©) Panini
=6ECTOR
Official Publication of
Association
Vol. 3, No. 23
CISSN 0164-9949)
The Civil Service Employees
Wednesday, March 18, 1981
‘How . . . is the state’s problem,’ McGowan Says, but. : :
‘We expect our people to be paid’
ALBANY — CSEA President William L.
McGowan has told state officials, ‘‘How the state
meets its payroll is the state’s problem, we expect
our people to be paid and that is where this union
stands.”
Mr. McGowan was reacting to the possibility that
the state may not be able to meet its institutional
payroll obligations this week as the result of a con-
tinuing deadlock between the Carey Administration
and the Legislature over the state’s ‘deficiency
budget.”
Each year in addition to the enactment of an of-
ficial budget for the coming fiscal year, the
Legislature generally acts upon deficiency budgets
that provide for payment of state obligations not
provided in the general budget. Last year that
didn’t happen the way it should have and now the
state says it hasn’t got the money to pay state
workers unless a deficiency budget is enacted.
CSEA was briefed on the problem by the Division
of the Budget and the Governor’s Office of
Employee Relations, but following the briefing,
Mr. McGowan said the union’s position is simple:
CSEA members provided service to the state and
are contractually entitled to receive reim-
bursement for it.
State officials said late last week that there was
still a chance the payroll could be met if an
Union likes some
retirement plan
changes proposed;
caution is urged
ALBANY — Bernard Ryan, head of CSEA’s
Legislative and Political Action office, joined
other New York State public employee union
eek testifying on pro-
the Public Employee
s that would affect wae
_ spokespersons last
sed 2
_ “We thought it was a mistake in 1976 when —
- the New York State retirement plan was in- —
tegrated with the Social Security Law’s
provision for escalation of benefits,” Ryan
commented. ‘“The formula used at that time
seemed extremely complex, if not impossible
to fully implement.” * ee
“Now you are aware of the practical
problems with this particular formula and _
have recommended a change in it. But unfor-
tunately, in the past five years the Social —
Security program has gone downhill and has a_
very bleek future for today’s workers.
“} think that now, more than ever, we
_ should proceed very cautiously in trying to
develop an overall retirement benefit package
which would rely on substantial Social
ity benefits ntinued.
agreement with legislative leaders could be reach-
ed to break the deadlock on the deficiency budget
legislation and approve needed funds.
“We are obviously very concerned about this
situation,’ Mr. McGowan said, ‘‘but how the state
meets its payroll is the state’s problem. We have a
contract and they must honor it. Our people provide
a service in exchange for salary and benefits. It’s
sad that the people who can afford it least get held
hostage in these kind of political hassles. Both sides
should sit down and get this problem worked out.’”
The union learned that despite the problems over
ALBANY — Public employees throughout the
Albany area responded immediately, and
generously, when CSEA President issued a call
last week for union members to contribute a
penny a member to finance a trip to Binghamton
by Governor Hugh L. Carey.
Carey had earlier stunned a press conference
gathering by claiming chemical contamination
of the Binghamton State Office Building has been
“overblown”? because of ‘‘the union,’’ and
volunteered he was willing to go to Binghamton
and “‘drink a glass of PCBs.’’ The building has
been closed since it was contaminated in a
February 5 transformer explosion and hundreds
of state workers are working in temporary
locations in the Binghamton area (see related
feature on Pages 6 & 7 of this issue).
President McGowan reacted quickly and
harshly to the governor’s comments, saying
Carey could drink all the PCBs he wanted and
that a penny a member contribution would in-
sure the governor’s trip at no expense to state
taxpayers, but that no CSEA members would
re-enter the contaminated building until it had
CS declared safe.
Members responding generously
to McGowan’s call for pennies
to send Carey to Binghamton
the state payroll, the legislative payroll has enough ~
funds so that lawmakers and their staffs will not
miss a paycheck, CSEA pointed this fact out to the
news media in a press statement issued by Mr.
McGowan. 4
“As far as ] am concerned if the Legislature ex-
pects to be paid our people expect to be paid and
that is our position, period,” he said.
CSEA officials were monitoring the situation late
in the week while lawmakers continued to meet in
an attempt to resolve their differences with the ad-
ministration.
Albany area CSEA members responded to the
penny a member contribution in a big way, and
within a day several union local presidents
dropped off large containers of pennies con-
tributed by members. In the above photo, CSEA
Executive Vice President Thomas McDonough,
second from right, accepts the donations at
CSEA headquarters. Among those making the
presentation were, from left front, Division of
Parole Local 669 President Alicia Fisher Yarter;
retiree Mary Jarocki; Civil Service Local 653
President Delores Farrell, center; Mr. Mc-
Donough; and Workers’ Compensation Local 671
President Brian Ruff, right. Identifiable in the
back row are Audit and Control Local 651 |
President Barbara Skelly, left, and Department
of Correctional Services Local 656 President
Susan Crawford, right. Not shown, but present,
was Social Services Local 688 President Alan
Siegel.
Contributions are still being accepted at CSEA
headquarters, Albany, and will be delivered
shortly to the Governor’s Mansion to let him
know how public employees feel about his recent
remarks.
7
Otsego County Rep. claims employees
‘ought to go to Poland and work’
By Charles McGeary
CSEA Communications Associate
COOPERSTOWN — Forget the thousands of miles between Coopers-
town and Warsaw, Poland. An Otsego County representative has found a
way to bridge the gap.
Otsego County CSEA Local 839 is currently in the midst of contract
negotiations and recently received the State’s fact finder report with
recommendations which included salary increases, an agency shop clause,
among other benefits.
Following the release of the fact finder’s report, Representative Joseph
Kenyon, Chairman of the Otsego County Board’s Personnel Committee,
offered some interesting comments regarding the report.
“I would reject all of the fact finder’s recommendations except the
milage allowance,” he said. ‘‘I’m not in agreement with the percentage pay
increase or with the agency shop, or the other items.’’
“Look at what happened in Poland. Workers there are trying to get the
40-hour week, hoping they can get what the County (Otsego) workers had ten
years ago. Maybe some of our County workers ought to go to Poland and
work.”
The offer to ‘‘go to Poland”’ brought a quick, whimsical response from a
score of County employees. As though by magic, signs, tags, buttons, and
make-shift Polish flags appeared as symbols of ‘‘solidarity’’ with their
fellow workers in Poland.
“It was a harmless, but effective way to show our resentment of his
Boe remarks,’’ said Mabel Wannamaker, Local 839 President, with a
smile.
“When I saw those signs reading ‘‘Bus to Poland’’, ‘‘We are PROUD to
be aligned with our Polish friends’, and “SOLIDARITY for Otsego County
Workers, too!’’, just to mention a few, I sensed a feeling of togetherness
among the membership,’’ Mrs. Wannamaker continued.
“Without realizing it, the comments by Mr. Kenyon triggered a sense of
“solidarity” in our Local. Perhaps I should thank him for his help,”’ she said
with a twinkle in her eyes.
Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, members of CSEA Local
839 will always carry a compassionate feeling for those million of unknown
workers in Poland.
Thank you Mr. Kenyon, wherever you are!
Labor coalition to host Buffalo workshops
BUFFALO — A coalition of over 45 labor unions concerned with job safety
and health will convene in the Buffalo area next week. Topics include the many
concerns workers should be aware of and ‘‘the dangers ahead under Reagan.”
The Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health
(WNYCOSH), of which CSEA Region VI is a member, will hold its third
annual winter conference March 27 and 28 in Norton Hall, SUNY Buffalo,
Amherst Campus.
Dr. Eula Bingham, former head of the federal OSHA program and credited
by Region VI President Robert Lattimer as being the ‘‘a prime mover of the
national OSHA awareness movement’’, will be honored at a reception on
March 27.
Workshops covering a broad range of OSHA concerns will be offered dur-
ing the two-day period. They will be repeated in order that participants will
have the opportunity to attend as many as desired.
CSEA’s OSHA expert Nels Carlson will conduct a workshop in public sec-
tor OSHA law, and 14 other workshops of vital concerns will be offered.
Region President Lattimer called the broad range of topics, ‘‘a positive
foundation for all workers to assure their rights to work areas free from poten-
tial hazards to their health and safety. I hope as many of our members as possi-
ble will take advantage of these workshops.”
Labor -Attorney Lee Smith, WNYCOSH Executive Director, said the
workshops will offer, ‘‘much vital information that many would not normally
be aware of. For example the video display terminals workshop will address
the potential hazards of working with display terminals such as cumulative eye
damage or sight loss that may develop over a period of working with this new
office technology.”’
A $20 registration fee for the conference will cover the following: A kit of
conference materials; the reception for Dr. Bingham on Friday; the luncheon
on Saturday; coffee and doughnuts and admission to all workshops.
Registration forms may be obtained from the WNYCOSH office at 209
Delaware Ave., Buffalo, N.Y., 14202.
The workshops to be offered include: Basic and Advanced OSHA
Procedures; Information-How to Get It; Access to Medical Records; Noise &
Walkaround Pay; Public Sector OSHA Law; Collective Bargaining for Safety
and Health; Educating the Members; Women’s Occupational Health
Problems; Legislation and Political Action and the Right to Refuse Hazardous
Work.
Suffolk strike settled
SAYING GOOD BYE TO Willie Trotman as president of the
Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center CSEA Unit are from
left, Unit Secretary Patricia Tager, Unit Grievance Chairman
Glenda Davis and Rockland Psychiatric Center Local 421
President Eva Katz. Trotman received a promotion which
puts him in another bargaining unit.
Page 2 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
at PRAE GbR) Gina ea uy,
SELDEN — Leaders of Suffolk Educational Local 870, who had opposed a two-day
wildcat strike at the Middle Country School District ended it with a settlement that was
applauded by the striking employees.
Local 870 President Walter Weeks, Middle Country School District CSEA President
Robert Hunter and CSEA Field Representative James Walters, hammered out a six-point
settlement with school negotiators on March 10, which included a promise, in writing,
from the Middle Country School District to stop subcontracting, to submit to immediate
arbitration of longstanding grievances; to return a bus route to CSA, and to prohibit
unauthorized school personnel from driving school buses. The employees returned to work
at 6 a.m, the next morning ending the walk out which began at 6 a.m., March 9.
The four units of the CSHA coalition — buildings and grounds, maintenance, heads
and chiefs and transportation — voted to strike on March 8, after the school district broke
its promise to them stating only authorized employees would drive buses on weekends.
The incident which caused the spontaneous job action occurred when a teacher check-
ed a bus out on Friday afternoon to drive students to a chess tournament. But it also un-
covered other smoldering issues between the CSEA and the Middle Country School
District.
The strike vote was taken despite warnings by CSEA leaders that the union could not
sanction a strike because it was prohibited by the Taylor Law.
“We just couldn’t hold them back,” said Mr. Hunter. ‘It wasn’t just that the school
was violating our contract by letting teachers and coaches act as bus drivers, they were
also transferring custodians from night to day shifts or from one school to another and
refusing to sit down to arbitrate the grievances we filed about it. Also, we feel the district
is trying to subeontract away our jobs,” he added.
During the next two days, CSEA leaders Mr. Weeks, Mr. Hunter, Danny Donohue,
Regional President, Nick Abbatiello, Regional First Vice President, William Griffin,
Regional Director, and Mr. Walters worked to get the members back on the job. PERB
mediator Homer LaRue was also instrumental in helping draft the settlement.
Even though the agreement stipulated that the school district has the right to pursue
Taylor Law penalties, the school board only approved it by a 5 to 4 vote. CSEA members,
who considered the settlement a victory, applauded wildly, unanimously approving the
settlement.
“This agreement gave our members back their pride and dignity,” said Mr. Weeks.
“The Middle Country School District knows now they are dealing with a strong union.”’
By Ron Wofford
NEWARK — Should a Mental Hygiene Therapy Aid (MHTA) do the
work of a Motor Vehicle Operator (MVO)? How does insurance coverage
apply if a MHTA is functioning as an MVO and an accident occurs? What
should a MHTA do if patient passengers get unruly and need attention
while the MHTA is trying to drive down the highway?
Many MHTAs at Newark Developmental Center wonder if management
has thought out the answers to these and other questions.
MHTA job classification standards don’t list driving as a job
qualification, but many at Newark have been asked or ordered to transport
patients and have been threatened with loss of their jobs for refusing to do
so.
Management has also insinuated that if more MVO’s are hired, it will be
at the expense of more MHTA’s whose levels are already severely under-
staffed, despite earlier promises by management to remedy the situation.
“We don’t really mind driving,” said one MHTA who asked to remain
anonymous, ‘‘but this situation is getting out of hand. A short errand run
with a patient or client is one thing, but it’s not untypical for one of us to be
ordered to drive several patients to Geneva or Rochester or other places as
far.
“This of course entails thruway driving, which has its own special
hazards under the best of conditions. But when you have a group of patients
where one or more is liable to act out unexpected or over-agressive
behavior, the potential dangers to all concerned are obvious. Many of the
vehicles we are asked to drive,” he continued, “‘are vans or small buses, and
they are not as easy to handle as cars.”
Grievance Chairman Mike Flaherty and Assistant Chairman Johnny
Patterson said the facility does have a driver certification program, but it’s
very loosely operated. ‘‘There have been instances of driver qualification
tests consisting of no more than a drive to the corner store with a transpor-
tation department employee along for the ride,”’ Flaherty said.
Other problems are the type of license the state Department of Motor
Vehicles requires for such driving and the mechanical condition of the
vehicles.
“A Jot of the vehicles here are in bad shape,” stated Flaherty. Some of
them, I’m sure, wouldn’t pass inspection. There are many instances of
broken windshields, turn signals, poor alignment and so on,” he continued.
“They don’t seem to have enough staff or time to keep the vehicles up to
safety standards.”
Johnny Patterson described a situation that could have ended much
CITY OF TROY PLANNING DEPARTMENT employee David Woodin,
center, has been chosen as the first winner in the city’s newly implemented
Employee Suggestion Award Program. Woodin suggested that the city close
down the parking garage; which serves the downtown shopping mall, on Sun-
days when the mall is closed. He was awarded a $50 savings bond for the idea
which saved the city $4000 in operation and maintenance costs. Woodin is being
congratulated by City of Troy CSEA Unit President Joseph Cassidy, left, and
Jackson Dennis, right, CSEA’s representative on the suggestion award com-
mittee.
March
18—Buffalo Local 003, General Membership Meeting, 5:30 P.M., Buffalo Aud Civb.
18—Nassau County Local 830 Executive Committee meeting, 5:30 p.m., Salisbury Inn,
Eisenhower Park, East Meadow
19—Long {sland Region 1 Clerical, Secretarial Seminar, 7-11 p.m., Holiday Inn, Haup-
auge.
