A photo of Omayra Camacho, a crime victims specialist for the state Office of Victim Services, used in a special section of the September 2011 Work Force: Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective published by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA). Camacho was among the first responders assisting the families and victims of the September 11 attacks. She now assists people who were involved in the cleanup, many of whom have developed cancer, were exposed to asbestos and have other illnesses.
A photo of Michael "Rocky" Rockdashil, a Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) unit president who serves as a lieutenant in the Baldwinsville Volunteer Fire Company, was used in the special section of the September 2011, edition of the Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective. Rockdashil forged a friendship in 1999 with fellow firefighter Michael Healey of Squad 41 in the South Bronx/Harlem area, who died in the World Trade Center collapse. In the photo he holds Healey's helmet shield. The Baldwinsville firefighters were not activated to respond but they held a fund-raiser and raised $20,000 for the families of the fallen firefighters.
A photo of John Damato, a Nassau County Local member, used in the special section of the September 2011 edition of The Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective published by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA). Damato, who works for the Department of Public Works as a sewer maintenance worker and is also a volunteer firefighter and member of the National Guard, was deployed in the days following the September 11, 2001, attacks on a six-month Guard tour during which he alternately sifted through piles of rubble at Ground Zero searching for human remains and guarded security check points at the World Trade Center site.
A photo of Jennifer Graley, a social worker and Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Chautauqua County Unit member, used in the special section of the September 2011 edition of The Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective. Graley traveled to New York City following the attacks, acting on a strong feeling that she needed to be in that place, at that time, doing whatever she could for those most in need.
A photo of Frank Cosentino, a senior mail and supply clerk for state Liquor Authority, used in the special section of the September 2011 Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective. The horror of witnessing victims leaping from windows brought Consentino into the forefront of safety and health issues affecting working people. He is currently the statewide chair of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Occupational Safety and Health Committee, serves as the Metropolitan Region health and safety chair and also chairs the State Labor/Management Safety and Health Committee.
A photo used in the special section of the September 2011 Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective. Deborah Hanna, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Health Research, Inc. Local president, stands in front of the nation's largest construction project, the World Trade Center. Following the attack, it was the nation's largest toxic waste site, which led Hanna and other union activists to create the 90 Church Street Coalition in order to protect the safety and health of workers and local residents being relocated. The 90 Church St. building is the smaller one on the right. On the left is the Liberty Tower under construction and next to it is World Trade Center 7, which is already occupied.
A photo used in the special section of the September 2011 Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective published by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA). Co-workers at the state Department of Taxation and Finance and survivors who worked on the 86th floor of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center, from left, Margaret Ramsay, Terrel Silver and Marcia Smart, pay their respects to 39 co-workers who perished on September 11, 2001 at a memorial in their Brooklyn office.
A photo of Ken Bergmann, part of the State Emergency Management Office (SEMO) planning section who worked with a team of 10 people out of the state operations center to coordinate the response of several state agencies to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, used in the special section of the September 2011 edition of the Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective published by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA). Bergmann is now retired.
A photo of Bill Howard, a front line coordinator of the state's response to the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, used in the Special Section of the September 2011 edition of the Work Force, Always Remember: A commemorative 10th anniversary retrospective. In 2001, Howard worked as a deputy director of state operations for then-Governor George Pataki. Today, Howards is the director of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)'s Employee Benefit Fund.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA -represented state Executive Branch employees ratified a contract with New York state that keeps people working and protects rights and benefits. From left, CSEA Statewide Treasurer Joe McMullen, Statewide Secretary Denise Berkley, Executive Vice President Mary E. Sullivan, President Danny Donohue and Director of Contract Administration Ross Hanna take part in a news conference announcing CSEA's state contract ratification.