b"side and say, They might write you up for being late, so you got to start being on time, because if they write you up, thenyou got to have a hearing about it. Seems to be like a pattern, like you might take off after the weekend, after the holiday,or before holiday, I say, and they see a pattern on that. Management might write you up, so you got to stop doing it. I say, if they write you up, they write you up. People get a lot ofbreaks. You've got to do it three times. Some peopletake advantage. I say: Youre taking advantage. When they write you up, you get a bad write up. Then as it builds up,they can let you go. Some listened. Some get angry, but in the long run, they come to me and say, Mr. Fox, you wereright, you know, because that's what I did. I saved a couple jobs. Quite a few. But if the complaints build up, then theyare let go, and I go to them and say: You can't do no more, it's your record, your record brought you here, then that's it.When you see a pattern, that's it, there's nothing the union can do about it. It's a pattern.What did it mean to you to be a union member? As a union member, you had backing. You had to follow union rules. They had classes on what to do, what not to do.And you got some kind of security, you got some kind of backing with the union. But then, some people take advantageof the union. Just because youre a union member, you cant just do what you want to do. You represent the union andthe union represents you. Now the union wants you to do your work properly and do it right and represent the union. If you're right, the union will back you. As shop steward, I told them that ever since I was there, You know the rules. Theunion will help you, but when you wreck it pal, you wreck it. It can be your downfall, by messing up. And that's howI talked to them. Whatever the problem was at the time, that's what I relate to and that's what I spoke to them about. And then they saw it. Did you try to intervene in general?People do things and we walk up to them and stop them, slow them down. Most of our cooks were on the ball. Theycame in, they did their job. Sometimes they would be late or they might disappear from their station: Where is thiscook? where were you? So I say, You gotta be at your station. I'm gonna have to look for you. If you keep going awayfrom your station, you're gonna get written up. Most of the time, we cover for each other.We looked out for each other.But if somebody took advantage, we stopped doing it. If you leave your station, you have to tell us where your food is incase somebody needs something. So, we kept that in order, we worked together. Some didn't but not that many; somewere a pain in the neck too, one or two. There were people who worked there 30, 35 years. I was a junior. They loved thejob, most of the cooks that I deal with, they love the job.How did you get to be a cook at Goldwater Hospital?I was working at Columbia University. I called my friend. We were raised together on Jackson Avenue. She was thepersonnel director at Harlem Hospital. She knew I wanted a cook job. She said, Take this dietary job at Harlem and thenwhen the cook job opens up, you'll get it. But Harlem said I was overqualified for the cook position. A cook job came upat Goldwater Hospital. Before the job went on the board, my friend took me to Goldwater and I got the job. I had tried toget a job at the Department of Corrections, but they said I was too old. I think I was 45, 46. They said I would retire at55 with full benefits and it wasnt fair to the younger workers. I didnt know any better. I could have made trouble.130 "