The Public Sector, 1991 December

Your 1992
personal leave
record form is

enclosed

VOL. 14.NO,.15 DECEMBER 1991

WORKING TO SAVE LIVES: E 3
... See page 3

- Killer TB.
See eS
ON i ’

WORKING TO SAVE
| THE ENVIRONMENT:
1.See page 5

PEOPLE

IN THE NEWS

Seabrook retires after holding every local office

NEW YORK - Serving New York City Division of Military and Naval Affairs (DMNA)
Local 254 for over 25 years in every elected local union office, President Roy Seabrook
built a reputation to be proud of.

Recently, he was honored for his service at a retirement celebration.

During his service, Seabrook watched state
armories become shelters for the homeless. He
fought to protect the health and safety of DMNA
members exposed to tuberculosis and other
diseases rampant among the homeless.

Seabrook served on three DMNA/CSEA
statewide negotiating teams.

“When I came to work here in 1964, I was told
whether you like it or not, you're going to join
CSEA,” Seabrook said. “I thought to myself, hey,
I'd better look into this union business.”

INDEX
Page 3

Tuberculosis is making a strong
comeback, and public employees
are at risk of a disease that has
already proven deadly.

Page 4
Fact finding panel named in state
contract dispute. A state office i

building 1S still making people sick. ON-SITE CHECK-CASHING -- Two CSEA members take advantace of check-cashing
More layoffs proposed by Gov. services at Bernard Fineson Developmental Center. CSEA Local 406 President Mickey
Cuomo. Cruz looks on, left.

Page 5 CSEA gets check-cashing van at Queens worksite
Uren eee QUEENS — Members of CSEA Bernard establishments near Queens mental health

Fineson Developmental Center Local 406, facilities has always caused problems and
at SUNY Stony Brook, members Corona Unit, have always had trouble inconvenience for many union members.
protest parking fees. getting their checks cashed on paydays “Our CSEA local was determined to
Page 6 because were was no where to ao ee eee Fae pan an to

ae) : . Then went to work, and to their all our Queens facilities, including Queens
News eT getting any better for great appreciation, a check-cashing van Children’s Psychiatric Center Sree
State's deteriorating mental health pulled into the facility parking area on Creedmoor Psychiatric Center,” he said.
system. payday for the first time on this October. “Having this service will save time and
According to CSEA Local 406 President aggravation for everyone on pay days from
Mickey Cruz, the lack of check-cashing here on out.”

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2 December 1991 Qcto fe

STATE NEWS SECTION

are at the greatest risk.

AREALRISK

An old disease once again threatening
public employees in the workplace

After years of control, tuberculosis (TB) is making a comeback, and often public

employees risk getting the disease just by doing their jobs.
Health care workers, corrections employees and other workers

who have prolonged exposure to potentially infected individuals

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that usually affects the
lungs. The germs are spread through the air when a person who
has the disease coughs, speaks or sneezes and can infect anyone
who comes in contact with them for a prolonged period.

The symptoms can include a low-grade fever, nightsweats,
fatigue, weight loss and a persistent cough, but are not always obvious.

Killer TB epidemic is drug-resistant

Officials of the state Department of Corrections expect to
complete by year’s end testing of the agency's nearly 90,000
employees and inmates for a deadly strain of tuberculosis that has
killed 13 inmates and a corrections officer at two state prisons.
Employees and inmates at Auburn and Queensboro state prisons,
where the deaths occurred, were the first to be tested.

CSEA is working with the state Departments of Health and
Corrections and other agencies to minimize the risk to public
employees and the general public. A public health emergency was
declared at Auburn Correctional Facility in central New York where
several inmates and a corrections officer died after contracting a
drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis. Additional inmate deaths
have been confirmed at Queensboro state prision in New York City.

Inmates were also responsible for a TB epidemic at Upstate
Medical Center that infected at least 35 employees.

Public employees are particularly at risk of exposure to TB
because the disease can be spread through the air when an
infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.

What makes the situation worse is that the strain of TB is drug-
resistant. People with AIDS or those who are HIV positive or
people whose immune system is compromised in any way are
especially susceptible to this TB. Most AIDS patients, for instance,
die within 72 days of contracting this strain of TB.

“This situation requires immediate action and continued follow
through,” said CSEA President Joe McDermott. “So far Corrections
and the other agencies have acted responsibly but the situation
demands action, not just words.”

CSEA is calling for the following vital actions to handle the crisis:

* expedited construction of isolation rooms for those
inmates who have active TB. Currently, only six isolation
rooms are properly equipped in the entire state;

* semi-annual TB screening, particularly in facilities with a
high incidence of TB; and

* a task force to answer questions and respond immediately
to the situation.

At Upstate Medical Center, hospital officials performed skin
testing this summer on all employees who worked in Unit 6B of the
facility and identified 35 employees who tested positive. That
means they were infected and, if untreated, have a 5 to 10 percent
chance of developing active tuberculosis, according to CSEA Local
615 President Bob Vincent.

Facts you should know

* A positive reaction to a TB skin test does not indicate
that you have TB; it only means you have been exposed to
the disease.

%& 90 percent of people who are infected never actually
develop the disease.

%* An individual who has tested positive on a skin test in
the past should not have another skin test.

%* Someone who has been exposed to active TB may not
react to a skin test for two to 10 weeks.

* Hospital workers are required to undergo skin tests
prior to employment and then every two years.

%* TB is a treatable disease once diagnosed, but it is
always better to begin treatment as early as possible.

* County health departments are valuable sources of
information about TB.

TB a serious, but treatable,

People can be infected by TB without
contracting the disease. TB can be treated
with a combination of isolation, drugs and
treatment, but if left untreated, it can be
fatal. .

“CSEA members, particularly those
working with high risk populations, need to
know what TB is and that it can be a
serious problem,” said Janet Foley,
administrative assistant to CSEA’s safety
and health director.

