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A Tale of Two Keepers By ACACIA RODRIGUEZ The Animal Keepers of Local 1501 Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) specialize in providing care for a variety of unique animal inhabitants at the Bronx Zoo, Queens Zoo, Central Park Zoo, and New York Aquarium. With many mouths to feed, exhibits to tidy, and personalities to learn, the routines are the same, but the animals remain wild as ever. Wild Animal Keeper Meagan Fontanez feeds fish to a California sea lion at the New York Aquarium. Photo by Meagan Fontanez Wild Animal Keeper Meagan Fontanez has worked at the New York Aquarium’s Sea Cliffs for more than three years. The Sea Cliffs Exhibit is an outdoor section with habitats suitable for harbor seals, penguins, sea lions, and sea otters. After Fontanez earned an Environmental Science bachelor’s degree, she interned and volunteered in the section before working full time at the aquarium where she learned all about caring for her animal charges on the job. “My whole life I’ve known I wanted to work with an environmental agency or animals in some capacity,” she said. “In college, I was a Biology major at first, and then I changed to Environmental Science. I realized postgraduate study wasn’t for me, so [...] — Dec 16
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School Lunch Aides Serve Up Success By ACACIA RODRIGUEZ Senior Lunch Aide Shanna Brown (center) displays two vegetarian choices available for students. Local 372 members from left: Jesmin Akter, Tamanna Parvin, Second Cook Maria Deleon, Farzana Boby, Marilyn Ortiz, Shanna Brown, Carmen Morel, Samuel Cotto, Shanier Brown, Shahina Chowdhury, and Maria Diaz. Photo by Acacia Rodriguez At Herbert H. Lehman High School, School Lunch Aides from Local 372 NYC Board of Education Employees produce and distribute nutritious meals for a campus of discerning eaters. With menus including butternut squash and barbecued chicken, school lunch is an elaborate production helmed by a team of dedicated and quick-thinking workers. The Lunch Aides carry out important work in the kitchen and on the lunch line serving up healthy food to young academics and staff alike. It’s 7 a.m. and Senior Lunch Aide Shanna Brown, one of two cooks in the Lehman kitchen, begins her day with a pen and paper to dive into some math. Depending on which menu the Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services has planned for the day, Brown must calculate how best to deliver meals to staff and students during six different lunch periods. She carefully divides up the protein, carbs, and [...] — Dec 16
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Wall to Wall: Met Workers Fight for Unified Voice By JUSTINA RAMLAKHAN Met employees gather on the steps in front of the museum in December 2023 to call for a fair contract with the City of New York. Photo by Gabriel Papa The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Met as it’s more commonly known, offers more than 5,000 years of art from around the world for New Yorkers and tourists alike to experience and enjoy. The museum has been a treasury of rare and beautiful objects since its founding in 1870. Employing approximately 1,600 staff members, the Met classifies most of its employees as “at-will,” meaning they can be terminated by their employer at any time, for any reason, as long as it’s not illegal. When an employee is acknowledged as being hired “at will,” courts deny the employee any claim for loss resulting from a dismissal. “As stakeholders in this institution’s success, we are frustrated with the lack of a legitimate voice on the job to gain better wages, benefits, and work policies,” said Antonio Martinez, a member of the organizing committee and a former Visitor Experience Ambassador at the Met Cloisters. “We often feel overworked with unclear job boundaries. Many of us are in precarious positions [...] — Dec 16
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Punished For Doing the Right Thing By MIKE LEE Public workers have the right to follow correct procedure in the course of their duties, even when a supervisor demands otherwise. This was the scenario faced by Roderick Holder, Traffic Enforcement Agent 3 and Local 983 member, when he refused to tow a car parked in a space marked by an unofficial “No Parking” sign on June 12, 2022. Holder was then punished for sticking to the rules. The New York City Police Department suspended Holder for 30 days after a hearing, causing him to lose pay and health benefits for failing to comply with a supervisor’s direct order. By refusing to tow a car parked under a counterfeit “No Parking” sign, Roderick Holder was punished by NYPD management. Photo by Roderick Holder However, as Local 983 First Vice President Marvin Robbins pointed out, this was not a lawful order because the parking sign was not an official NYC Department of Transportation sign. “Official signs are clearly marked from DOT. This was a fake sign attached to a tree, and a supervisor ordered Holder to tow the car anyway. That’s not a legal request, but our member didn’t comply, so he was suspended,” Robbins said. Local 983 [...] — Dec 16
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Despite National Upsets, ‘Green Machine’ Secures State Victories Photo by Kat Cancio By MIKE LEE On a sunny Saturday, Oct. 5, DC 37 members and retirees participating in a ‘Battleground Bus Trip’ to Philadelphia spoke about their role in getting out the vote with so many personal and union rights on the line. “This canvassing experience was awesome and eye-opening,” said Michael Kwan, a member of Local 1757 in the City’s Department of Finance. “I contributed to my DC 37 family and union, made new friends, and served my best personal interest by learning about other communities and helping out for a good cause as a volunteer. It was such a memorable and cool experience.” Despite intensive efforts by the DC 37 Green Machine, including door knocking and phone banking to turn out voters in Pennsylvania, the Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz came up short by a small margin in the Keystone State. The loss in Pennsylvania and six other swing states enabled Donald J. Trump to become the first Republican President to sweep all seven since Ronald Reagan in 1984, although by relatively small margins. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. [...] — Dec 16