By JANE LaTOUR
Ever since the clock started ticking on welfare recipients, the
temperature has been rising at HRA job centers.
In 1996, the “welfare reform” law set up a complex new
system of regulations and requirements for the clients to meet.
The Human Resources Administration placed its Eligibility Specialists
and Caseworkers in the front lines of the drive to reduce the welfare
rolls.
Understaffing has created a pressure-cooker atmosphere, as workers
struggle to do their jobs.The members of Clerical-
Administrative Local 1549 and Social Service Employees Local 371
must often deliver bad news to frustrated clients.
Sometimes, the response is angry or violent.
Local 1549 Grievance Rep Alpine James calls the Melrose Job Center
in the Bronx “a poster child for workplace violence.”
The center is on 161 St. just east of the Grand Concourse. A recent
visit on a rainy afternoon found patrons crowded into the lobby,
waiting for space on the six elevators. In addition to four floors
of HRA offices and an Administration for Children’s Services
site, the complex also houses a methadone clinic and a probation
office.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, a group of welfare mothers sitting together
were still waiting for 12 o’clock appointments. Toddlers ran
around waving toys and crying.
One young mother spoke angrily to a blue-shirted security guard
leaning against the wall: “I can’t wait any longer,”
she said. “I have to go pick up my kids!”
Every few months an assault makes headlines. In the most recent
attack, 29-year employee Elektra Lowndes-James was punched and knocked
to the floor on Aug. 13. But the chronology of chaos goes way back.
In July 2000, Clerical-Administrative Division Director Ronnie Harris
filed a Step 3 grievance that documented 17 incidents in 22 months.
Clerical Associate Florine Watson, a 20-year veteran at the facility,
testified knowingly about the history of verbal abuse and physical
assaults. She told of one client who threatened to kill every member
of the staff, but still was allowed to go between the 3rd and 5th
floors three times and was not arrested by security guards.
Local 1549 won the case in July 2001. The arbitrator ordered management
to provide adequate personal security for the workers at Melrose.
Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez takes the assault hazard personally:
“I was an Eligibility Specialist. I’ve experienced workplace
violence personally,” he said. “We’re trying to find
a way to resolve this that works for everyone!”
SSEU Local 371 Vice President Faye Moore says the local “will
continue to push for a real effort to replace the contract security
guards with public sector peace officers.”
In continuing discussions, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts
and leaders of the two locals are working with HRA Commissioner
Verna Eggleston to iron out the key issues.
These include replacing the private “security guards”
with peace officers who have the power to arrest, increasing staffing,
and engineering changes to provide physical protection for HRA employees.
“As members of the community, we want a system that shows more
compassion for people in need instead of tying the clients up in
red tape so they strike out at our members,” said Ms. Roberts.
Kenny Mulligan, Clerical Division Council representative, succinctly
sums up the situation: “When a person goes to work, they have
to know whether or not they’ll be going home.”