Page 13 - Work Force July-August 2019

Unions fighting for fair SUNY Downstate parking fees
BROOKLYN — After years of paying a nominal fee for parking their cars while they are on the job, SUNY Downstate workers are about to face a steep fee hike that many CSEA members employed at the hospital find odious and unaffordable.
“I wouldn’t mind (paying it) if
the salary would also go up,” said Felix Smith, a CSEA member and supervisor in the hospital’s Buildings and Grounds Services Department. “I can’t afford it.”
For as long as SUNY Downstate workers can remember, the fee for the multilevel parking lot across the street from the hosptial was about $70 annually.
However, for as long as anyone can also remember, there was little to no maintenance of the building.
After a series of mishaps and complaints about dangerous conditions, the lot was inspected, condemned and permanently closed in May.
Until a new lot is built, workers are being asked to pay fees upwards of $200 per month for other lots nearby.
CSEA is currently working with other unions at the hospital to
negotiate a lower monthly fee, but management isn’t budging.
“We haven’t budgeted those fees into our budgets for years,” said SUNY Downstate Local president Althea Green. “We don’t make those kinds of salaries.”
Indeed, an offer to bring the fee in line with the cost of a monthly public mass transit card is being considered.
In the meantime, some SUNY Downstate workers such as Darlene Allgood have had no choice but to change their schedules in order to get to work on time.
“I have to leave much earlier
in order to arrive by 6 a.m.,” said Allgood, a CSEA member and nursing station clerk in the Ambulatory Unit. “I live in [a former Metropolitan Transportation Authority] two fare zone and have to take three buses [to work]. By car, I would arrive in 30 minutes. Now, it takes an hour and a half or more.”
CSEA and other unions representing hospital employees have inquired to hospital administration whether a multi- million dollar grant provided to the
SUNY Downstate Nursing Station Clerk Michael Burt, SUNY Downstate Local President Althea Green and Buildings and Grounds Department Supervisor Felix Smith discuss the closure of the parking lot used by members for decades and for a nominal fee.
institution thanks in large part to advocacy from the unions could be used to offset the cost of parking especially for some of the lowest paid workers who need parking.
They have also questioned the costs associated with a name change the hospital will soon be undergoing and whether it was more prudent
to invest in the hospital’s workforce than on costly and cosmetic changes
to the hospital’s brand.
“Our members are the most
important part of this institution,” said Green. “Without us, the hospital cannot function. Shouldn’t they make it easier and more convenient for
us to get to work while also helping us keep a little of our hard earned money?”
— David Galarza
CSEA takes action after workers see, smell rats
MANHATTAN — Workers at the New York Department of State were tired of working in a state of fear and disgust.
Vermin, some the size of small pets, had infested their downtown office space earlier this year, leaving their putrid scent and excrement in their wake.
“I had to clean (droppings) every day before I started working,” said one worker who asked to remain anonymous. “It was literally all over the place.”
While CSEA activists and staff met with agency and building management to address the problem, it seemed that the problem was not being addressed with the urgency it deserved.
On walkthroughs, huge holes where rodents entered had still not been patched and droppings,
shriveled papers and other signs of a severe infestation were still clearly visible. The ghastly presence of
over a dozen peanut butter-laced traps also lined a wall as if they were potted plants.
One employee even became so ill earlier this year that she suffered an asthma attack and was taken to the hospital.
Some of her co-workers were sick and tired of their Monday morning routines of cleaning their desks and work areas of droppings and papers chewed up by the rodents.
They had seen and smelled enough and were able to get the attention of a local news channel that ran a high-profile exclusive on the situation.
CSEA Occupational Safety and Health Specialist Jeff Hyman also filed a complaint with the state
Public Employees Safety and Health (PESH) Bureau.
Within days, the matter was addressed, according to Hyman.
While New York state
does not own the property, it is still the responsibility of the state to provide a safe workplace for its employees.
Bridget Coleman, Department of State secretary, being interviewed by NY 1 in front of the building, earlier this year.
Coleman, a Department of State secretary and CSEA New York City State Employees Local activist. “That’s not reasonable.”
The agency’s customer service department gets a high volume of customers who come for a variety of services, including licenses to operate small businesses. Ironically, the agency also houses the Division of Building Standards and Codes.
CSEA Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett said no worker should ever be forced to work under such conditions.
“Our members come in every
day to serve the public and make revenue for the state of New York,” said Crockett. “Surely, is it too much to ask for a clean, safe and healthy environment?”
— David Galarza
“The rats were coming into
a workplace where people have to work every day,” said Bridget
July-August 2019
The Work Force 13