The New York state economy continues to lag in spite of the "robust economy boasts" by Governor Cuomo, and senior center workers numbering almost 2,400 have no union representation, but are seeking union help to improve their pay, and poor working conditions..
The average senior center kitchen aide makes less than 12,000 to $15,000.00 annually working 30 to 40 hours a week. Most of them work extra hours without pay, and weekend pay is not forthcoming. The City's Department for the Aging has not given raises to senior center workers in almost 11 years, yet raises have been generous inside DFTA's hermetically sealed executive offices.
Sponsor agencies have looked the other way, worried of backlash directed at them if they speak to the wage injustices suffered by senior center employees. Even senior center directors earn a paltry $35,000- $45,000 after almost 20 to 25 years of service to non profit sponsor agencies.
On top of poor pay, senior center employees often engage in chores not related to their written tasks such as handling the USDA Surplus food program at no extra pay, preparing containers for seniors to take home meals, a no-no since DFTA does not allow meals to be taken out of the senior centers, and college students trained by senior center staff, with no pay differential for providing the training that can be as much as 16 hours a week in a work load of 35 hours weekly.
Senior center directors and their assistants go ignored when DFTA approves meals for dinner using the 3PM to 6PM slot, claiming that directors are "part of management" meaning, they get no over time - but wind up working 10 hours per week with no extra pay, and DFTA knowingly violates fair labor standards by engaging in fiscal chicanery. Many spend their own personal funds to buy office supplies without getting reimbursed as most sponsor agencies claim they are broke, have no cash on hand, and suffer the indignities visited upon them by DFT executive management.
Most senior centers are falling apart, due to years of neglect by the City of New York, and senior centers located within the New York City Housing Authority are literally crumbling, in dire need of reconstruction, a critical need the City acknowledges but ignores daily.
Will New York City finally give wage fairness to senior center workers? It remains to be seen, although the Unions could help make things happen faster, if they sign up the 2,400 workers at the City's 400 senior centers soon.
