Gennadiy Shamalov, Felix Rodriguez and Jacob Raziyev, physician assistants at Wyckoff Hospital and proud new members 1199SEIU.

Gennadiy Shamalov, a physician assistant, says working at Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn for the past five-and-a-half years has given him more opportunities than he might have had at other hospitals.

“We don’t have a residency program, so physician assistants get to work side-by-side with the attending physicians. It’s challenging and rewarding work,” said Gennadiy.  “And I love to help patients, that’s why I do this job."

However, Gennadiy says that in recent years, physician assistants were not being fully valued for their hard work, and this was having a negative effect on the department as a whole.

“We hadn’t had a raise in close to four years, and management was not listening to our concerns,” said Gennadiy.  “We couldn’t keep new employees, people just kept leaving.”

Gennadiy and his physician assistant colleagues decided it was time to join the rest of their hospital co-workers in 1199SEIU.

Nicole Balazs and Bridget Krasutz, Wyckoff Hospital physician assistants and proud new members of 1199SEIU.

“As physician assistants, we were one of the only non-union groups in the hospital, and we didn’t have any organization,” said Gennadiy.  “We said to ourselves, ‘instead of picking up and leaving, let’s first try to change things for the better.’”

After building their unity and educating themselves about the advantages of union membership, Gennadiy and his co-workers voted by almost 90 percent to join 1199SEIU.

“Now, we have more unity and stability,” said Gennadiy.  “We’re able to sit down at a table with management and negotiate our working conditions and compensation, which means we have a real voice and we are truly listened to.  Life is getting more expensive: I have a wife and a nine-month-old son.  I’m glad my co-workers and I can now look forward to security and a better quality of life with 1199SEIU.”