Public Employee Press

Local 420 saves job of member on probation

Service Aide Shaundra Phillips knows well the importance of belonging to a strong labor union — Local 420. While she was still on probationary status at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, her supervisor wrote her up for three counts of violating hospital rules and regulations and the institution terminated her on Oct. 25, 2004.

Although Phillips was on probation, the collective bargaining agreement between Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 and the city provides hearing rights to probationers with over three months on the job.

With the support of former Chapter Chair Leslie Robertson and DC 37 Council Rep Marva Lewis Bradford, Phillips decided to fight for her right to present her side of the story and get her job back. The union filed a grievance for her and took the case to arbitration. The DC 37 legal team argued that Phillips’s termination was unwarranted because her supervisor lacked credibility.

For almost two years Phillips hung on, although she was discouraged about getting her job back. “I felt nobody was going to believe me because I was young,” said Phillips, who had to apply for public assistance during those two years.

The arbitration hearing was held July 20, 2006, and the decision came down the day after Christmas. The arbitrator ruled that she had been wrongfully discharged, that she should be immediately reinstated, and that the hospital should pay all her lost wages and benefits from Oct. 25, 2004.

Phillips will receive over $50,000.

“I’m glad I hung in there and had the support of the union," said Phillips. "Diana York and the legal team and Ms. Johnnie Locus [DC 37 Hospitals Division Director] were all there for me."

"We are committed to preserving the rights of our members in the workplace at all costs," said Local 420 President Carmen Charles.

— Alfredo Alvarado