High-risk populations include
intravenous drug users, individuals with
AIDS or infected with Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), elderly
people who have had previous tuberculosis
exposure and the homeless,

“It’s not always possible to take
precautions to guard against TB because

disease

you can't always know who has active TB,
even in health care settings,” Foley said.
“But when you do know that an individual
has tuberculosis, don’t take any chances.
Insist that isolation procedures be followed
and wear personal protective equipment
such as a face mask when coming in
contact with that individual.”

Workers should have a basic
understanding of what TB is all about so
that they can make informed judgements
when problems arise such as when workers
are confronted with screening programs,
Foley said.

The revival of TB as a serious public
health threat can be attributed to many
factors, including neglect and cutbacks in
prevention programs because the disease

was thought to be under control for so long.

How to report
unsafe, unhealthy
work conditions

If you believe unsafe or
unhealthy conditions exist in
your workplace, don't hesitate -

contact your CSEA shop steward
or local president or call your
CSEA labor relations specialist at
your CSEA region office.

For occupational safety and
health information, call CSEA
headquarters at 1-800-342-4146,

g December 1991 3

STATE NEWS SECTION

Will try to resolve CSEA/NYS contract dispute

Fact-finding panel named

A three-member fact-finding panel has
been appointed by the state Public
Employment Relations Board (PERB) as the
next step in an effort to resolve the contract
impasse between CSEA and the State
involving more than 100,000 state
employees.

Contract negotiations at impasse involve
CSEA state employee members in the
Operational Services, Institutional Services,
Administrative Services and Division of
Military and Naval Affairs bargaining units.
The contracts expired March 31 and

impasse was declared after months of
unsuccessful negotiations, A subsequent
mediation process broke down, leading to
appointment of the fact-finding panel.

The neutral panel of veteran mediators
and arbitrators consists of Eva Robins of
New York City, chair, Susan T. Mackenzie of
New York City and Martin F. Scheinman of
Manhasset.

The panel will conduct a series of
hearings to determine the causes and
circumstances of the contract dispute and
then write non-binding recommendations

for settling the impasse. The
recommendations can be rejected in whole
or in part by either party.

If-all or part of the fact-finding panel's
report is rejected by either side, the dispute
will go to the state Legislature. Under the
state’s Taylor Law, which governs public
sector labor relations, the legislature may
impose terms and conditions of
employment for one year.

PERB officials said it is impossible to
estimate how long the fact-finding process
may take.

Cuomo also calls for deep cuts in aid to schools, local governments

More layoffs threatened

ALBANY — Public employees again are
the target of Gov. Cuomo’s newest
“solution” to the recurring state budget
crisis.

Announcing just before Thanksgiving
that the state is short $875 million this

"Public employees
are important
assets and deserve
respect, not shabby
treatment and
false blame.”

year, the Governor said he wants to layoff
500 state employees by April 1 and another
1,200 employees in the next fiscal year.

He also wants to make deep cuts in aid
already promised to school districts and
local governments.

As this issue of The Public Sector went to
press, the Governor was calling for the
Legislature to return to Albany to act on his
proposal for handling the budget deficit.

Adding insult to these newest assaults,
the Governor laid blame for layoffs on state
employee unions for refusing to accept
furloughs for employees.

“This is outrageously fals:
President Joe McDermott said. “The
Governor cannot manage his b’ iget, and
so he blames employee union. for refusing
to accept insulting and unfair concessions
with no guarantee of job security.”

CSEA

McDermott blasted the Governor for once
again attacking public employees rather
than the real cause of the state’s recurring
budget crisis — tax loopholes for big
corporations and tax breaks for the wealthy
(see page 7).

The Governor and the state Legislature
worked 65 days into the budget year to fill a
$6 billion budget gap. Now, only a few
months later, they face another multi-
million-dollar gap for this year and as much
as $3 billion in the fiscal year beginning
April 1.

“After all the cuts they've already made,
the Governor and the Legislature ought to
realize the problem is revenues, not public
employees,” McDermott said. “Public
employees are important assets and deserve
respect, not shabby treatment and false
blame.”

Albany’ s Building 8: Still ‘sick’, getting better

ALBANY - An “ ae, sick” building at the huge State Office
Campus complex was showing signs of recovering as this edition of
The Public Sector went to press. But Building Eight, which was
evacuated several times due to mysterious noxious fumes that sent
scores of employees to area hospitals, was still a long ways from
receiving a clean bill of health.

While employees continue to report to nursing stations with
unexplained illnesses these days, the numbers are significantly
lower than at the height of the problem this Fall when hundreds of
workers complained daily of headaches, dizziness, nausea and sore
throats. More than 2,000 state Department of Taxation and
Finance employees were evacuated a half-dozen times this year.
Scores of workers were treated at area hospitals for problems
related to noxious fumes.

A large-scale cleaning of the building, repair of faulty heating
pipes and replacement of steam heating coils appears to have

helped ease the situation somewhat. CSEA successfully pushed to
have laidoff cleaners and engineers restored to help maintain the
building, and union officials said the state has also accepted the
union's proposals for a comprehensive air quality monitoring
program for the entire building. CSEA continues to press for
creation of alternate work sites where employees could be
reassigned temporarily in the event of future problems.

“The bottom line is the employees deserve a safe workplace. A lot
has been done but a lot remains to be done,” CSEA President Joe
McDermott said.

4 September 1991 gZ tor

Scores of

employees
overcome by

noxious fumes
were treated at
Albany
hospitals

ir¢a

STATE NEWS SECTION

WARD'S ISLAND - Horrified by the
prospect of losing Manhattan Psychiatric

area to bulldozers, CSEA Local 413
members are imploring management to
reconsider.

They recently picketed at the facility's
main entrance with signs saying, “Please
Save Our Trees.”

Management plans to construct a new
alcoholism treatment facility on the picnic
area site angered both staff and patients.

“When seven other alternative building
sites on the grounds are available for this
building, destroying these woods would be

Center's beautifully wooded riverside picnic

MPC workers trying to save Ward’ s Island trees

supply among MPC’s highrise hospital
buildings that are sandwiched onto a small
island surrounded by towering Triboro
Bridge access roads.