20—-Local 432 Shop Steward Workshop on “Grievance Process and Procedure,’” 11:30
a.m. Satellite Office, 222 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains,
23—-L.I. Region | executive board meeting, Hotel Syracuse, Syracuse.
23—Southern Region lit delegates meeting, 7 p.m., Ambassador Room, Hotel Syracuse,
Syracuse
22-24—CSEA Delegates Meeting Syracuse.
‘We really don’t mind driving, but... .’
MHTA’s ponder out-of-title duties
endar of EVENTS-—
oa
VEHICLE INSPECTION — Newark Dev. Ctr. Grievance Chairman Mike
Flaherty checks vehicles which are the center of a dispute regarding driving
duties by Mental Hygiene Therapy Aides at the center.
more unfortunately. ‘‘There was an accident recently’ with a mini-bus that
had a wheelchair lift apparatus. The MHTA who was driving had let the lift
down when the bus kicked into gear by itself. The lift was torn off, but lucki-
ly no one was hurt,’’ Patterson said. ‘‘State troopers investigated the ac-
cident and are aware that some of our drivers may not be properly licensed
to be driving patients around, so now they monitor us very closely when they
see a vehicle from this facility.”
_ Grievances have so far provén to be inconclusive, the grievance officers
said. “We lost an out-of-title grievance,” said Flaherty, ‘‘because the find-
ings were based on the percentage of work time that an MHTA was re-
quired to drive. They ruled that because only 16 per cent of work time was
for driving in the case in question, the grievant was not actually working out
of the assigned title.””
“Of course we disagree with those findings, but we'll take a different
tack in future grievances,’’ Flaherty concluded.
Local President Peggy Aldridge said ‘‘We’re willing to cooperate with
management on this because we’re professionals and we want our patients
to have the best care possible. But there are some very important questions
here that we must have answered. And things will not get better until this
issue is resolved.” :
Fire victim seeks aid
COLD SPRING — A plea for financial assistance is being made by a
Southern region member who lost most of his possessions in a Peekskill house
fire on Feb. 10.
Richard Gilleo is really a victim twice over; not only was he burned out in
the blaze, but also hurt while fighting it. He was hospitalized four days and ex-
pects to be out of work at least six-eight weeks. The Camp Smith custodian
says he needs, ‘‘financial help till I get back on my feet,” and adds that he used
most of his accumulated sick time in.1980 recovering from surgery.
Gilleo has temporarily relocated his wife and their two children to Cold
Spring. Anyone wishing to send him a contribution may mail it to: Richard
Gilleo, 3 Forge Gate Dr. Apt. 3B, Cold Spring, N.Y. 10516.
Safety of PPC workers improves
WEST BRENTWOOD — The safety of MHTAs, therapy assistants and
LPNs at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center (PPC) is described as somewhat better
following the recent settlement of a grievance.
Under the settlement of a class action safety grievance, management
agreed not to count therapy assistants and LPNs when staffing the wards for
the 4-12 and 12-8 shifts where the staffing level is one MHTA per ward, CSEA
Local 418 Grievance Chairman Paula Luvera said.
Local 418 President Bill Chacona said, ‘‘This settlement means a lot to the
institutional employees at Pilgrim. They no longer have to work alone on the
wards which is a dangerous situation.”
Ms. Luvera said that under the old system of one employee regardless of
job title per ward, employees were forced to work alone.
; April
| 1+kong Island Region | Mental Hygiene Task Force meeting, noon, Region | Satellite Of-
| fice, Hauppauge.
| B—Pilgrim Psychiotric Center Local 418 open house, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Assembly Hall,
i Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, West Brentwood.
© 10—Central Islip Psychiatric Center Local 404 open house, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Club House,
Central Islip Psychiatric Center, Central Islip
| 20-22—tong Island Region | Annual Workshop, Gurney’s Inn, Montauk.
| 10-11—Region 6 Women's Committee Seminar, Rowntowner, Rochester.
15—Buttalo Local 003, Executive Committee Meeting Plaza Suite, Buffalo.
oy.
20—Butfalo Local 003, Executive Committee Meeting, Plaza Suite, Buffalo.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR. Wednesday. March 18. 198)
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WELL...
I KNOW IT'S THERE
BECAUSE MY ADVISORS
HERE TOLD ME SO.
THEY SAID IT MAY
TAKE ME A
WHILE TO GET THERE,
BUT IT's THERE!
Onondaga social
a prime example
of union solidarity
SYRACUSE — To the tune of “Union Solidarity’, nearly 800 CSEA
members of Onondaga County Local 834 gathered for a membership get-
together recently at the Hotel Syracuse ballroom.
“Since our local has about 4,000 members, we thought a social night of fun
would be a good way of bringing members together and strengthening our
solidarity,’ Local 834 President Thomas Murphy said.
Local 834 Treasurer Patricia Callahan designed a four-color brochure an-
nouncing the event to local members.
Many of the Local 834 members who attended the ballroom festivity called
it a success.
“Tt was a good way of pulling everyone together. I met people who I didn’t
even know belong to our local,’’ said Lois Rinn, a physical therapist at Van
Duyn Home and Hospital.
ON HAND FOR THE ONONDAGA COUNTY LOCAL 834 get together are at
right, from left, Onondaga County Unit President Connie Bissi, Local 834
Corresponding Secretary Ventina Cerutti, Onondaga County Representative to
the CSEA Board of Directors Marie Kalbfleisch, Local 834 President Thomas
Murphy and Local 834 Treasurer Patricia Callahan.
tety
LOCAL 100
AFSCME, AFL-
Nassau Jail problems led to wildcat
EAST MEADOW — After procrastinating over the problem for
years, County Executive Francis Purcell, faced with a two-day wildcat
strike on Feb. 25-26 by correction officers, finally agreed to do something
‘about overcrowding and understaffing at the Nassau County Jail.
He met with CSEA leaders Nicholas Abbatiello, Nassau Local 830
President, and Correction Officers Unit President Jerry. Donohue, who
have been complaining bitterly about conditions in the jail, and said he would:
hire 30 to 60 more correction officers; upgrade salaries in line with pay
levels for correction officers in Suffolk, New York City and Westchester;
relieve crowded conditions at the jail; waive retribution penalties ”
for the wildcat action; and consider firing Nassau County Sheriff Michael
Seniuk, who subsequently resigned. ‘
Mr. Purcell also assured CSEA that the personnel records of cor- '
rection officers at the jail would remain confidential. The disclosure that
personnel files were being turned over to a Legal Aid attorney
representing an inmate who alleged he had been beaten by correction of- ~
ficers kicked off the wildcat strike. The files include home addresses,
telephone numbers and information about the officers’ families.
“The officers were concerned that a disturbed inmate could use that
information in seeking revenge,’’ Mr. Donohue said,
Word that the personnel files were being released spread quickly
through the correction officers’ ranks and they walked off the job at the 4-
Page 4
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
to-midnight shift on February 25. Once on strike, the correction officers
quickly enumerated the other problems that had helped cause the
walkout. Mr. Donohue said that the officers were exhausted from con-
tinued mandatory overtime shifts caused by shortages of personnel and
overcrowding. There were 940 prisoners crammed in the jail that was
built to hold 612 at the time of the objection and both CSEA and County of-
ficials have expressed fears for years that a minor incident could explode
into a riot at any moment, 2 :
As Mr. Abbatiello and Mr. Donohue. met with the county executive
and presented him with their complaints, CSEA employees from other
departments refused to cross correction officers’ picket lines. Sheriff
Seniuk ordered the officers on duty locked in the jail and Nassau County
Police ringed the facility. :
At first Mr. Purcell refused to negotiate while the officers were on
strike, but he later relented and agreed to resolve the issues. CSEA
leaders felt that the solidarity of CSEA correction officers and other
CSEA employees helped change Mr. Purcell’s. mind.
