New York State Senator Nicholas Spano speaking to the delegates at the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) 1987 Annual Delegates Meeting in Rochester, New York. During the convention hundreds of CSEA members paraded through the downtown area enroute to City Hall where CSEA statewide President William L. McGowan and several other CSEA activists testified before a hearing conducted by the State Senate Standing Committee on Mental Health, which is chaired by Spano, demanding adequate staffing levels in the state's psychiatric facilities and developmental centers. The understaffing issue heated up after Mental Hygiene Therapy Aide Clara Taylor was murdered earlier in the year while working alone on a night shift at the Rockland Psychiatric Center. CSEA has raised the issue of understaffing time and time again and has pushed for corrective measures for years.
Unidentified delegates attending the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)'s 1987 Annual Delegates Meeting listening as CSEA President Bill McGowan addresses the crowd, while other CSEA officers and guest speakers sit on the dais. For the 77th consecutive year delegates elected by the membership to help determine the present and future course of their union participated in the democratic process known as the CSEA Annual Delegates Meeting. More than 1,200 delegates attended. Delegates rejected a proposed dues increase; approved several changes in the union's constitution and by-laws; approved the affiliation of CSEA's Retirees Division with AFSCME and reaffirmed overall union policy. The CSEA is New York State's largest union.
U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, left, reads a Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) petition delivered to Washington DC by CSEA President William L. McGowan, right. The petition called for helping to halt an IRS plan to tax unused sick leave.
Governor Mario Cuomo accepting the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)'s endorsement for reelection. From left to right are CSEA Federal Issues Coordinator Joe Conway, CSEA President William L. McGowan, Cuomo, and Executive Vice President Joseph E. McDermott.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) President William L. McGowan (1977-88), left, shows his support for Senator Alfonse D'Amato, as the union endorses him for re-election in 1986.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Metropolitan Region President Frances Dubose Baptiste, U.S. Presidential Candidate Walter Mondale, CSEA President William L. McGowan, and Statewide Secretary Irene Carr attending the 1984 CSEA Annual Delegates Meeting.
New York Governor Mario Cuomo speaks at a Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Board of Directors meeting at the Albany Hilton hotel in 1982. To his right are CSEA President William L. McGowan and Statewide Secretary Irene Carr. To his left are CSEA Treasurer Barbara Fauser, CSEA Federal Issues Coordinator Joe Conway and CSEA Executive Vice President Joseph McDermott.
New York Governor Mario Cuomo speaks at a Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Board of Directors meeting at the Albany Hilton Hotel in 1982. To his right are CSEA President William L. McGowan and Statewide Secretary Irene Carr.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) President William L. McGowan (1977-88), right, welcomes New York Governor Hugh Carey to CSEA's 1982 Annual Delegates Meeting in Buffalo.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) President William L. McGowan (1977-88), left, speaks with New York Governor Hugh Carey at CSEA's 1982 Annual Delegates Meeting in Buffalo. At right is Governor's Office of Employee Relations Director Sandy Fucher.