

26 Political Action Committee Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Ofce, 12th Floor

26 Civilians in Law Enforcement Meeting: 6:30 p.m. Union Ofce, 15th Floor

CALENDAR

Published monthly except or a combined issue in July/ August and a Supplement in January by the SocialService 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: TheUnionist, SSEU Local 371, 817 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y. 10003.

USPS# 348990 (212) 677-3900ISSN# 0041-7092

Presdent Anthony Wells

Executve Vce Presdent Yolanda Pumarejo

Secretar-TreasurerJoe Nazario

V.P. Negotatons & ResearchRose Lovaglio-Miller

V.P. Organzaton & EducatonIngrid Beaumont

V.P. Grevances & Legal ServcesLloyd Permaul

V.P. Publct & Communt RelatonsPatricia Chardavoyne

V.P. Legslaton & Poltcal ActonMichelle Akyempong

Trustees Vincent Ciccarello Yolanda DeJesusMelva Scarborough

Edtor Ari Paul

Visit us on the web at www.sseu371.org

moving Forward

T

he summer is over and what a summerit was: Record heat, an earthquake

and a hurricane. And this month werefected on the 10th anniversary o

9/11. Now it is time to roll up our sleeves andcontinue what we started.

Our agenda is the same: meet the challengesahead with an energized membership and astrategy to aggressively ght back. We arepreparing a campaign to address the governor’s

Medicaid Redesign Team plan that wouldeliminate CASA and put hundreds o HRA members at risk o termination. Our strategy is

to mobilize the membership, create coalitions,implement a media campaign and use theresources o this Union. This challenge isone o the biggest to hit this union. We are committed to doing everything

possible to maintain the services o CASA andprotect our workers.

In addition, members in the Departmento Inormation Technology and

Telecommunications (DOITT) are acinglayos. The Administration or Children’sServices has a new commissioner.

As we move orward, it is not a time ordespair and hopelessness. Rather it is time tocome together, use our resources, garner our

energies and ght like never beore. We can sustain and win these battles, butonly i we commit ourselves to do so. Any and all contributions are necessary and welcome. Solidarity begins in the small places such as the way we treateach other, by helping one another and supporting each other. Together weare the Union.

–Anthony Wells

Sup II and Sup III Exam UpdateSSEU Local 371 and the City are in the process o settling the

lawsuit regarding the Sup II and Sup III promotion exams. Details

o the settlement were not available at press time.

The Union will share this inormation as soon as the stipulation

is signed.

Check the Union’s website and upcoming issues o the Unonst.

Our strategy is

to mobilize the

membership...and

use the resources

of this Union.

“

”



September 2011 | The Unonst 3

Cuomo’s Penson TensonpubliC-SeCTOr workers are underattack all across the country rom politi-cians in both Wall Street-unded parties.Here in New York State, we have ourown problems, and Governor Andrew

Cuomo has vowed to make reducing pen-sion benets or dedicated State workersone o his top legislative priorities.

With Democrats like these, who needsRepublicans?

SSEU Local 371 members need toknow up ront that this does not meanthere will be a reduction in their pensionbenets. The only way this can happenis by changing the state’s constitution. Atthis juncture, the governor has only statedlegislative objectives.

Another Ter?But this is serious. Ater the previous

governor ushered in a th pension tier orstate workers, Cuomo is demanding thecreation o a Tier VI pension, which wouldraise the age o retirement rom 62 to 65(and 57 to 65 or teachers) and raise the worker benet contribution rom 3 percentto 6 percent. The New York Times wrote

that it would “ban the use o unused sick leave or unused vacation time to enhancean employee’s pension calculation.”

This is an attempt to cheapen one thegreatest benets o public service: a de-

ned retirement benet. It will have state workers toiling longer or less o a payout.“We are opposed to cheating the unborn

and a Tier VI pension,” said President Anthony Wells. “We are committed toprotecting pension benets or all workers.”

No Need for Change

Moreover, it is completely unnecessary. While it is true that many pension undshave their problems. New York State pen-sion unds are ully-unded. In act, City Comptroller John Liu noted in July that

they brought in a 20 percent return, sayingin a statement, “While the markets remain volatile, we have vigorously pursued a diver-sication strategy to enhance our returns while lower pension costs to the City.”

“Our pensions were ought or andsecured by generations o union members who came beore us,” said SSEU Local371 VP o Legislation Michelle Akyem-

pong, noting that the union would lobby lawmakers to stop pension-reductioneorts. “We are going to work with otherunions to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

Don’t believe his pension hype.