As the strike was ending, U.S. District Court Judge George Pratt
ordered the jail’s population reduced by 400 within 60 days or he threaten-
ed to intervene and appoint a federal receiver who would run the facility.
On March 10, Mr. Abbatiello met with the Office of Employee
Relations and helped them prepare a report on comparative salaries of
corrections officers in other Counties that was presented to Mr. Purcell.
Bye
ecial Lelegates
MEETING
March 22, 23, & 24, 1981
HOTEL SYRACUSE /
SYRACUSE CIVIC CENTER
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
Court transcript bill
vehemently opposed
ALBANY — CSEA is aiming its lobbying guns to shoot down Gover-
nor Carey’s budget-linked proposal which would make transcripts of
court proceedings provided by OCA court reporters the property of the
State, with revenue from the sale of transcripts accrueing to the State.
“We vehemently oppose this bill, which is nothing but a crass attack
by OCA on its employees and on accepted practice,’’ said Collective
Bargaining Specialist Patrick Monachino. “This attempt is a first. It is
contrary to past practices and to established policy of court reporters not
only in New York, but throughout the entire country.”’
Monachino pointed out that the State is ignoring the thousands of
dollars worth of equipment and supplies that reporters have had to invest
to get out speedy transcripts. “Some hire their own staffs for transcrib-
ing and typing so that the productivity is there. The proposal would cause
hardship both in terms of the income and investment losses by court
reporters and in the jobs of the people they hire.”
He said that the increased cost to the State of implementing this
proposal has been estimated at $31 million a year. Studies of the Court of
Claims, where the State provides transcribers and typists, have shown
that the money spent on providing transcripts is far more than the normal
cost of court reporters producing their own transcripts.
“What responsibility the State would assume in regard to the typing
and transcribing is unclear at this time,’’ Monachino said. ‘It would
cause a tremendous delay in completion of transcripts, and would
probably end up eliminating the requirement to have transcripts com-
pleted by the following day, thereby hampering the entire judicial
process.
Judiciary Labor/Management Committee Chairman Thomas
Jefferson commented: ‘‘Many, many reporters spend their holidays,
nights and weekends to complete transcripts. Reducing their incentive
would have adverse effects on productivity. I think this move would be
detrimental to the reporting profession,”’
Court reporters represented by CSEA are encouraged to write or call
their senators and assembly members to express their opposition to the
bill (S.3115 and A.4015).
SYRACUSE — About 1,000 CSEA delegates are preparing to participate
in the 1981 CSEA Spring Delegates Meeting scheduled for Sunday, March 22
through Tuesday, March 24 in Syracuse.
The agenda opens with a meeting of the statewide Board of Directors at
1 p.m. on Sunday in the Hotel Syracuse and closes after the general business
session Tuesday afternoon at the Syracuse Civic Center, and in between are
a wide range of workshop and educational programs.
The first general business session of the Delegates Meeting will open at
5 p.m. Sunday afternoon in the Hotel Syracuse BaHroom. Sunday night from
7 to 9 p.m. delegates have a choice of attending workshops on Social
Security, Workers’ Compensation and Parliamentary Procedure at various
sites within the Hotel Syracuse. A retiree delegates meeting is also schedul-
ed from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Directors Room in the Hotel Syracuse.
The first general business session at the Syracuse Civic Center will be
held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday. A special briefing session for
delegates on the potential impact of President Reagan’s budget proposals on
New York State’s economy and public employees and programs will be con-
ducted by AFSCME personnel from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Civic Center the
same day.
Tuesday’s general business session is set to begin at 9 a.m. and run until
conclusion that afternoon. A number of proposed Constitution and By-Laws
changes, published in last week’s edition of The Public Sector, will be con-
sidered during the business sessions.
Information tables will be staffed by union representatives at the Civic
Center from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, March 23. Areas to be
represented include Field Services, Education Department, Employee
Assistance Program, Retirees, PEOPLE, School Districts, Legal Services,
Employee Benefit Fund and Treasurer's Department.
d
RD — George H. Clark, right, president of Erie County
Home and Infirmary CSEA Unit of Local 815 receives the United Way Silver
Award on behalf of CSEA members who donated to the annual United Way
Fund Drive. Presenting the awards are Deputy Commissioner James Smith,
left, and Commissioner James Kuechle.
Trustees overseeing Local 010
NEW YORK CITY — Local 010 of the Civil Service Employees Association
has been placed in trusteeship by CSEA President William L. McGowan pur-
suant to the CSEA’s Constitution and the results of a union audit of the local’s
records.
Members of the local have been notified by mail of the trusteeship and all _
employees represented by the local are advised to contact the local office (212-
732-4534) or the Metropolitan Region Office (212-962-3090) for services normal-
ly provided by local officers.
In accordance with the CSEA Constitution, Presidént McGowan has ap-
pointed three trustees to oversee operation of Local 010 pending action by a
committee of CSEA’s Board of Directors. The trustees are: Thomas H. Mc-
Donough, Executive Vice President, CSEA; F. John Gallagher, Treasurer,
CSEA; and James Gripper, Jr., Metropolitan Region II President.
Under CSEA’s Constitution, any local officials suspended as the result of a
trusteeship are considered innocent of any alleged violations of the union’s
Constitution and By-Laws until a determination is made by an appropriate trial
board following a full hearing involving all parties.
Disciplinary actions against Local 429 officials upheld
NEW YORK CITY — Arbitrators have upheld disciplinary actions against
several officials of CSEA Local 429 at the Staten Island Developmental Center
in connection with protests of management action against employees alleged
to have participated in a job action at the facility.
CSEA Local 429 President Felton King and Local Vice Presidents Michael
Hicks and Roy Hargrove were disciplined by the state late last summer follow-
ing demonstrations protesting the ‘‘docking’’ of paychecks for employees
alleged to have participated in a sick out to protest staff shortages at the
facility. In each case, termination was the penalty sought by the state and in
each case separate arbitrators have upheld the charges and the penalties
despite the efforts of CSEA attorneys who defended the officials in lengthy ar-
bitration hearings.
Charges against two other Local Officials, Vice Presidents Tyrone Daniels
and Terry Rouse, are still pending. Those cases have also been argued by
CSEA before arbitrators but no decisions have as yet been handed down.
The demonstrations following the withholding of salary from employees
alleged to have been involved in the sick out included five days of protests at
the facility during which, the state alleged, state offices were occupied and
property damage was caused. The Local 429 officials denied the charges
against them arguing that they had participated in the activities in an attempt
to control demonstrators and avoid confrontations.
The decision of the arbitrators in the cases is effective immediately. The
only possible avenue of appeal in any disciplinary arbitration involves court
action which must prove that the arbitrator exceeded the authority given to
him by the parties in making his decision and award, a difficult point to prove.
