Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Treasurer Joe McMullen performing at a union event. In April 2007, McMullen was elected by the CSEA Board of Directors to fill a vacancy in the statewide treasurer position. He has since qualified for a full term in the union's recent statewide election. A 30-year activist, McMullen has worked as an electrician at the State University of New York College at Oneonta where he was local president. He has always brought a rank and file perspective to his union roles.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) member, Candace Swart, behind the wheel of a school bus she drives for the Webutuck School District in eastern Dutchess County, NY, was honored for her dedication to the job when the Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board named her the Dutchess County School Bus Driver of the Year. As a school bus driver for the district for nearly 31 years, Swart has a proven record of safety on the job, having clocked over 900,000 miles behind the wheel of a Webutuck school bus without an accident.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Long Island State Parks and Recreation Local member Linda Kasten leads guided tours through the Connetquot River State Park Preserve's main house, which once hosted famous guests. CSEA members of the local who work at the preserve, located in Suffolk County, NY, have long played a key role in preserving the high quality of life many Long Island residents make a priority, striving to maintain and enhance attractions such as a gristmill, nature trails, horseback riding paths, bird watching venues and the main house, which is more than 100 years old and features an antique kitchen and dining room complete with paraphernalia from that period.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Executive Vice President Mary Sullivan, right, welcomes AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker during the Capital District Area Labor Federation's annual meeting in Albany, NY, where Holt Baker delivered the keynote address. CSEA plays an active role in the area labor federation, with Sullivan serving as the federation's executive vice president and Capital Region President Kathy Garrison serving as a vice president. Holt Baker is the first African-American woman elected to one of the federation's highest three offices, and she is the highest ranking African-American woman in the labor movement.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)'s Town of Colonie Recreation Maintenance Worker Len St. Gelais performs routine maintenance on a town bicycle path that runs along a six-mile section of the Erie Canal in New York State. CSEA members across the state maintain the canal and 400 miles of bike paths that run along the canal.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)'s Long Island State Parks and Recreation Local member Betty Hirt prefers working outdoors at Connetquot River State Park Perserve in Suffolk County, NY. CSEA members have long played a key role in preserving the high quality of life many Long Island residents make a priority, striving to maintain and enhance attractions such as a gristmill, nature trails, horseback riding paths, bird watching venues and the main house, which is more than 100 years old and features an antique kitchen and dining room complete with paraphernalia from that period.
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation is going green. The agency is implementing a Compressed Pay Period, or CPP, Pilot Program. The new program reflects concern for employees seeking a work/family balance and helps reduce energy use, traffic and air pollution. Eligible employees will be able to decrease the number of their workdays and increase the number of hours worked each day to earn a day off every tenth day. Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) member, Kathy Follet, along with a committee, helped the compressed pay period program expand at her agency.
Unidentifed Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) members and staff joined correction officers and other union members as well as concerned citizens at a recent rally to save Hudson Correctional Facility from closing. A state plan to close Hudson and three other upstate New York correctional facilities has met with strong opposition from workers, political leaders and community members.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)'s Central Region President Colleen Wheaton offers support to Groton, NY, Schools Unit President Sheldon Clark over his recent firing. Clark, an 18-year bus driver with a safe driving record, was unjustly fired by the board in January following a December, 2007, incident in which the bus received minor scratch damage to its cargo door. No one was injured and the students on the bus were unaware of the incident.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Treasurer Joe McMullen speaks out for affordable prescription drugs and taxpayer savings as part of a news conference in Albany, NY. The event brought together an unprecedented alliance that includes the American Association of Retired People (AARP), New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONY), the Public Employees Federation (PEF), Consumers Union, New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) and the Center for Medical Consumers. The alliance is calling on state officials to make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible to New Yorkers through marketing and purchasing reform. CSEA has long supported the idea of using the state's buying power to negotiate the best possible prices for prescription drugs.