VOICE/Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) activist Benita Whitlock, along with a child to whom she provides day care, participate in a rally against subsidy cuts in Buffalo. VOICE/CSEA joined with Voice-Buffalo, a coalition of faith-based organizations and the YWCAs of Erie County to rally to protest drastic cuts in child care subsidies for working families. Many child care providers may also be forced to close or to lay off employees.
Ruby Mims, the top statewide Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized for Political and Legislative Equality) recruiter for 2009, poses with AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy at the 2010 Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Conference in Albany.
Kevin Kumor of the Erie County Unit, left, John Stading of the Erie Educational Local and Assemblyman Mark Schroeder meet outside the New York Assembly's chambers during the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Lobby Day 2010.
Brooklyn DDSO Local President Adriane Hudson studies the union's positions on important issues at the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Lobby Day 2010.
New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver listens as Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) President Danny Donohue makes a point while meeting in Silver's office on CSEA/AFSCME Lobby Day 2010.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) President Danny Donohue meets with New York Senate Conference Leader John Sampson during CSEA/AFSCME Lobby Day 2010.
Metropolitan Region office assistant Moses Merisier and office manager Jessie McQueen, who have relatives in Haiti, help organize food, clothing and other supplies that Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) members donated to earthquake victims in Haiti. McQueen lost a cousin and his two young children in the collapse of Port-au-Prince's Hotel Montana. Merisier's family was spared fatalities, but they lost their homes and livelihoods. After the devastating earthquake, Merisier and McQueen organized the donation drive. They are also helping coordinate a March 27 fund-raiser to benefit local humanitarian organizations, along with the region's Women's and Education committees, other unions and community groups.