What a difference a union makes!

BOSTON - The change might not be obvious to the naked eye, but the last three months have been a whirlwind at Boston's Addiction Services program. On July 20, the non-union staff of this Boston Public Health Commission program voted 10 to 1 to affiliate with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 285. "It's already made a huge difference in our quality of life," according to Jim Badger, the department's new union steward.

Recently a floor drain in Badger's office overflowed contaminating the carpet with sewerage. "Apparently the contamination was underneath the rug," Badger explained. "You couldn't see any moisture, but the odor was terrible. People were getting nauseous. The office wasn't usable." According to Badger, the same thing happened about a year ago. "I was told to spray room deodorizer and that the smell would go away. And we didn't have a union. I was stuck."

But this time there was a union, which filed class action grievance demanding that management "take all necessary actions" to make the office safe, including the replacement of the carpet.

Management responded. The drain was capped and covered. The floor was washed with bleach and the carpet was replaced. In response to the grievance, another office belonging to a manager who had complained of an uncapped sewer pipe was also fixed.

"You should have seen the flurry of people running around here repairing things," said Carole Simons, another staff counselor and now an alternate steward. "I'll tell you, it's very empowering. I'd been wanting to have a union here for ages. Now when there's a problem there's actually something we can do about it."

As the repairs got into full swing, one middle manager remarked, "God bless the union. Now maybe we'll be able to get something done around here."

- A Boston reader