CWA 1180 - Worksite Organizing

"They started listening"
Members at ACS organize to create new PAA positions
December 2000

Quality control, quality jobs. "A lot of our work is like quality control," says shop steward Anthony Durant. With the new PAA positions, the quality work 1180 members do was recognized. With Durant are Patricia Bryant, Brenda Anthony, Ingrid Brown and Kathy Johnson.

The Administration for Children's Services (ACS) last year created an additional 14 PAA I and five PAA II positions in its Categorical Eligibility Unit (CEU). The move came as a result of a multi-year effort by Local 1180 members in the agency to convince management that the positions were needed in order for the unit to do its work

Foster care is funded through a complex combination of federal, state and city money. Before the CEU was created in 1990, the city lost enormous amounts of money that could have been recovered from other levels of government. Caseworkers, unlike PAAs, did not have expertise in this area and the job was being left to them. With the creation of the CEU in 1990, PAAs were brought in to review cases and sort out the laws and processes that govern foster care. They helped recover millions and millions of dollars. But by the mid-nineties, the unit was stretched too thin and needed additional PAAs to get the job done properly.

"What happened was the federal government did an audit about three years ago," explained Brenda Anthony, a shop steward at ACS and a worker in the CEU. "They failed miserably. That's when they realized what we were saying. They started listening more." Local 1180 members organized together across all the boroughs to get the new positions approved. They had countless meetings and they pushed their case, finally making management see that what they were proposing would make the unit, and the agency, function better. "Now they appreciate what we do," noted Anthony. "They understand now how important our work is for the agency."

It took several years for the proposal for new PAA positions to work its way through the system and to upper management, but 1180 members persisted, and this past summer, the positions were finally created. "After it was realized that we were valuable, it seemed like we were a little more appreciated," said Kathy Johnson from the unit. "By getting together and taking a look at what they do, members were able to put a stamp of value on what they do for management," commented 1180 staff rep Albert Van-Lare, who shepherded the case through the system. The work the CEU workers do is skilled and specialized, but Anthony says that, "as clericals we are not respected." This case helped reverse some of that, "but we have a way to go," added Anthony. "It's a constant battle," agreed Johnson.

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