“People here are enveloped by concrete
and steel at every point. That’s why it’s
imperative that the trees be saved,” Brier
added.

All other alternative construction sites
have electrical hookups, making it less
costly to build there than at the picnic site
which lacks electrical wiring, Hussain said.
The director of alcoholism treatment
services demanded the picnic area location,
Hussain charged, because it would provide

an unencumbered waterfront office view
once all the trees are cleared.

Alarmed union activists continue to
contact the Governor's office and state
legislators in hopes of saving the trees. At
the union's request, Albany Office of
Mental Health officials toured the wooded
area to assess the problem.

the equivalent of raping the environment
on Ward's Island,” CSEA Local 413
President Mohamed Hussain said.

The wooded picnic area provides a
“humane and restful environment” for
patients and staff, CSEA Labor Relations
Specialist Barton M. Brier said.
Irreplaceable greenery is in obvious short

LOCAL 413 President Mohamed Hussain
talks with Bruce Fieg, deputy
commissioner of the Office of Mental
Health, in an attempt to save the MPC
trees.

SUNY at Stony Brook members protest parking fee increase

By Sheryl C. Jenks
CSEA Communications Associate

STONY BROOK - Members of CSEA SUNY at Stony Brook Local 614
demonstrated recently to protest proposed parking fee increases and the
planned closing of a gravel parking lot.

Kathy LaScalea and her two goats joined approximately 75 union members
to make the point that CSEA members don't want to be “scapegoated" in the
university's attempt to raise money.

LaScalea wore a sign “Stop ScapeGOATing employees” to drive her point
home.

The gravel lot, which is free, is used by about 350 CSEA members.
University officials are threatening to close this lot, forcing employees to pay
$30 to park in a new garage nearby.

According to CSEA Local 614 President Phil Santella, the employees most
affected earn about $18,000 a year.

“Closing the gravel lot and asking for $30 to park will create a hardship for
many of my members," Santella said.

“If the administration makes good on its threat to close the gravel lot, CSEA
will file an IP (Improper Practice charge) for failure to negotiate the impact on
our members,” CSEA Labor Relations Specialist Gus Nielsen said.

“The administration has acted like a see-saw on the parking fee iss
it was $30, then the students demonstrated and they said it would b
Santella said. "Then the SUNY Counsel met and it’s back to $30,"
other garages at the campus, which includes the university and the hospital,
charge $15 a month for parking.

“The only other choice for my members is to park far away and take the
bus for a dollar a day,” said Santella. “But that’s not the answer either
because many of my members work before and after the time the buses are
running.”

Ina letter to CSEA, state Senator Kenneth LaValle applauded the union's
efforts.

“Your aim is the same as what I have tried to accomplish in the Senate the

ions: first by co-sponsoring legislation in 1990 to prohibit
1 of such fees, and this year by sponsoring a bill to exempt
s covered by collective bargaining agreements from SUNY parking
fee regulations."

“This is simply a local example of the state pulling a few more bucks out of

our members’ pockets,” CSEA Region I President Gloria Moran said.

g di , December 1991 5

STATE NEWS SECTION

The news just isn’t getting any better for
the state's deteriorating mental health
system as a direct consequence of the state
Office of Mental Health's inhumane and
irresponsible policies.

But CSEA is continuing to pound OMH
for short and long term improvements.
CSEA’s recent actions included hammering
the latest OMH Five Year Plan at a series of
hearings across the state and developing a
plan to address the immediate crisis on the
wards.

Plan means more misery

In testimony delivered on Long Island, in
Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, CSEA
leaders charged that the only certainty
from the new OMH Five Year Plan is that it
will produce more misery for people with
mental illness, more misery for mental
hygiene workers, and more misery for local
government officials and taxpayers.

While all of the testimony targeted
specific concerns for each of the regions,
the union’s message emphasized that the
tragedy of OMH policy affects all New
Yorker, wherever they live.

Remarkably, patient advocates, private
providers and numerous other mental
hygiene interest groups echoed CSEA's
criticism of OMH in their testimony.

Each of CSEA’s speakers pointed out that
the closing of Gowanda Psychiatric Center
near Buffalo earlier this year sets a
dangerous precedent and is a disgraceful
example of OMH direction. The union

warned that the Gowanda situation signals
that similar devastating scenes could be
played out elsewhere.

“OMH is abandoning the mentally ill and
dumping the problem on localities whether
or not they have the resources to provide
the necessary care and services,” CSEA
Executive Vice President Danny Donohue
said. “CSEA will continue to fight against
OMH irresponsibility.”

A grim reminder of another murder

The recent brutal murder of a Rockland
Psychiatric Center patient by another
patient demonstrates the OMH
irresponsibility in graphic detail. Aside from
the chilling effect it has had on direct care
workers across the state, it was also a grim
reminder of the murder of CSEA member
Clara Taylor at the same facility four years
ago.

Taylor was murdered by an agitated
patient while she was working alone
overnight on a transitional ward. The
patient who murdered her was being
prepared for release back into the
community.

Sadly, conditions have worsened since
Taylor's death. Therapy aides are still
working alone on wards and OMH’s “census
rundown” has ensured that only the sickest
of the sick gain admission to the psychiatric
centers.

There is not enough staff on the wards of
psychiatric centers to provide the security,
let alone the care that’s needed.

Ly): Things aren't getting better

OMH POLICY WILL PRODUCE MORE
MISERY - That was the critical message
CSEA delivered at a series of hearings
across the state on the OMH Five Year Plan.
CSEA Region VI President Robert Lattimer,
above, speaks with a television reporter
following his testimony on Long Island.
CSEA Executive Vice President Danny
Donohue delivered CSEA testimony in
Buffalo, Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center
Local 434 President Bud Mulchy spoke for
CSEA in Syracuse and CSEA Region IV
President C. Allen Mead testified in Albany.

CSEA knows the nightmare you face on the wards every day
and night and we hold the Office of Mental Health and every state
elected official accountable.

