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C AT C H Me If Yo A Steward Reflects on Her Madlena Minasian is a quiet dynamo. In addition to working as a phlebotomist, the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers-West member sits on numerous LMP committees at Woodland Hills Medical Center. She arrives at the medical center before 8 a.m. and leaves after 6 p.m. She gets paged about every two minutes by union members, managers, and others who need her advice. Most days, she scrambles to squeeze in committee meetings or one-onone sessions with members. She takes her pager home with her—and keeps it on. Who’s to say when a shop steward’s day begins—or ends? “When I look at my calendar, it just overwhelms me,” she says with a laugh. Minasian’s passion for helping her co-workers is obvious. Her strong belief in the Labor Management Partnership and commitment to her role as union advocate are equally evident. She says it comes from a lifelong desire to stick up for the underdog. “When I was growing up, when kids at school were being picked on I would always stand up for them,” she says. “It wasn’t fair for someone bigger to attack someone smaller. If they didn’t have a voice I would try to be their voice for them.” Later in life, working for different employers before coming to Kaiser Permanente, she always spoke her mind. “If you don’t speak up [about an injustice], nobody is going to know,” she explains. When she walks the halls of the hospital she could be mistaken for the mayor of the medical center rather than a working phlebotomist, as she’s known to just about everyone from hospital administrators to EVS workers, many of whom seek her advice. Her colleague and co-chair of the Woodland Hills stewards’ council, Kathy Gayle, says the two are “joined at the hip.” “She’s one of those people who are extremely articulate, fair, and able to pull the layers of the onion apart to get the heart of the matter,” says Gayle, an LVN in the pediatric department. “She gets to the root causes [of an issue] more than most.” 6 | HANK MAY 2006
u Can Busy Days photos by Robert Gumpert Gayle says Minasian is not just a comrade in arms but also a friend. “She holds a confidence and is funny as all outdoors. She makes me laugh.” A Union Partner Respected by Management Minasian is equally respected by her management partners. “She’s an incredible gift to the medical center as far as her Partnership approach,” note Cathy Casas, who “tri-chairs” the Comprehensive Workplace Safety Management Program steering committee with Minasian and another labor partner. They also work together on the Comprehensive Performance Improvement Project (CPIP) and other LMP efforts. Of course, the two have at times found themselves on opposite sides of an issue. But Casas says her labor partner never makes it personal and often is able to see an issue from different perspectives. She says the two have a pact to “agree to disagree” and not assume that one is right and the other wrong. At the same time Minasian is known as a staunch advocate for the interests of her fellow union members. Despite the high praise from her partners in both the union and management, there aren’t many who would trade places with Minasian because of the heavy load she carries. She advises newer stewards, and admits that there is a shortage of stewards at Woodland Hills, like most places. A Mentor to Her Peers A typical day for Minasian is all about people. Recently, despite punching through her voicemail first thing in the day, by lunchtime she had a dozen messages waiting. A few were logistical: a film crew was coming to the hospital looking for frontline workers to interview about attendance; a colleague wanted to know if a meeting was still on. But the rest involved counseling coworkers. For example, she was scheduled to represent a union member in an issue resolution. And a young colleague in the lab was concerned about a dispute with a co-worker that had escalated to the department manager. Minasian met in person with her colleague and counseled the lab employee to try to work out the conflict directly with the coworker. She drew on her knowledge of the National Agreement and local contract, labor law, issue resolution skills, and a host of other Partnership tools, but she says the tools she reaches for most are her compassion and her good sense about people. If the manager were to get further involved, Minasian told her co-worker, “Don’t hesitate to call me, I can go into the meeting with you.” The young lab worker was clearly reassured. Do Stewards Have a Life? Minasian insists that she is not all work and no play. But she also sees herself as a victim of her own competence. “The motto here is ‘the more you do, the more you get asked to do,’” she says. But she makes sure that she takes vacations and makes time for friends and family. Her load at home is easier now that her 20-year old son is grown, though he’s still living at home while attending college. Minasian has been a single mother since her son was three. She says he doesn’t say much about her steward work, but she knows he notices her accomplishments. “He’s impressed by what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved.” Despite the challenges, Minasian says she cannot imagine life any differently. “I can’t see myself not educating [people] or not involved in helping others.” Editor’s note: Shortly after Hank visited Woodland Hills, Madlena Minasian was offered, and accepted, a job as the medical center’s learning consultant. Though she will no longer be a steward, she says she’ll remain actively involved in the Partnership and hopes to put to good use all the skills she learned as a steward. MAY 2006 HANK | 7
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