EVERy AGENCy, EVERy LOCATiON

Combatng Workplace Volence, Top to Bottom

It’s a big job, but an important one.Since last year, SSEU Local 371 Healthand Saety Coordinators Deborah Wil-

liams and Priscilla Abernathy have beengoing to all Union-represented worksitesto evaluate the workplace violence risks.

Due to a state law mandating workplace violence prevention standards and sub-sequent District Council 37 complaints

about non-compliance o all City agen-cies, unions are doing a top-to-bottomreview o every location where they havemembers to evaluate the risks involvedand working with the management ateach agency to come up with violenceprevention plans and educating workers.

Lookng at the Feld

SSEU Local 371 has members in nearly every City agency, and our members aresubject to the possibility o assaults at

the workplace. More importantly, many

o our members, such as Child Protec-tive Specialists, make house visits. “Theaddress that they go to becomes their jobsite,” Williams said.

The Econom Leads to Threats

Because o the pressures in our econ-omy there is an increased need or socialservices but no increase in rontline sta.

The resulting rustration leads to the pos-sibility or more violence in the workplaceand in the eld.

In agency oces, the pair has been look-ing at evacuation plans, re saety plansand the security structures. The overallgoal, Williams said, is to “make certainthat the agency assumes responsibility oreducation and inorming our members.”

She added, “What we want to do ismaintain as well as enhance the integrity o all the saety mechanisms that we have

at all o our locations.”

Abernathy stressed that the Union’smain tactic in ghting workplace violence was member involvement. Members whoencounter violence on the job shouldimmediately contact a Union representa-tive and provide details o the encounter.“Members need to be orthcoming withinormation,” she said.

“We would like to have delegates on

location more involved in this process,” Williams said. “They have a much betteridea o what is going on in their locationas well as the surrounding community.”

Williams noted that members “shouldbe looking to receive some inormationtheir agency’s workplace violence preven-tion program” as well as receiving “cor-responding training.”

I you have questions o concerns aboutthis review or any other workplace saety issue, please call Williams at (212) 598-7850

or Abernathy at (212) 777-9000 ext. 3048.

S t r u c t u r e s : N Y

C




This year’s Labor Day parade was an especially momentous one. Not

only did the city’s unions cometogether ater a year o whatseemed to have one o themost aggressive anti-unionassaults in recent memory,the day marked the 10th o the 9/11 attacks. SSEU Local371 members, as per tradition,

came out in orce or the Sept.10 parade up Fith Avenue.

“Today we remember thesacrices workers made duringand ater the 9/11 attacks,”said President Anthony Wells.“Hundreds o workers in thepublic and private sector diedas they selfess toiled to savepeople at the World TradeCenter and work in the recov-

UniTed,for Labor day

ery process.People all o thecountry needto remember

that.” Workers inthe buildingtrades andrst respond-ers’ unionsmade clear atthe event that while Con-gress was ableto pass legislation last year thatguaranteed ederal undingor 9/11 health monitoringand treatment programs, more work to keep these programsgoing was needed.

Union members gathered in Union Square before the parade. Onlookers in the park were impressed with the show of unity.

Members marched up Fif th Avenue.

For mer Union V P St u Leibowitz (let ) shar ed a moment with Compt r oller John Liu.

Elect ed o fcials r allied wit h SSEU Local 371 member s.

This year, instead o havinga grand marshal or the parade,the unions were led by a groupo representatives rom thedierent sectors in a display orNew York City labor unity.




Non-Compettve Doesn’t Mean No Protectons

Non-competitive employeesare traditionally—and otenmistakenly—viewed as having

ewer job protections than competitiveemployees. But the Union has long ar-gued that denying benets on the basiso civil service status alone may violatethe collective bargaining agreement andthe law. And increasingly, courts and ar-bitrators alike agree that City agenciesmust be stopped rom discriminatingagainst disabled employees who happento be non-competitive.

Protectng Due Process

Under the Civil Service Law, beore a

“permanent” employee can be disci-plined or discharged, an agency mustcomply with due process protections.Essentially, a permanent employee can-not be disciplined without being served with a written notice and statement o charges and a hearing. Non-competitiveemployees are considered “permanent”and entitled to these civil service lawprotections under the statute, but only ater ve years o service. Competitiveemployees, however, are consideredpermanent and aorded due processrights as soon as they complete proba-tion. But where the Civil Service Lawleaves o, the Union has long ensuredlegal protection or non-competitive as well as competitive workers. Under thecollective bargaining agreement, non-competitive employees who have servedin their position or at least six monthsenjoy due process protections thatprohibit agencies rom taking wronguldisciplinary actions.