CSEA lawyers were studying the decisions at press time.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981 Page 5
* wObeeneW ROEDIZ DUAN F A
Se REET FT PRP
State employees
overcoming many
difficulties to
provide service °
to public in the
Binghamton area
BINGHAMTON — A February 5 transformer ex- @
plosion and resultant fire which spread PCB and
CSEA MEMBERS from the Payroll Department squeeze in around a small table and a single adding other dioxin contamination throughout the 20-story
machine. Laura Farrell, Mary Dranichak and Sonya Jubinsky have had to make this setting ‘“‘home”’ State Office Building here may have shut down the
since they were displaced from the Binghamton State Office Building in early February building where hundreds of state employees
worked, but it did not shut down the work done by
those employees.
Almost immediately the displaced employees
from several state agencies were turning out their
work and providing services to the public from tem-
porary work locations throughout the Binghamton
area.
But while the work goes on, in most cases it is
with difficulties caused by lack of space and ade-
quate equipment. For the most part ‘‘offices” are
makeshift arrangements at best, as the accom-
panying photographs attest.
No one knows exactly how long the hundreds of
state workers will be forced to occupy these ‘‘tem- _
porary” arrangements, but indications are that it
will be months before the State Office Building
could be ready for occupancy again.
- ‘ r 7
THESE CRAMPED QUARTERS are the temporary office location of Workers Compensation Board
employees, left, Beverly Skrocky, Pat Greco, Helen Stewart, and right, Nancy Corbett and Nancy
Lindsey.
‘Cicer
TATE OF NEW YO)
SERS COMPENSA
IF SHE WANTED TO, Kathy Rolston of Workers
Compensation could actually fold up her “desk” and take
it home at night. @
DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLE’S temporary facility in the County Office Building is in near
constant confusion due to crowding and temporary arrangements.
Page 6 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
stun Tour
ARBARA CHAMPAIGN, an Ad-
inistrative Supply Room
ployee, uses a folding easel
air as her desk while temporari-
quartered in the Binghamton
javal Reserve Building.
Commission waives
attendance rules;
lost time restored
The State Civil Service Com-
mission on March 10 announced
that attendance rules will be
suspended in the specific cases
of state employees determined
to have been absent from work
@@the State Office Building in
Binghamton as a direct result of
the February 5 transformer ex-
plosion and resultant con-
tamination.
CSEA earlier had demanded
that the state waive times and
attendance rules so that affected
employees would not be re-
quired to charge the absences to
personal accruals.
@ Civil Service Commission
spokesman said the decision to
suspend the rules applies to all
state employees determined by
their agencies to have been
absent as a result of the con-
tamination situation but who
were otherwise available to
work. The spokesman said the
Commission acted on rules
suspension requests from 260
e@ployees from 14 different
agencies formerly located in the
contaminated building, but that
the rules suspension applies to
all state workers similarly
situated. Under the ruling, each
agency was authorized to deter-
mine those employees absent
who are eligible to have the
charged leave restored.
2 SEAS PTA RNA A TAF 2S SST ENA aI ET NPR ET OCI AT ETSI Ts
MANY EMPLOYEES have been forced to build makeshift offices themselves. Here,
Katie Phillips, Peggy Cron and Elaine Greenbaum, all of Tax Compliance, used
plexiglass and saw horses to construct a shared desk in the back storage area of the
Marine Midland building.
LACK OF FILE CABINETS is a big problem for Mary Bubas of the Department of
Taxation. Department employees are using temporary facilities on the first floor of
the Binghamton Marine Midland Bank Plaza.
7 ANN MARIE DEGROAT, a De
| partment of Motor Vehicle cashier,
jhelps out a customer over a
| makeshift counter.
ecamcrnaa
(April 30 is >
deadline on
Flaumenbaum
scholarship
applications
CSEA members and their
families are reminded that April 30
is the deadline for filing
applications for the CSEA Irving
Flaumenbaum Memorial
Scholarship Fund for the 1981-82
school year.
Completed forms must be mailed
to CSEA Headquarters, c/o the
Special Scholarship Fund Com-
mittee, 33 Elk St., Albany, N.Y.
12207.
Under the program, 18 grants of
$500 each will be awarded to three
students in each of the six regions,
for a total of $9,000 in award money
statewide.
The scholarships are available to
all CSEA members’ children who
are graduating high school seniors.
They will be granted on the basis
of a number of things, including
high school rank and average, test
scores, community and school ser-
vice, career goals, recommen-
dations and financial need.
The scholarships will be awarded
in June. All information obtained
from the applications will be kept
confidential. Forms are available
through Local and Regional of-
fices.
J
LETTERS
Editor's note: In the February 25 issue,
The Public Sector featured an article
detailing how Air Force Staff Sergeant
Kevin Clark was aboard ‘‘Freedom One,”
the plane which flew the American
hostages home from Iran. Kevin is the son
of “Mickey’’ Clark, a CS9EA member from
Rockland County and the late Mr. John
Clark, long-time union activist. That arti-
cle drew the following letter from Mrs.
Frances A. Manner, a member of CSEA
Local 010 in Elmhurst. The letter was
dated March 2, just five days before, as
the last paragraph indicates, a happy
reunion.
Editor, The Public Sector:
When I read the ‘Mickey’ Clark story in
the issue of February 25th, I was surprised
at the similarities in our recent lives and
wondered if she and I were among any
other CSEA members indirectly involved
with the return of the hostages
Staff Sgt. Mason Manner is my’25-year-
old son who had been in Germany almost
two years when I visited him there last
September. Since he was then beginning
slowly to prepare for furlough this March,
I was not greatly concerned at his mail
silence. My passiveness was shaken at
seeing in a New York City daily paper his
interview at the Wiesbaden hospital,
where his mechanical engineering train-
ing was readying the building systems for
the care and comfort of the returnees!
Like Mrs. Clark, I sat up watching the
television coverage, hoping to catch a
glimpse of camera-bug Mason but signed
off with Channel 4 at 2 a.m. (I was awake
at my usual time to open the Elmhurst
Hospital office of the Mental Health Infor-
mation Service at 9:00 that morning)
Now, I’m really excited: He arrives
March 7th.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981 Page 7
Proposal now in the hands of the Office of Mental Health
HPC stenographers await title upgrading
CSEA COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SPECIALIST John Conoby updates
members of Hutchings Psychiatric Center Local 435 on the status of a title
upgrading request for some stenographers. With Conoby are Local 435 Vice
President Sharon Conner, left, and hospital Senior Personnel Administrator
Anita Marusich.
PERB returns town car to
MINEOLA — CSEA has rapped the knuckles of the Town of Oyster Bay for
withdrawing the use of a town car from town CSEA Unit President Pat
D’Alessio, in what Nassau Local 830 President Nick Abbatiello had termed
“blatant political retribution.”’
The car was restored to D’Alessio by order of the Public Employment
Relations Board following a strong effort by the CSEA legal defense program.
PERB noted acidly that the car had been withdrawn “two days after an
election in which the incumbent town supervisor was returned to office, but in
which D’Alessio had supported the challenger.’’
By Thomas Moczydlowski
SYRACUSE — While the stenographers at Hutchings Psychiatric
Center (HPC) are still awaiting approval on a title upgrading, CSEA Collec-
tive Bargaining Specialist John Conoby recently brought hopeful word that
their proposal is being considered by the Office of Mental Health.
A year ago, the stenographer at HPC proposed that their positions be
changed to clinical secretaries grade seven. Joni Hinds, secretary of HPC
Local 435, was instrumental in first pressing for the upgrading
Local 435 President Betty Knickerbocker said the original proposal was
followed by attention from the Clerical Secretarial Employee Advancement
Program.
