Time We Got Paid What We're Worth.

With NEA help, New York community college ESP win pay upgrades.

In another workplace, New York State NEA member Phoebe Forbes might be called a business manager Among her other duties in the business office of Jamestown Community College, Forbes certifies more than $2.5 million in student awards for the state tuition assistance program, maintains financial records, and helps collect past due accounts.

Yet Forbes is officially a "senior account clerk typist," a humble civil service job title with an ancient job description quilled before the dawn of office technology. And across the campus, other "typists" are, in reality, high-tech department secretaries, many coordinating the affairs of 30 to 40 faculty members at a time.

Until recently, the pay of JCC's predominantly female support staff pretty much reflected those modest titles--not the skill, effort, and responsibility required to run a large community college with two campuses, two satellite centers, a distance-learning operation, and a child care center.

But that's starting to change, thanks to a pay equity/job classification study conducted by NEA and November pay upgrades for 64 employees--from $200 to …