But when it comes to certain other

benets, City agencies have longtreated non-competitive employees asnot “permanent.” In particular, employ-ees needing lengthy medical leaves o absence have been treated quite dier-ently, depending simply on whether ornot they are competitive or non-com-petitive. The Union has long arguedthat the City discriminates when ittreats its disabled employees dierently simply because o civil service status.

In one lawsuit, a long-term Unionmember requested an extended leave o

absence rom her agency while she con-tinued cancer treatment. The agency denied her request, citing her non-competitive status as the sole reason.But the court ound that the agency was wrong. Under ederal law, as well asCity and State HumanRights Laws, the agency had a duty to reason-

ably accommodate theemployee’s disability,regardless o her non-competitive status. Thelaw requires that an em-ployer engage in a goodaith and interactiveprocess to assess the dis-abled employee’s needsand the reasonablenesso the requested accom-modation. The City cannot simply cite a blanket policy asthe basis to deny an employee’s request.Union attorney Jerey Kreisberg, whohandled the case, explained: “An agency is required to consider, on a case by casebasis, whether an exception to policy isrequired in order to reasonably accom-modate a disabled employee’s disability. The City cannot be allowed to dis-criminate against disabled employees by rigidly applying policy to avor compet-itive employees over non-competitiveones.”

Law on Our Sde

Since the court decision, arbitra-tors have also agreed with the Union.In two recent cases, non-competitiveemployees were red or allegedly be-ing AWOL. But both employees hadbeen on approved medical leaves andremained in regular contact with theiragencies. When they were still medical-ly unable to return to work, they wereeach denied both reasonable accom-modations and extended leaves because

o their non-competitive status. Theiragencies then initiated disciplinary ac-tion, accusing both employees o being AWOL. But at arbitration, it was oundthat the City committed wrongul disci-plinary actions by denying each worker

benets on the basis o their non-competitivestatus.

Union attorney Gary Maitland, who rep-resented one o thesemembers, observesthat despite theseprecedents, the City continues to duck anddisregard its obligationsunder the collectivebargaining agreementand the law. “I have amember who was red

ater nearly twenty years on the job just because he was non-competitive,”he said. “He was injured, was deniedany light duty assignment while herecovered, and then denied an extendedmedical leave. Throughout the arbitra-tion the agency made it clear that, hadhe been competitive, he would have re-ceived an extended leave and probably would have been permitted a light duty assignment. Even ater the AppellateDivision precedent, the City reused todo the right thing and put him back to

work. Perhaps now that it must pay asignicant amount o back pay, the City will consider a more compassionate andlawul approach.”

–Lloyd Permaul, VP of Grievances and Legal Affairs

Members, whether competitive or non-competitive, experiencing difculties

securing approved medical leaves or requests or reasonable accommodation areurged to contact the Grievance Section or assistance.

“The Union has long argued that the City discriminates when it treats its

disabled employees differently simply because of civil service status.”

Llod Permaul




Together We Will Pass The Assault Bill

Our political

organizing

starts with you.“”

Summer might be over, but withthe State Legislature coming

back into session the politicalseason is heating up. One o theUnion’s top legislative priorities ispassing the Assault Bill, which wouldbring protections or social service

workers that are already in place orour sisters and brothers in sanitation,transit and trac enorcement.

The bill would make it a eloniousoense to attack any one o ourmembers. The intensied push orthis legislation came as the Union

witnessed a disturbing uptick in thenumber o assaults on social service

workers in the past ew months.

Get n Touch

I you have been assaulted on the job, contact the Union’s Political Action section, because we want City and State lawmakers to hear directly rom victims. Legislators will bemoved greatly when they hear the

testimony rst hand rom members who have suered on the job.

We are organizing a lobby day to bring members into the halls o power to get this bill passed. The

State Senate has already approvedthe bill, so our ocus will be in the

Assembly. I the lower chamber passesthe bill, we are condent that thegovernor will promptly sign it. Members who have been assaulted

on the job should know that underour contract you are entitled to 18months o paid medical leave.

Even i you haven’t been assaultedon the job, all members can andshould get involved in this struggle.Please send a copy o the ollowingletter to your Assembly Member, andremember to use your home address,not your work location.

Our political organizing starts with you. Stay in touch and get involved.