“The purpose of the effort is to recognize that secretarial employees,
whose work in a pschiatric unit relates to the treatment of mental patients,
have significantly different duties and require an increased level of skill,”
said Anita Marusich, senior personnel administrator at HPC.
Because many of the stenographers at HPC use skills related to psy-
chiatric treatment, Marusich said their secretarial functions are unique and
they should be upgraded in title and salary.
Local 435 Vice President Sharon Conner said: ‘“The personnel staff is
pulling together with the stenographers toward our cause.”
If implemented, the proposal in its present form could eithsr be used as
a pilot project for HPC or be employed statewide, depending upon the final
decision of the Department of Civil Service.
Conoby said: ‘‘I’m optimistic with reservations. The proposal is in its
final stage. Once it gets through the Office of Mental Health it should move
more quickly through the Department of Civil Service. We’re hoping that
this isn’t drawn out too much longer, and that the stenographers get the up-
grading. It’s something that’s been needed for years and years.”’
Local 830 unit president
PERB ordered the town to restore use of the car to D'Alessio and to reim-
burse him at $15 a day for excess expenses he incurred.
D'Alessio uses the car to implement the CSEA-town contract during the day
as well as for transportation to and from his home.
PERB rejected the town’s argument that the action was the result of a
routine, periodic review of automobile assignments.
The case was handled by Atty. Marjorie Karowe of the CSEA legal firm of
Roemer & Featherstonhaugh.
AMSTeona. “
YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART — Members of Montgomery County Local 829 of the Civil Ser-
vice Employees Association, above left to right, Lillian Zippiere, Mary Ann Ammerall, Bar-
bara Case, Phyllis Hage and Freda Sagatis, are shown waiting to take telephone pledges as
long time CSEA activist Richard Tarmey, left, who served as master of ceremonies for the
Heart Fund Cable TV telethon accepts a check from Montgomery County CSEA Local
President William Zippiere, right. CSEA donated $200 to the local Heart campaign.
A nurse is a nurse... not a clerical worker
NEW YORK — Nurses at the Orange County Infirmary should do the
work of nurses and not be assigned clerical duties, according to Arbitrator
Edward Levin.
Local 836 of the Civil Service Employees Association filed a grievance
against the county when supervising nurses at the Infirmary were assigned
clerical duties connected with scheduling work assignments. The union
argued that their responsibilities were strictly clinical — related to the care
of patients. The nurses themselves noted that the extra paperwork required
them to stay late or take work home so as to not interfere with regular
duties such as washing and turning patients, administering and applying
medication and drugs, and otherwise looking after the special needs of Infir-
mary residents.
CSEA charges assigning the out-of-title work violated both Civil Service
law and its contract with the county, and the matter went into arbitration.
For its part, the county claimed it had the right to require supervising
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
nurses to arrange schedules for employees and asked that the grievance be
dismissed.
A hearing was held Dec, 22,'1980, and based on evidence, testimony and
arguments provided by both sides, Levin found, ‘‘Although the county claim-
ed to be unaware of the distinction between clinical and clerical supervision
as it was defined by the union, the union successfully established such a dis-
tinction.’’ He noted the county had a past practice of having clerical staff do
the scheduling and transferring that job to the supervising nurses, ‘‘con-
stitutes a unilateral change initiated by the County but prohibited by the con-
tract.’’ He then ordered county officials to, ‘‘return to the former practice in
which supervising nurses were not engaged in such clerical functions.”
When notified of the decision, County Unit President Kay Cayton said she
was, ‘‘very pleased that we won and hopeful that in the future the county
will avoid such happenings.”’
CSEA representatives meeting prior to State Insurance Fund
Labor/Management meeting, (1 tor) State Insurance Fund Local 351 President
Stella Williams; CSEA Collective Bargaining Specialist John Conoby;
Rochester City Local 012 President Sylvia Ebersold; Department of Labor
Local 670 member Diane Pelky; Syracuse City Local 013 member Harry
Colella; State Insurance Fund Local 351 Shop Steward Randy Johnson; Shirley
Brown, CSEA Board Representative for the State Insurance Fund and
President of Department of Labor Local 670.
Agency's inconsistent policies debated
LOUIS DeSALVIO (standing), Secretary of the State Insurance Commission,
with (1 to r) Williams, Conoby, and Ebersold. #
CWEP study examines part-time work
First statewide Insurance
Fund meeting strives to
improve communications
NEW YORK CITY — The first statewide State Insurance Fund
Labor/Management meeting was held recently at the Fund’s headquarters in
New York City.
According to CSEA Collective Bargaining Specialist John Conoby who
headed the CSEA team, the meeting was “‘significant not just because it was
the first statewide Labor/Management meeting within the agency, but also
because the meeting enabled us to address the inconsistencies among the
sun eren iets offices in the application of the Insurance Fund’s personnel
policies.
CSEA members in the Fund’s headquarters and in the district offices
throughout New York State work for the same agency, but members in the
headquarters and in each district office are serviced by different CSEA Locals.
Representing CSEA at the meeting were: John Conoby, CSEA Collective
Bargaining Specialist; Shirley Brown, CSEA Board Representative for State
Insurance Fund matters and President of Department of Labor Local 670;
Harry Colella, Syracuse City Local 013 member; Sylvia Ebersold, Rochester
City Local 012 President; Randy Johnson, State Insurance Fund Local 351 Shop
Steward; Diane Pelky, Department of Labor Local 670 member; Marcia
Schiowitz, CSEA Region II Field Representative; and Stella Williams, State
Insurance Fund Local 351 President.
State Insurance Fund Administrative Director Irving Welch headed the 12-
member management group.
Among the topics discussed at the meeting were: the inconsistent
application of sick leave policy, performance evaluation, the effect of com-
puterization, training, career advancement opportunities, and alternate work
schedules (flex-time).
The CSEA and the management representatives agreed that the
Labor/Management meeting was ‘useful in improving communications”
between the two groups and expressed confidence that resolutions to problems
within the Fund can be found without the'filing of grievances
What are the advantages and dis-
advantages: of part-time
employment? How do part-time
employees view their jobs? And
how do full-time workers,
management and the union. view
part-time workers?
Such questions are the subject of
a current study of part-time
employment and its effects on state
workers, The project is being spon-
sored by the joint CSEA-State Of-
fice of Employee Relations Com-
mittee on Work Environment and
Productivity (CWEP).
“CSEA, through CWEP, is in-
terested in obtaining as much
knowledge about its members’
needs and preferences as
possible,’’ said Guy Dugas,
assistant to the executive director
of CWEP for CSEA. ‘This study on
part-time employment is just one
endeavor to do so.”’
According to Dugas, the study
will explore the implications of
part-time employment for both the
work lives and family lives of the
state’s workers. It will include
employee, management and union
perspectives on the issue.
New York State’s part-time labor
force is estimated at about 5,000.
Nationally, part-time employment
is growing for a variety of reasons,
including the influx of women in the
labor market and a growing desire
for more flexibility in the
workplace to meet family
demands.
The study is being conducted by
the, state Council on Children and
Families and is being funded for
one year at a cost of $61,550.
Questionnaires are currently being
mailed to those state workers who
have been identified as part-
timers.
A separate survey will be sent to
a random sample of full-time
employees from various state
agencies to determine how recep-
tive they are to their part-time
colleagues.
Another phase of the study will
be selected interviews with per-
sonnel officers, supervising per-
sonnel and union officials.