Unconscionable cutbacks and inhumane policy have left fewer
staff handling the sickest of the sick. That's not only a formula for
social disaster, as evidenced by the legions of tormented homeless
mentally ill haunting our streets, it's also a time bomb on the
wards.

Two recent murders brutally committed by state psychiatric
center patients — the first, by a patient who “left” Bronx
Psychiatric Center, went home and killed his father and the
second, an unspeakable crime committed by one Rockland

A message to OMH Direct Care Workers from CSEA President Joe McDermott

OMH, elected officials responsible for the nightmare

Psychiatric patient on another — are stark reminders that people
are at risk at any given time.

CSEA said “never again” when MHTA Clara Taylor, working
alone, was murdered at Rockland Psychiatric Center in 1987 by a
patient. People are still working alone and OMH doesn't care.

There is no easy solution but the procedure that CSEA has
developed using the form, below, is a start toward protecting you.
Follow the procedure and together we can deliver a message that
OMH cannot hide behind their bureaucratic gobbledegook.

CSEA is putting OMH and other state officials on notice that
direct care workers and patients are at risk and CSEA members
cannot be held responsible for OMH irresponsibility.

Work alone? Take these

WHEN WORKING ALONE

steps to protect yourself

In an effort to protect CSEA members
professionally and physically, CSEA is
recommending that direct care staff who find

Namer
themselves working without back up take the Dek
following steps:

1, Complete the form (available from your CSEA Cad
local office) reproduced at right. Have your Facility:
supervisor sign the form acknowledging that you Work Location:

are working alone and cannot be held accountable
for the lack of security. Make sure to note the
number of patients under your charge on the form.
If your supervisor refused to sign, note this fact and
sign it yourself.

2. Call your facility security office and have them
log that you are working alone, identifying who you
are, where you are working and how many patients
are in your charge.

yourself,

Iam working alone and am notifying management that I cannot be held account-
able for the lack of security.

© Ifyou or any of the patients in your charge get hurt during the shift, note that also,

Number of patients in my charger

SUPERVISOR'S SIGNATURE:

* Ifyou ere required to work alone, have your supervisor sign this form. If your supervisor refuses, note this fact and sign it

* Give one copy to your supervisor, return one copy to your CSEA local office and keep one copy.
* Call your facility security office at the start of your shift and ask them to log in that you are working alone.

3. Return the completed form to your CSEA office
at your convenience, when off duty.

SSE Ca Soe

6 December1991 g A

THE
PUBLIC

GENERAL NEWS

There he goes again!

Once again Gov. Cuomo has chosen to
use public employees as scapegoats to hide
his own mismanagement of the state
budget.

As the state faces more red ink the
Governor is again calling for cuts in the
state workforce and aid to local
governments and school districts.

The Governor claims that additional
layoffs of state employees are necessary
because the public employee unions would
not agree to furloughs. This is not true!

The Cuomo administration has never
offered CSEA members any job security in
exchange for furloughs or other
concessions,

Gov. Cuomo wants state employees to
make even more sacrifices but he offers
nothing in return. He says, “Make
concessions or I'll lay off more workers.” He
doesn't say, however, that accepting
concessions will prevent layoffs.

Just look at the record. After the
Governor and the Legislature reduced the
workforce by 10 percent and imposed a 2
percent lag payroll, the Governor is still
calling for more layoffs.

Based on that track record, I believe it is
safe to say that if any union agreed to a

harebrained scheme like furloughs, its
members would still face layoffs.

The Governor cannot lay the blame at the
unions’ feet. We didn’t ask to lose our jobs.
He cannot continue to blame the layoffs on
the Legislature or the federal government.

Mario Cuomo is the governor; he decided
to lay off hard-working public employees.
He ought to take responsibility for his
decisions and stop blaming everyone else.

He deserves the same blame for calling
for more cuts in aid to local governments
and school districts. The state made a
commitment to these localities when it
passed this year’s budget. Most localities
were damaged by the delay in the passage
of that budget and by cuts it contained.

Now the Governor is coming back to
localities and saying, “Sorry, we goofed. We
can't live up to our commitment.”

This is a terrible way to runa
government.

If they really want to solve the recurring
state deficit, the Governor and Legislature
must address the real structural problems
in the state budget, rather than devastate
serv by cutting the workforce and aid
to localities.

They must look at the state’s problems
with revenues. They musi close unfair tax

loopholes for bey
large F
corporations
which make
money but avoid
paying their fair
share of taxes.
They must

restore
progressivity to
the income tax
structure so that
rich New Yorkers
pay their fair
share. Since the
tax cuts in 1987
the richest

people in New
York have gotten
huge tax breaks
while the state
budget is awash in red ink. This has got to
stop!

It’s time to stop the bitter, futile attacks
on public employees. All the layoffs of the
past 12 months obviously haven't solved
the problems. Are more really the answer?

I say no. y it’s time to attack the real
culprits: tax breaks for the rich and tax
loopholes for big corporations.

Joe McDermott

Qoctor December 1991 7

Small mandatory

increase in dues,

agency shop fees
effective Jan. 1

CSEA members and agency shop fee
payers will see a small increase in their
membership dues and fees effective Jan. 1,
1992. The mandatory increase is a result of
a reaise in the minimum dues AFSCME
charges local unions affiliated with the
International.

Effective Jan. 1, employees earning less
thjan $5,000 a year will see their annual
dues or fee increase from $73 to $75
annually, an increase of about nine cents
biweekly.

Employees earning between $5,000 and
$9,999 a year will see their annual dues or
fee increase from $109 to $113, an increase
of 14 cents biweekly.

Employees earning between $10,000 and
$15,999 per year will see a dues or fee
increase from $190 to $197, an increase of
24 cents biweekly.

Employees earning between $16,000 and
$21,999 annually will see a dues or fee
increase from $217 to $224, an increase of
27 cents biweekly.

Dues or fees for employees earning more
than $22,000 a year will increase from
$244 to $252 annually, an increase of 31
cents biweekly.

INDEX

Page 7
CSEA President Joe McDermott has some
harsh words for Gov. Cuomo.

