Public Employee Press

Union beats wrongful firing at HHC, demands back money

With the help of Local 420 leaders and the DC 37 Hospitals Division, Local 420 Pharmacy Technician Robert Lindo got his job back in January after the Health and Hospitals Corp. unjustly laid him off in September from Harlem’s Renaissance Diagnostic and Treatment Center.

The union is still fighting to win back pay for Lindo for the time he was out and will meet soon with the Office of Labor Relations to resolve the issue.

Audrey McConney, who was a DC 37 Council Rep and is now the director of the Hospital Division, filed a grievance on Lindo’s behalf when he was laid off.

The grievance charged that HHC violated the Citywide Contract, which requires management to give the union notice at least 30 days before the effective date of projected layoffs and to explore alternatives to the layoffs with the union. The union also charged HHC with another contract violation, failing to try to cut the amount of work contracted out to avoid the member’s layoff.

Local 420 Chapter Chairs Anita Holder and Tyrone Franklin and DC 37 Council Rep Barbara Perrote identified eight contracted-out employees in the Pharmacy Technician title, four at Coler Memorial Hospital and the other four at Goldwater Memorial Hospital. All work for Tach Medical Temps.

“Contracting out is a big problem citywide, and no member should ever lose their job while contracted-out people are doing the work,” said McConney.

HHC denied the grievance at a Step II conference on Oct. 28, 2009; however, management called Lindo back in January and assigned him to Harlem Hospital, where he returned to work on Jan.19.