-Michelle Akyempong, VP of Legislation and Political Action

Honorable Assembly Member:

I am a member o Social Serv ice Employ ees Union Local 371. The purpose o this correspondence is to ask or y our support on Bill # A4672. We are the ront line workers who prov ide social serv ices to the most v ulnerable children and amilies in New York City ; rom child protectiv e serv ices to public assistance. In recent months, the number o instances o workplace v iolence has increased. Workers hav e been attacked in the o fce and the feld on a weekly basis. We are requesting similar protections in the workplace that hav e been a orded to our colleagues in the Transit Authority , Tra fc En orcement and Nurses.

We are respect ully requesting that y ou support this bill.

Thank y ou,

Name:

Address:

SSEU Local 371 member




lSomeone should tell Brooklyn-based Flaum Appetizing Corporationthat violating workers’ rights isn’t ko-sher! The kosher ood manuacture isaccused o withholding hundreds o

thousands o dollars in back pay to itsmostly immigrant workorce. The Daily News reported in August that a groupo rabbis have joined the worker centerBrandworkers International to pressurethe company into doing the right thing.Rabbi Steven Exler told the paper that he wanted to see “upright business practiceson the part o my ellow Jews.”lKudos to District Council Local 983

President Mark Rosenthal and the rest o the union leadership or stopping morethan 450 layos in the Department o

Parks and Recreation. The Chief-Leader reported that, “the deal that protects the workers’ jobs or one year by creatinga retirement incentive that includes theoption o the retirees working as seasonalemployees or up to three years.”

Summer is usually a time when New Yorkers get out o town, go to thebeach and slow down their normal

busy pace o lie. But this summer, laborunions have been hard at work ghting

corporations and government agencies thatare outright demanding an upward transerin wealth. Here’s a rundown o some o thebattles that have gone on and continue togo on in New York City:l45,000 workers at Verizon between

New England and Virginia went on strikelast month ater the telecom giant de-manded $1 billion in worker concessions(the company posted $19 billion in protin the last our years), nearly $20,000 per worker. The strike—called by the leaderso the Communications Workers o Amer-

ica and the International Brotherhoodo Electrical Workers—gained nationalmedia attention. Workers are back on the job under the terms o the last contract, asunion negotiators indicated that the com-pany was willing to pull its most draconian

measures o the table.lOn August 31, union members,

tenants and political gures came out toFlatbush Gardens to support the 70 work-ers who have been locked out since last

year. The company, Renaissance Equity Holdings, has demanded a drastic reduc-tion in benets and a 30 percent cut in wages during a time o economic recessionand a rising cost o living, according to theService Employees International UnionLocal 32BJ.lFamous art auction house Sotheby’s

has been the ocus o worker anger since itlocked out its art handlers August 1 in themiddle o contract talks. Teamsters Local814 President Jason Ide noted that thecompany has brought in one o the most

notorious anti-union law rms, just aterSotheby’s enjoyed a protable year. “Jack-son Lewis specializes in helping New York employers destroy permanent, proessional jobs by bringing in a temporary workorce with high turnover,” Ide said.

Labor’s Long Hot Summer

Hundreds of Verizon workers picketed outside the company’s lower Manhattan headquarters last month.

G a r y S c h o i c h e t




Social Service Employees Union

Local 371

817 Broadway

New York, N.Y. 10003

Periodicals Postage

Paid at New York, NY

S

tarting in October, the Administra-tion or Children’s Services will man-

date all Child Protective Specialists inthe eld to carry phones with GPS. The purpose, an agency document said, is to“improve accountability” and “support ACS’responsibility o knowing and assuring thatthe work was completed as reported.” Themove comes ater the tragic death o 4-year-old Marchella Pierce last year.

Members aren’t happy about this, espe-cially because it is disrespectul to the pro-essionals, as it communicates the idea that ACS believes hard-working members arelying about their whereabouts or slacking

o, when the reality is most ACS workers

ACS Forcing GPS Tracking on Our Members

SWAP- Community Assistant at 78 Catherine Street wouldlike to swap with Community Assistant at 300 Skillman Av-enue, Brooklyn NY I interested, please call (212) 877-4434.

SWAP- AJOS at (Center 67) 45 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, NYwould like to swap with AJOS at (Center 54) 165-08 88thStreet, Jamaica, NY. I interested please contact (347)995-6127.

SWAP- Caseworker at OCSE in Manhattan would like toswap with Field Caseworker in HASA in Brooklyn or anynon-feld position in Brooklyn or Manhattan. I interested,please call (917) 723-0956.