Page 9

A strong pitch for National Health Care.

Pages 10 & 11

A member tells how benefit program
helped him. CSEA's benefits page is
printed in Spanish, and a profile of the
union's Minority Affairs Committee.

Page 12
Two CSEA members talk about two sides
to foster parenting.

Page 13

A CSEA special board election is
scheduled.

Page 14

Some very important health insurance
information, including premium rates.

EBF requirement
on generic drugs
may be appealed

The CSEA Employee Benefit Fund
(CSEA EBF) has an appeals process in
place for members who, for medical
reasons, cannot substitute a generic drug
for a brand name drug.

A requirement that prescriptions be
written generically when a generic
substitution is available is one of several
cost-containing modifications in the CSEA
EBF Prescription Drug Plan that became
effective Nov. 1.

Members whose physician insists on
prescribing a brand name drug rather
than a generic may file an appeal to the
CSEA EBF generic requirement.

Members wishing to file an appeal
should call 1-800-445-9707.

An appeals form will be provided to be
completed by the patient and the
physician and submitted to:

Generic Appeals/CSEA

NRx Services, Inc.

337New Karner Road

Albany, NY 12205-402

The member/patient will be notifed of
the appeal decision.

KEEP INFORMED!

Controversial issues
are swirling around
public employees

Call CSEA's Current
Issues Update daily for
the latest news.

1-800-342-4146

(Then hit 5 on your touch-tone phone)

Kelly scholarships to be awarded

Children of deceased or totally and
permanently disabled CSEA members may
now apply for the J.J. Kelly Jr. Memorial
Scholarships if their parent/guardian was
killed or totally and permanently disabled
while on the job. CSEA will award two
college scholarships from the J.J. Kelly Jr.
fund this year.

The Kelly scholarships will provide $500

continuing four-year grants to children of
CSEA members.

Individuals who meet this criteria should
fill out the coupon below to receive a
scholarship application.

The coupon should be mailed to CSEA
headquarters at the address below.

The deadline to submit scholarship
applications is Jan. 10, 1992.

‘elephone: ___

Name of parent/guardian killed/ pennanientie) disabled on the Job: -

Mail to::

Date of incideat:

CSEA Memorial Scholarship Committee
143 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12210

CSEA Board of Directors summary report

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Public Sector regularly
publishes a summary of actions taken by CSEA's Board
of Director's at the Board's official meetings. The
summary is prepared by CSEA statewide Secretary
Irene Carr for the information of union members.

The CSEA Board of Directors met in early

Dave Heller as a member of the Region III
Political Action Committee;

* appointed Sandy Lewis to the Region VI

Political Action Committee;

* appointed Lori Neilson to the Region V

* relocated the staff position of organizer
from New York City to headquarters

* authorized funds for the staff position of
employee benefits ant;

* authorized funds f ecretary II/office

stant positions in the Region I and
Region III offices;

* approved funding for a collective
bargaining specialist position for the
we: ste rn/central area; and

anted a local charter to Governeur
Correctional Facility.

Questions concerning this summary of actions taken
by CSEA's Board of Directors should be directed to
CSEA statewide Secretary Irene Carr, CSEA
Headquarters, 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY
12210, 1-800-242-4146 or 518-434-0191.

Political Action Committee;

* appointed Diane Lucchesi to the
Directors’ Charter Committee and Anna
DellaRocco to the Committee to Study Life
Insurance;

* appointed Chris Covell to the Directors’
Charter Committee;

* appointed Roslie Tallman to the
Committee to Study Insurance;

* appointed Flo Tripi to the Directors’
Committee;

October.

In official business, the board:

* appointed Wilma Hassler to fill a
vacancy on the Directors’ Appeals
Committee;

* entered into an agreement with the
Excelsior Capitol Corporation to become a
group participant in the Expanded Access
to Home Mortgage Program;

* authorized Local 611 to lease a copier;

* appointed Robert Brewster to replace

8 December 1991 Qoctor
ae ACL ITI SER BAM SRSA

GENERAL NEWS SECTION

A national health care program could
have saved New York state and local
governments $6.6 billion this -- the size of
the state deficit that stalled budget
negotitaitons for months, an AFSCME.
report shows.

“This report makes it

15.1 percent of their revenues. In 1991,
they will spend $120 billion on health care,
18.8 percent of their revenues. That’s an

11 percent annual increase, while their
revenues have increased at only 6.2
percent a year in those five years.

clear — we need national
health care, and we need it
now,” said CSEA President
Joe McDermott. “A single-
payer plan could save state
and local governments
valuable resources needed
to provide vital services."

Health care costs for state
and local governments are
rising faster than their
revenue sources, And since
those governments must
balance their budgets, they
must shift more and more
money from other programs
and services to pay for
health care.

If a single-payer plan had
been in effect in 1991, state
and local governments
would have saved $30
billion — more than half the
deficits for the 1991-92
budget year.

In 1986, state and local

National health care could save NY $'s.

At that rate, by the year 2000, state and
local governments will spend $307 billion
on health care, or 28 percent of their
revenues.

State and local government are paying
millions for health care for the increasing

number of Americans who
have no health insurance.
Meanwhile, insurance
premiums for their own
employees doubled between
1986 and 1991, and state
and local governments pay
three times the Medicaid
costs they paid in 1980.
“State and local
| | governments have been
| carrying the burden of
health care costs for too
long, and it is breaking
them,” McDermott said.
“It’s time for a single-payer
national health care
program now.”

The report,
“Simultaneous Solutions:
Single Payer National
Health Insurance is the
Best Cure for the State and
Local Government Fiscal
Crisis,” was written by
AFSCME, the Public Citizen
Health Research Group

governments spent $71.4
billion on health care, or

CSEA LOCAL 446 Vice President Chris O'Day, right, gets ballots signed at
South Beach Psychiatric Center for the Emergency Health Care Ambulance
Drive, part of a national effort for national health care.

and Physicians for a
National Health Plan.