All information obtained through
the study will be kept confidential.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
Page 9
Pay raise puts
Mike Bauer in a
higher tax bracket—
and on television
By Stanley P. Hornak
CSEA Communications Associate
KINGSTON — One night this month, while watching the NBC Nightly
News, Ulster County union members will see the familiar face of Mike
Bauer.
The 32-year old Kingston City School District custodian will be featured
in a five-minute news segment that will be part of a special series “‘Bracket
Creep” — what happens to four different American farhilies when they earn
more money and go into higher tax brackets.
Bauer will be seen on the job, buffing a floor, and later at home with his
wife Carole and their two children. They were chosen as a typical family of
four trying to make a go of it with only one breadwinner because, ‘‘I want
my kids brought up by us.’
NBC news reached Bauer by way of Len Crane, president of both the
local Chamber of Commerce and the city Board of Education. He was called
upon to find someone who was the sole support of his family and earning
approximately $10,000 annually. When Bauer was first asked, ‘‘you want to
be on TV?” he thought it was a joke. It wasn’t.
A TV crew arrived Feb. 26 and spent five hours in Kingston, following
the 32-year old public employee from his workplace to his home. Bauer
figures that for each minute he will be seen on NBC, he did an hour’s taping
and recalls one scene (pulling into his driveway) required three “‘takes.’’ He
now expresses a lot more admiration for people in the acting profession.
The actual interview was conducted by Reporter Mike Jensen. Bauer
told him, in part, ‘‘we get good raises, ten percent this year, but it puts you
Union makes headway on
Region VI President
Robert Lattimer
BUFFALO — CSEA Region VI
President Robert Lattimer this week
said he’s pleased that a briefing
session on President Reagan’s
economic proposals and their poten-
tial impact upon New York State will
be among the highlights of the 1981
CSEA Spring Delegates Meeting
March 22-24 in Syracuse because it
will be ‘the first step in putting
together an informed, effective lobby-
ing effort.
The special briefing session for
CSEA delegates will be conducted by
AFSCME officials on Monday, March
23rd, as part of the Delegates Meeting
agenda. President Lattimer had been
among the CSEA leaders urging such
a thorough briefing on the Federal
economic picture and its impact upon
New York State’s economic picture.
“Following the Syracuse session, I
hope our members will put their lob-
bying techniques into motion,” Lat-
timer remarked,
‘Seldom have I agreed with
President Reagan, after all, I
represent tax-paying public
employees, not ‘Big Oil’, banking or
people in the upper 10 per cent of the
income bracket,”’ Lattimer con-
tinued. ‘However, I do agree with
him on one item. He has steadfastly
maintained that Congress will even-
tually respond to pressure from
American voters on this economic
package. He is correct.”
“Congress will respond to the feed-
back received from constituents
back home,’’ President Lattimer
stated. ‘‘CSEA and its members will «
have the opportunity and an
obligation to influence the New York
State Congressional delegation in its
decision.”
“Once we have the facts and figures
on how Reagan’s budget will affect
us, we can let our representatives in
Congress know how our lives are be-
ing altered,’’ he commented.
“Certainly changes in some
Federal policies and programs are
needed, but consideration must be
given to the people involved and the
regions of the country in which they
live.’
’ “The question should be ‘is it
“Every agreement in New York
State will be touched by what happens
in Washington, D.C. We've got to
speak up so that our message is not
lost in the shuffle,’’ Lattimer con-
cluded.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT will be Mike and Carol Bauer and their
children, three-year old Christian and nine-year old Cori.
in another tax bracket and then you’re not that much ahead of yourself.’’ He
also expressed frustration because, ‘‘in the end, you’re making more but
buying less.”
The whole family found the interview, ‘‘a lot of fun,” although three-
year old Christian was more interested in eating cookies. They all found it
hard to act “natural” in front of the lights and cameras, saying, ‘“‘that was
like trying to ignore a train coming toward you.”
Bauer is now eager to see himself and his family on TV, and NBC will
tell him in advance when the segment will run. In the meantime, his life is
back to normal and that means, appropriately enough for the CSEA Unit
President, preparing for upcoming contract-talks.
TRUSTEES OF THE NEW Westchester County CSEA Inc. Employee Benefit
Fund are, from left standing, Mary Williams, Carmine DiBattista and Mary
Boyd; sitting, Raymond: J. O’Connor, James Marino, Ernest Hemple and John
Whalen. The benefit fund was established by the Westchester County Unit as a
result of its new contract with the county.
EAST MEADOW — The Nassau County Local $30 Irving Flaumen-
pion oe Search Committee is investigating the possibility of the
ig its Department of Social Services auditorium in Garden
the late CSEA leader, Committee Chairman H. Quann reported.
made his report at a recent meeting of the Local 830 Executive
Eisenhower Park.
seeking a lasting memorial to Mr, Plspmecbaum:
ium, the late Local 830 and Long Island Region |
AL pelea Se SY SA Oe
Region IV President Joseph McDermott expresses extreme concern
OGS cutback of Capital Police places
state workers, visitors in jeopardy
The State Office of General Services ‘‘appears to have acted in its usual ill-
prepared manner’”’ in its slashing of one-third of the approximately 100 jobs of
the Capital Police Unit, according to Joseph E. McDermott, Civil Service
Employees Association Capital Region President.
Expressing his concern for the health and safety of the thousands of CSEA
members and visitors who are at the State Office Campus and in the downtown
Empire State Mall every day, McDermott said that he is ‘‘extremely con-
cerned’’ that his request for more information about the cutbacks apparently
has been ignored by OGS Commissioner John Egan.
Two weeks ago, McDermott wrote to Egan commenting that, since the
Commissioner intended to put his plan into effect by the middle of March, ‘‘I
hope that you will respond to my questions as quickly as possible.”’
There are many areas of concern, said McDermott, including the increase
in the incidence of crime in the areas patrolled by members of the Capital
Police.
“Iwas shocked when I read from your own statistics that crime has nearly
doubled in the jurisdiction of the Capital Police in the last five years, while
OGS has cut the force by twenty percent. It would seem to me that an increase
in the size of the force rather than a reduction is warranted at this time,”
McDermott wrote.
Lack of an immediate response from Egan, McDermott said, could force
CSEA ‘‘to call upon the Governor’s Office to get positive movement out of this
agency”.
He asked for an immediate response, he indicated, so that CSEA could take
whatever measures it could to protect its members while on the job and on
State property.
“The simple transporting of our ill members to the hospital becomies
hamstrung in OGS rules which these layoffs now compound. OGS fails to
evaluate or discuss the problems before, or even after, they cause this
dangerous impact’’, McDermott said. “‘The Capital Region is reviewing the
emergency medical evacuation service available to its members at State work
locations previously served by the Capital Police and now scheduled for a cut-
back in coverage. Prompt evacuation to a hospital from a State work location
must be a top priority of OGS’’, McDermott stated.
Pointing out that the Capital Police Unit is a ‘‘highly trained security
ARNE eee rRNA:
unit’, McDermott wrote to Egan — “From what I can gather from your proposed
‘reorganization’, you would replace 32 police officers with 33 building guards.
This, you argue, would beef up and not reduce security. I find this logic
specious. What you are, in fact, doing is replacing professional police officers
with ordinary watchmen.”
“These building guards would not be equipped to deal with all of the
situations presently handled by the Capital Police. For example, the building
guards would not have the power of arrest. They would not have the legal right
to carry firearms. They would not be trained to investigate crimes or to deal
with health emergencies or handle crowd control.”’
