Shakira Zahiruddin, a mom of two and eight months pregnant, spoke via tears at a press convention in Brooklyn Tuesday, the place she and her union accused Barnard Faculty of unlawfully laying her off.
Photograph by Adam Daly
Barnard Faculty is going through allegations that it laid off a custodian who’s eight months pregnant to keep away from paying her maternity depart, in violation of her union contract and federal regulation, the employee and her union leaders mentioned on Wednesday.
The choice left her with out revenue or well being protection for herself, her two kids, ages 7 and 13, and her unborn child, the one mom mentioned, noting that her medical advantages expired six days after her firing.
“As anyone can understand, this is a very hard moment for my family and I,” Zahiruddin mentioned via tears at a press convention at Transport Staff Union Native 100 headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn. “I’m left with nothing. What am I going to do now?… It’s not fair. It’s very unjust and inhumane.”
She mentioned her dismissal was not as a consequence of her efficiency however due to her being pregnant. “I wasn’t let go because I didn’t do my job properly, or I was incompetent. No, I was let go because of my pregnancy. No one wants to deal with the cost of that, and that’s not fair, that I have to suffer.”
Shakira Zahiruddin, eight months pregnant, was comforted by fellow TWU Native 264 members after an emotional press convention in Brooklyn.Photograph by Adam Daly
Beneath the collective bargaining settlement between Barnard and TWU Native 264, layoffs should be performed by seniority, in accordance with the union. The union claims the school left out a male worker with much less time on the job than Zahiruddin. She was employed on April 6, 2024; the male employee began on July 29, 2024. New York News has requested a duplicate of the collective bargaining settlement to confirm the seniority guidelines that the union says Barnard violated in Zahiruddin’s layoff.
Native 264 President Joseph Rose mentioned Barnard’s choice violated these guidelines and harmed essentially the most susceptible employee. “The tyrannical and irresponsible decision making made by Barnard is unacceptable, and we will continue to voice our outrage against this, these union busting tactics that Barnard has imposed and putting their bottom line and cost savings above human decency and fiduciary responsibilities.”
The union has filed a grievance contesting the layoff, which can undergo Barnard’s human assets division, and in the event that they rule towards her, it can go to an unbiased arbitrator.
Rose mentioned they’ll proceed to help Zahiruddin “to ensure that the contract is honored,” however that Barnard “has chosen to go silent and not give us any answers.”
“This has been one of the darkest moments in Barnard’s history, allowing a junior employee to bump Shakira out of her position, knowing that he does not have seniority over her,” mentioned Rose. “They were informed that this decision was wrong, and they chose not to respond or give any reason as to why they allowed it.”
In response to the union, Barnard advised Zahiruddin she may apply for a vacant custodial place on the 3-11 p.m. shift. There was no assure she would get the job. Even when employed, she can be handled as a probationary employee, incomes a decrease hourly wage and with out eligibility for paid maternity depart.
Zahiruddin mentioned the supply amounted to being stripped of the protections she had earned. “This is my life. This is my family,” she mentioned. “Right now, I feel like they just don’t care.”
Native 264 President Joseph Rose criticizes Barnard Faculty’s layoffs, saying, “I think the cost savings are what this is all about.”Photograph by Adam Daly
Her firing got here amid a “college-wide staff restructuring” that some audio system at Wednesday’s press convention speculated was tied to Barnard’s current settlement of a lawsuit introduced by Jewish college students who alleged the varsity did not correctly tackle campus antisemitism. A Barnard spokesperson refuted any connection between the layoffs and the settlement.
The union contends Zahiruddin was wrongly included within the layoff group to maximise financial savings. Rose mentioned her case is the starkest instance of Barnard refusing to observe the contractual phrases relating to layoffs and seniority rights. A number of different Native 264 members have been additionally not too long ago laid off, he mentioned.
“This is inhumane and indecent. She should be focused on preparing for bringing her newborn child into this world and bringing in income and supporting her children.” Rose added. “Instead, she’s been left with nothing. She’s been left out in the cold. She has no means right now to provide for her family, and it’s unacceptable.”
A Barnard Faculty spokesperson mentioned the varsity “prides itself on being a fair, respectful workplace and fully complies with all employment laws, including those for pregnant employees.”
The spokesperson mentioned the layoffs have been a part of a one-time, college-wide restructuring to replicate Barnard’s evolving operational wants. The restructuring affected about 77 full-time positions, together with some held by union workers.
“For TWU-represented employees, the contract TWU negotiated determined which employees were ultimately impacted,” the spokesperson mentioned. “Barnard is bound by union seniority rules, which allow more senior employees to displace junior ones. All affected union employees were informed they remain eligible for rehire and encouraged to apply for open positions.”
A supply near the layoff proceedings at Barnard claimed that every one affected union workers have been knowledgeable they continue to be eligible for rehire and inspired to use for open positions.
The faculty at present has 4 open custodian positions, in accordance with the supply who mentioned that any not too long ago bumped union worker shifting into a job with the identical classification is not going to be on probation, and can be eligible for maternity depart. Additionally they claimed that any worker rehired this month is not going to expertise a niche in well being protection.
Nonetheless, in correspondence between Zahiruddin and her former employer, seen by New York News, the 32-year-old was advised that as a rehire, “an employee will being as a probationary employee.”