CSEA PEOPLE work hard at annual delegates meeting

CSEA PEOPLE (Public Employees
Organized to Promote Legislative Equality)
is heading to a new high point for 1991.

PEOPLE is the federal political action arm

PEOPLE members win state contest

The statewide PEOPLE Committee has
announced the winners of its statewide
contest.

PEOPLE — Public Employees Organized
to Promote Legislative Equality — is the
lobbying arm of CSEA’s international
union, AFSCME.

Any CSEA member who joined the
PEOPLE between January and May 31 was
eligible to win.

The winners, all from CSEA Binghamton
Psychiatric Center Local 441, are: first
prize, Donna Fitzgerald, $300 in gasoline;
second prize, June Nickerson, a 35mm
Kodak camera; and third prize, Robert
Bowen, a AT&T cordless telephone.

Region Ill PEOPLE winners

CSEA Region III's newly appointed
PEOPLE Committee celebrated their
appointments with a contest to recruit
new members.

Committee Chair Diane Hewitt said the
contest allowed any new Region III
PEOPLE Club members to enter their
names into a drawing for a $100
shopping gift certificate.

The contest drew 40 new members to
the PEOPLE Club.

Gary Koeppel of CSEA Middletown
Psychiatric Center Local 415 won.

of CSEA’s international union, AFSCME.

CSEA has contributed $174,060 to
PEOPLE so far this year, and could
contribute $250,000 for the year, CSEA
statewide PEOPLE Coordinator Cheryl
Rosenzweig said.

At the 81st Annual Delegates Meeting,
PEOPLE raffle winners were: Nilda Hilerio,
Local 258, $500; Linda Williams, Local 010,
$300; and CSEA Communications Associate
Ron Wofford, $200.

The 1991
PEOPLE

PEOPLE members
in each region:

Region I: CSEA Long Island
Developmental Center Local 430, PEOPLE
Chair Paulette Barbera; Region II: CSEA
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center Local 406,
PEOPLE Chair Ana Diaz; Region III: CSEA
Wassaic Developmental Center Local 426,
PEOPLE Chair Clarence Besio; Region IV:
CSEA Tax and Finance Local 690, PEOPLE
Chair Ron Hill; Region V: CSEA
Binghamton Psychiatric Center Local 441,
PEOPLE Chair Mark Mandyke; and Region
VI: CSEA Buffalo Psychiatric Center Local
403, PEOPLE Chair Barbara Smith.

CSEA Region II received the perpetual
PEOPLE Cup for having 2,523 members in
the PEOPLE Club.

rolyn Backstrom received the Recruiter
of the Year Award and her name is engraved

on a plaque which hangs in CSEA
headquarters. She also received $100.

During the annual meeting, PEOPLE
raised more than $3,000 and enrolled 50
people through dues check-off.

Paulette Barbera and Carol Guardiano
received recognition for their contributions
to the PEOPLE Committee.

AFSCME International PEOPLE
Coordinator Lorraine O'Hara noted the

efforts of
Rosensweig and

Ee 2} CSEA Federal
recruitment awards Issues Coordinator
were presented at an Joe Conway.
the meeting, as al Members who
were awards to the helped PEOPLE
local with the most during the meeting

were: Georgianna
= Robert Blumhagen, Marietta Small,
Juanita Shine, Ron Hill, Greg Meredith,
Rajeeyah Muwwakil, Jerry Freiday, Marie
Ardell, Maggie McCafferty, Phyllis Lounello,
Tom Rogalski, Barbara Karwowski,
Geradine Wiggins, Betty Williams, Judy
DiRosa, Andrew Francis, Joan Brigharp,
James Tullo, Maria Mesiti, Elizabeth
Cheese, T.J. Simmons, Barbara Smith,
Patricia Labrozzi, Anthony Scalise, Mark
Mandyke, Frank Balsano, Mike Flaherty,
Colleen Manning, Judy Craft, Frank
Cosentino and Bonnie Lawrence.

Members of the statewide PEOPLE
Committee are: Patricia Metzger, chair;
Candy Saylor, Region I; Carolyn Backstrom,
Region II; Diane Hewitt, Region III: Rose
DeSorbo, Region IV; Doris Pratz, Region V;
and Marie Prince, Region VI.

December 1991

GENERAL NEWS SECTION

CSEA's Committee on Minority Issues
helping members overcome discrimination

CSEA COMMITTEE ON MINORITY ISSUES

Chair Rebecca A. Lawson, seated,
discusses story ideas on minority concerns
with, standing from left, Public Sector
Editor Roger A. Cole; Jim Murphy, CSEA
staff liason to the committee, and CSEA
Treasurer Mary E. Sullivan, CSEA officer
liason to the committee.

Discrimination can be found in many
forms, in many places. But it’s probably most
often and most easily applied to minorities.
CSEA members who feel they are the victims
of discrimination or any other problem
associated with minority status are
encouraged to turn to CSEA’s Committee on
Minority Issues for help.

Identifying issues that tend to divide
minorities and majorities and finding ways to
overcome them is a priority, according to
committee chair Rebecca A. Lawson.
Educating the entire union membership by
heightening the awareness of those issues is
another major objective.

The Committee on Minority Issues was
appointed a year ago to better identify issues
affecting minority members and make
recommendations to CSEA President Joe
McDermott concerning those issues.

“We want to educate everyone about the
problems out there that divide people, and to
make them aware of what to do when they
encounter them,” Lawson said. “People need
to realize that minority concerns are not a
matter of race alone, that minorities are
discriminated against on factors such as
gender, religion and creed as well as race.
Minority issues are not just minority
problems; they affect everyone because they
are devisive.”

The committee has arranged for additional
minority speakers and presenters at CSEA
meetings, the publication of some

CSEA member John Williams sings praises
of Union Privilege Legal Services benefit

By Mark M. Kotzin
CSEA Communications Associate

BINGHAMTON — When CSEA member
John Williams found that his roommate had
stolen his checkbook, writing more than
$4,000 in forged checks, he was furious.

Then his credit union told him that he
would be liable for more than half that
amount, and he was enraged.