Although they do “fine work” in carrying out their regular duties, said
McDermott, they ‘‘can never replace the talents, skills and authority brought
to the job by police officers’’.
Specifically, McDermott, in the letter to Egan, asked what assurances the
commissioner had that CSEA members’ safety would be enhanced by a con-
Version of the unit from police officers to building guards. He also asked what
training he is planning for the guards ‘‘to assume some of the special services
now provided by Capital Police . . . in first aid techniques, fire prevention in-
spections, bomb inspections, fire investigations, motor vehicle accident in-
vestigations, and crowd control’’.
Capital Police have, in the past, provided escort service for employees who
handle State funds, and McDermott asked whether that service would be
provided by unarmed building guards after the program change.
His expressed concerns included the past performances in emergency
situations, when Capital Police have responded immediately and efficiently in
coming to the aid of fellow State workers who had suffered illness and/or in-
jury. McDermott said he felt that the quick response from the police officers,
in many cases, has reduced the gravity of the situation.
He described as ‘‘a recurring problem”’ the lack of security at some of the
other State buildings in the Capital District, such as the Department of State
Building and the Teacher’s Retirement Fund Building on Washington Ave., and
the State building at 44 Holland Avenue.
“Will security be provided for employees in these facilities, either by
Capital Police or building guards’, he asked in the letter.
At press time, McDermott had not received any response from Egan.
Discontent with negotiations,
Wayne Co. workers picket
homes of county officials
NEWARK — With Wayne County contract
negotiations at the fact-finder stage, a sure sign
of union dissatisfaction with contract talks,
CSEA Wayne County Local 856 members staged
an informational picketing session at the homes
of two county officials.
“We want them and the public to know we're
not satisfied with their contract offers so far,”
said Local President Searle ‘‘Red’’ Mead. ‘‘They
didn’t even give us consideration equal to other
HITTING THE STREET — Searl ‘‘Red’’ Mead,
President of Wayne County Local 865, leads in-
formational picketers in night-time march. The
450-member Local has been working without a
contract since December 31.
employee groups, such as the sheriffs or
caseworkers.”
“Yet they turn around and give their
department heads and management people
raises ranging from $1,400 to $4,000,’’ Mead
stated. ‘And one of them received a raise of over
$25,000."”
Mead was referring to County Attorney Don
Crowley, reportedly the recipient ot the whop-
ping pay raise. He was also one of the targets of
the informational pickets.
The second home picketed belonged to the
county’s personnel director, Peter Pierne. The
orderly group of picketers, which included CSEA
staff and members, carried signs that underlined
their discontent with the present negotiations
status and urged the county to come up with
offers more in line with the cost of living.
Local President Mead pointed out the irony of
a local newspaper article which said the Wayne
County Board of Supervisors had scheduled an
early March public hearing to determine how to
spend $1.5 million in federal revenue sharing
money — $883,000 more than county officials
budgeted to spend this year.
“We've got the perfect solution for the coun-
ty’s surplus,”’ said Mead. ‘‘Make us a fair offer
that we can live with so that we can get on about
our jobs for all the citizens of the county. We’ve
wasted too much time on this matter. It should
have been settled long ago.”
IT ENDED PEACEFULLY — Regional Direc-
tor Lee Frank shows his I.D, to Palmyra Police
during Wayne County informational picketing.
No arrests were made.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
Page 11
0 SS SERIE TET
For members of Albany’s ‘paper chase’
recyclable paper trash is a treasure
x?
}
And for Hubert Jones, ‘paper chase’
involves plenty of personal pride
By Tina Lincer First
Communications Associate
ALBANY — Trash is a treasure for Hubert
Jones, a hard-working, handicapped 20-year-old
from Albany’s South End.
Hubert, a new member of CSEA Office of
General Services Local 660, is one of three peo-
ple picking up papers in the South Mall as part of
the ‘Paper Chase,” the state's pilot paper
recycling program. He is the only handicapped
worker currently with the project.
“He's breaking the ice,’’ said supervising
janitor Ed Lockskin, another CSEA member.
“They wanted to see if a handicapped person
could do this work, and he’s doing a really good
job.”
A shy, thin young man, Hubert is deaf and can
utter only a few words. But his huge grin and
bright, eager eyes easily communicate the pride
and pleasure he feels for his new job.
“He loves it,”’ says Lockskin. ‘‘He was off the
Paper Chase the other day because we needed
him somewhere else and he was really disap-
pointed. He likes being around the people. He’s
really a loner and this gives him a chance to ex-
press himself and get more confidence ‘talking’
with people.”
On a typical workday, Hubert, who takes great
care to wear a dress shirt and dress slacks to
look presentable in the government corridors,
wheels a big trash bin through the halls of the
Legislative Office Building or Agency Building 3,
the two participating buildings.
In each office, he picks up a specified box filled
with discarded papers, empties it in his bin (call-
ed a ‘“‘gondola’’) and moves on. Lockskin says
the office employees have come to accept
Hubert’s pleasant, courteous manner and his
customary friendly wave to those he knows.
When he is finished collecting, Hubert pushes
his gondola to the loading dock of Agency
Building 3, where the paper is stored before be-
ing sold
A Grade 4 employee, Hubert joined the year-
old Paper Chase in September, after training to
be a cleaner through the Comprehensive
Employment Training Act (CETA). In addition
to picking up the papers, he must sort them ac-
cording to quality.
He is never lacking for work.
“T was shocked at the amount of paper that
comes out of here,” said Tom McGuire, a janitor
and CSEA member who helped get the paper
project off the ground, and now works as a
“technical advisor’ of sorts to the project.
He estimates that three to four pounds of
paper are usually picked up in each office —
which can add up to 400-500 pounds in an entire
building. .
“Much of it is stuff sent to the legislators from
lobbyists,’’ said McGuire. “If there’s a bill in
session, there’s going to be material on it and it’s
going to be sent to every legislator.
“Sooner or later, it ends up in the gondola.”
ON A PAPER CAPER — CSEA member Hubert
Jones, above, picks up recyclable paper from a
state office in the South Mall complex as part of
a major paper recycling program.
PAPER CHASER Hubert Jones, center, is
shown with CSEA members, janitors Ed
Lockskin, left, and Tom McGuire, right.
Decision continues union protection for OCA employees;
CSEA< calls it a major victory for hundreds of workers
ALBANY — Hundreds of law assistants, law clerks and secretaries to
judges will continue to enjoy union protection of their on-the-job rights,
thanks to a recent decision by Harvey Milowe, PERB’s Director of Public
Employment Practices and Representation.
The Office of Court Administration (OCA) had sought to designate law
assistants and law clerks as managerial and confidential and certain
secretaries to judges as confidential. CSEA joined in opposing the move.
Milowe turned down OCA’s application, saying in part ‘‘While judges
may be called upon to interpret collective bargaining agreements in their
Page 12 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, March 18, 1981
decisions, and even though the law assistants and clerks assist in writing or
researching those decisions, this activity is not the type of labor relations in-
volvement contemplated by (the Taylor Law).””
“This is a major victory for CSI°A,” said Collective Bargaining
Specialist Patrick Monachino. “‘PERB did not automatically exclude
hundreds of people in these titles, so now we can continue our efforts to
protect the interests of those we represent.”
OCA has appealed the decision by ‘tiling exceptions to the full PERB
Board. CSEA will file in opposition