SWAP- Caseworker at HASA in Manhattan HomemakingUnit non-feld position. Would like to swap with Caseworkerin Queens. I interested please contact (212) 620-9817.

SWAP- AJOS worker at (Center 99) in Richmond, StatenIsland would like to swap sites to 109 East 16th Street,New York, NY. I interested please contact (347) 398-4891.

SWAP- AJOS worker at (Center 99) in Richmond, StatenIsland would like to swap to 109 East 16th Street, NewYork, NY. I interested please contact (718) 390-6786.

SWAP- Caseworker at HASA Queensboro Ofce locatedat 33-28 Northern Blvd, LIC, would like to swap to HASA/ Greenwood or HASA/ Brownsville. I interested please call(917) 226-5931.

SWAP- Supervisor I at APS in Manhattan (South) wouldlike to swap with a non-feld Supervisor I position in lowerManhattan or midtown Manhattan. I interested please call(212) 971-2651.

FOR SALE: Large ceiling fxture, sterero record player,dolly, luggage, dishes, pots, glassware, git items, neverworn size small ladies’ clothes including dark brownborghese aux ur jacket, books, new cordless phone withclock radio, and lots more. Call (718) 430-1796.

BULLETIN BOARDMEMBERS’

Congratulatons to Michelle Blackstock, a GrievanceRep at the Union Ofce 817 Broadway on the birth o

her granddaughter, Milan Hani Brown, born 8/15/11weighing 6lbs. and 14oz. and 20 inches long.

Congratulatons to Ms. Ednita Cheek, a JOS and aUnion Alternate at Crotona Job Center #46 on the

birth o her frst grandson, Zhyair Omari Franks, born07/20/11, weighing 9lbs. and 9oz. and 20 inches

long.

Congratulatons to Barbara Woodlon, a Caseworkerat Harlem Hospital on the birth o her granddaughter,Storm McKinley Rembert, born 06/17/11, to Candice

and Rondeau weighing 6lbs. and 10oz. and 20inches long.

Condolences are extended to Lorna Fernandez,

Caseworker at MISCA-Adult Protective ServicesBronx Field Ofce and her amily on the death o her

mother, Marion C. Fraser-Fernandez, who died onAugust 15, 2011.

Condolences are extended to Arthur Omar Owens,Caseworker at HRA Home Care Services in Brooklyn

on the death o his wie, Mrs. Marie A. Luton –Owens,

who died on August 12, 2011. Condolences may besent to Arthur Omar Owens 1005 Jerome Avenue,Apt. D63, Bronx, NY 10039.

Condolences are extended Avon Pinckney a Delegate

and a JOS at HRA/FIA Job Center #18 and Brigette

Browning who is also a Delegate and Caseworker at

HASA Grand Concourse on the death of their Grand-

mother, Elmira E. Smith–Ryan, who died on August

10, 2011. Condolences may be sent to Avon Pinckney

1410 Wood Road #17, Bronx, NY 10462.

Congratulations

At ACS, Enter Ronald Richter

can’t cope with the rising caseloads. VP for Negotiations and Research Rose

Lovaglio-Miller said, “ACS refused tooffer language that the phones will not leadto disciplinary actions. In addition there isno clause that speaks to loss and theftof equipment.”

The Union’s attorneys are reviewing themandate to see what legal challenges can bemade against the implementation.

“With this Orwellian policy, the agency isaddressing a problem that doesn’t exist,” saidPresident Anthony Wells. “What we need todo is lighten the caseloads o ACS workersby hiring more proessionals, so that we can

serve the community better.”

Condolences

Former Family Court Judge Ronald Richter

stepped in as the new Administration or Chil-

dren’s Services commissioner this month. John

Mattingly let ater seven years o service.

SSEU Local 371 has a host o improvements to

make in the agency. President Anthony Wells,

Vice President or Negotiations and Research

Rose Lovaglio-Miller, and Senior Advisor Larry

Glickson met recently with the new ACS chie.

“Richter seems like a real straight shooter,” said

Lovaglio-Miller. “Our frst impression is that we

may have someone we can talk to about our is-

sues in this agency. We look orward to develop-

ing our relationship.”

The high-class retailers of Fifth Avenue heard our Union loud and clear this month.

Labor Day Parade, see page 4 S a m L

e w i s

Unionist Sept 2011

Documents

Transcript of Unionist Sept 2011