"I was angry. I couldn't believe that
someone could steal money out of my bank
account and make me pay," he said.
Desperate for help and near broke after the
credit union subtracted the money from his
account, he turned to CSEA/AFSCME for
help.

Williams, a school vehicle operator for the
Binghamton City School District, remembered
something he read in The Public Sector about
the CSEA/AFSCME Union Privilege Legal
Services plan. A benefit available to CSEA
members only, the Union Privilege Legal
Services plan provides a free half-hour
consultation and discount legal services
regarding personal legal matters.

After getting the name of a participating
attorney from his union representative,
Williams quickly contacted the lawyer to
arrange for his free half-hour consultation.

“The credit union said I was out the money.
That's why I took advantage of the legal
services plan," he said. "I just wanted my
money back."

After meeting with the participating
attorney, Williams said he was relieved to find

1 0 December 1991

that legally he was not responsible for the
money. After the lawyer wrote a series of
letters to his credit union officials, they
agreed to return the full amount.

Williams said
he was glad that
he had the
CSEA/AFSCME
plan to turn to,
and that it was
very cost-
effective. The
Union Privilege
Legal Services
plan covered the ff
initial
consultation fee,
which would
have cost him
$75, and he only
paid a discount
fee of $125 for
the follow-up
legal service,
which he said
was a bargain,
considering
what he stood to
lose.

"It was very
reassuring to
have the legal
services plan,” he said. “I got back all my
money, and I couldn't have done it without
them."

John Wiliams - "tt was very
reassuring to have the legal
services plan."

information in Spanish in The Public Sector

(see adjacent page), expanded coverage of

Black History Month and more information

on minority events such as the Black and |
Puerto Rican Caucus, the Latino Conference
and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
convention.

At the recommendation of the committee, |
CSEA was actively involved in attempting to
override President Bush’s veto of the Civil
Rights Bill of 1991 and is actively involved in |
other minority issues at the state and federal
level. And CSEA President McDermott has
made a recommendation that a CSEA
member be considered for appointment on |
the AFSCME Minority Affairs Committee.

CSEA members who have concerns about
minority issues can contact Lawson in care of
CSEA headquarters in Albany.

“I encourage anyone who believes they
have a minority-issue concern to contact the
committee,” Lawson said. “We want to |
identify the types of problems members
encounter and determine how to deal with
them.”

Lawson, a data entry machine operator in
the state Department of Education in Albany,
has been active since 1976 in many areas of
CSEA and has been president of the |
Education Department CSEA Local 657 since
1989.

Lawson is also chair of the CSEA Region IV
Anti-Apartheid Committee and serves on the
region's Education Committee. In addition to
her union involvement she serves on the
state Education Department's Cultural ]
Diversity Committee and is chair of the
department's Employee Assistance
Committee. Lawson is also active in several
community progrms and projects. |

Joining Lawson on the Committee on

‘Minority Issues are Helen Dupree, Region I;

Bill Vasalli, Region II; John Catoe, Region III:

Region VI.

Walter Smith, Region V and Robert Mootry,

Interest rate drops,
again, on AFSCME
MasterCard

The AFSCME Advantage MasterCard,
available to CSEA members, is one of the
very best credit card programs in America.
And it just got even better.

The AFSCME MasterCard has no annual
fee and one of the lowest interest rates
anywhere - just 5 percent above the prime
lending rate.

The interest rate on the AFSCME
MasterCard has dropped five times this
year, most recently in early November. The
interest rate is currently 12.99 percent,
about 6 percent below the average rate of 19
percent charged by the nation's largest
banks for their credit cards.

To obtain an application form for the
AFSCME MasterCard, call your CSEA
regional office.

The card is issued by the Bank of New
York, If you apply for a card and there is no
response within four weeks, call the bank
toll-free at 1-800-942-1977,

GENERAL NEWS SECTION

A reference guide to CSEA member services and benents !

E~

ATYOUR SERVIC

x

A SU SERVICIO

LOS BENEFICIOS

GUIA DE SERVICIOS Y BENEFICIOS PARA LOS MIEMBROS DE CSEA

DE SU SINDICATO
eS

Numero gratuito de CSEA

El ntimero de teléfono gratuito del sindicato:
1-800-342-4146 es la via de comunicacisn directa
con la oficina principal de C
1ando usted llama al ntimero gratuito, escucha
una grabaci6n con instrucciones para que pueda
comunicarse con la oficina competente que le puede
prestar la ayuda que usted necesita.

Para hacer la llamada sin ayuda de la operadora,
necesita un teléfono de botones. Si usted no esta
llamando de un teléfono de botones, una operadora le
contestara y le comunicara con la oficina competente
cuando termine la grabacion.

Si ya conoce el nimero de la linea de extensi6n
de la persona con la que quiere hablar, puede
interrumpir el mensaje grabado apretando "0" y el
ntimero de la linea de extensi6n en su teléfono de
botones, y le conectaran directamente.

Si no conoce el nimero de la linea de extension,
la grabacion le ofrecerd las siguientes opciones:

* Para hablar con Field Operations o Empire
Plan/Comité de Beneficios de Salud, apriete el
nimero 1.

* Para asuntos relativos a sanciones, quejas y
otros asuntos legales, apriete el ntimero 2.

* Para hablar con los Departamentos de
Comunicaciones y de Accion Politica o las Oficinas
de los Ejecutivos, apriete el nimero 3.

* Si desea hacer alguna pregunta relativa a las
cuotas, inscripcién de miembros, beneficios para
miembros no afiliados 0 al seguro colectivo de
CSEA (con excepcién de los seguros de salud), 0
quiere hablar con el Departamento de Finan
apriete el ntimero 4

* Para escuchar noticias de interés para los
miembros de CSEA publicadas en el tiltimo nimero
del Boletin Informativo de CSEA, apriete el
numero 5.

