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Union Workers March in Harlem to Protest Job Cuts

By Jeff Mays | September 11, 2010 3:07pm | Updated on September 11, 2010 3:05pm

By Jeff Mays

DNAInfo Reporter/Producer

HARLEM—More than 200 union workers marched from the defunct North General Hospital to Harlem Hospital Friday to protest layoffs of union employees.

Workers from Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents Metropolitan Transit Authority employees and Local 1199 S.E.I.U, which represented workers at North General, say that union workers are under attack.

With chants of "What's Disgusting? Union Busting," workers said everyone from transit riders to the patients North General served are being hurt by cuts to the union workforce. The MTA has eliminated about 3,000 positions this year, including toll booth clerks and bus drivers.

"It's disgusting for the patients because they were used to us," said Josette Melendez, 38, a medical assistant at North General for 11 years. "I lost my job with four days' notice, no vacation and no severance pay initially."