Fondo de Beneficios para Empleados

El Fondo de Beneficios de CSEA para
Empleados es un fondo de fideicomiso administrado
por CSEA que proporciona ciertos beneficios
complementarios negociados por el sindicato para los
empleados e: les y los empleados participantes del
gobierno local. Actualmente administra los planes
de seguro dental, optalmolégico, recetas médicas y el
plan de beneficios "Package 7”.

1-800-323-2732 6 (518) 463-4555 0 escriba a:
CSEA Employee Benefit Fund
14 Corporate Woods Boulevard
Albany, NY 12210

Seguridad

Para denunciar la falta de seguridad en el trabajo,
condiciones de trabajo malsanas 0 accidentes graves,
lame al especialista de relaciones laborales de CSEA
de su localidad. Si desea informacion sobre salud y
seguridad ocupacional, Ilame a la oficina principal de
CSEA al 1-800-342-4146,

Capacitacién y entrenamiento

CSEA le puede ayudar a prepararse para los
exdmenes a fin de ingresar a puestos del servicio
pliblico, proporcionandoles textos de estudios a bajo
precio y prestandole gratuitamente cintas de video.

CSEA también organiza talleres de insiruccién
para los activistas sindicales que desean tener un
conocimiento mas profundo de sus responsabilidades
como tales.

Para solicitar los formularios de pedido de
folletos u obtener informacién sobre los talleres que
ofrece el sindicato, llame a la oficina principal de
CSEA al 1-800-342-4146. Para pedir informacién
sobre las cintas de video, dirijase a la oficina regional
de CSEA de su localidad.

Tarjeta de Crédito Privilegiada de AFSCME

La tarjeta de crédito MasterCard de AFSCME
cobra una de las tasas de interés mas bajas: sdlo 5%
mas sobre la tasa de interés bancaria mas favorable.
No se cobra comisi6n anual.

Para pedir un formulario de solicitud, lame a la
oficina regional de CSEA de su localidad.

El emisor de esta tarjeta es el Banco de Nueva
York, Si usted solicita una tarjeta y no recibe
respuesta en un perfodo de cuatro semanas, Ilame al
ntimero gratuito del banco al 1-800-942-1977.

Programa Privilegiado de Servicios Legales
de AFSCME

El Programa Privilegiado de Servicios Legales de
AFSCME ofrece a los miembros del sindicato la
posibilidad de obtener servicios legales de alta
calidad a precios médicos para muchos asuntos
personales de cardcter legal. Si desea que le den mas
informacién y le envien una lista de los abogados de
su localidad que participan en el Programa, ilame a la
oficina regional de CSEA de su localidad.

Seguros

CSEA ofrece varios programas de seguros
colectivos a precios médicos con la comodidad de
los descuentos automaticos de la planilla de pagos.

Los siguientes planes colectivos y volur
comprenden: Seguro de Vida Basico y Colectivo,
Seguro de Vida Complementario, Programa de
Proteccién de Ingresos, Plan de Reembolso por

Gastos Hospitalarios y Plan de Proteccién Familiar.
Para obtener mas detalles, llame al 1-800-366-
5273. CSEA ofrece también Seguro de
Automéviles/Seguro para Propietarios ¢ Inquilinos
de Casas. Para obtener mas detalles, lame al
1-800-366-7315.

Seguro de salud

Si desea hacer preguntas relativas a la cobertura
de Empire Plan, llame al nimero correspondiente de
la siguiente lista:

EMPIRE PLAN
pnes a Blue Cross:

-800-342-9815 6

iones a Metropolitan: 1-800-942-4640.
nales de la salud participantes: 1-800-537-

Plan de Salud Empire: 1-800-992-1213
(Aprobacién para la admision en el hospital/
revision del diagnéstico del cirujano)

Jubilacion

Si piensa jubilarse pronto, es importante que elija
la opcién mas apropiada del sistema de Jubilacién
para Empleados.
utiliza los servicios del asesor en jubilaciones.
de CSEA, usted podra planificar el estilo de vida que
Hevara cuando se jubile, tomando en cuenta los
gastos que tiene previsto hacer.

Para obtener mas informacion, llame al 1-800-
366-5273.

Para obtener informacién general sobre la
jubilaci6n y la inscripcién a los planes de jubilacién,
dirfjase al Departamento de Jubilados ubicado en
la oficina principal de CSEA: 1-800-342-4146 6
(518) 434-0191,

Para hacer preguntas de cardcter técnico sobre los
beneficios de jubilacidn (por ejemplo, requisitos que
se deben Ilenar para canjear vacaciones por dinero u
otros beneficios, transferir la afiliacién) y pedir
formularios para solicitar la jubilacién y formularios
para calcular el monto de la jubilacién, dirfjase a:
New York State and Local Retirement Systems,
Mamando al (518) 474-7736.

Los empleados estatales de mas de 50 aiios de
edad y sus esposos/as pueden participar en
DIRECTIONS, un seminario de preparacién para la
jubilacién que dura dos dias y medio y cuenta con el
patrocinio de CSEA. Para obtener mas
informacion, lame al (518) 486-1918.

United Buying Service (UBS)

Usted puede obtener grandes ahorros en la
compra de articulos de consumo por medio del
servicio de descuentos del sindicato. UBS utiliza el
poder de millones de miembros para negociar
descuentos en la compra de una amplia gama de
productos de las marcas mas conocidas, desde
automoviles hasta aparatos electrodomésticos,
aparatos de video, muebles y muchos articulos mas
Este programa es gratis para los miembros de CSEA
y no se cobra por servicios. Para hacer un pedidoo
solicitar informacién sobre precios, llame al
1-800-336-4UBS 0 al 1-800-877-4UBS. UBS
también ha instalado una linea directa de
informaci6n sobre un nimero limitado de ofertas
especiales al mes. Estas ofertas s6lo estén a
disposicin de los miembros de CSEA. Para pedir
la lista de los precios especiales, llame a la linea
directa: 1-203-967-2980.

Quejas y sanciones

Si usted desea presentar una queja, dirfjase
inmediatamente al encargado de quejas de su
localidad 0 al dirigente sindical de su trabajo. Si no
logra ponerse en contacto con dichas personas,
dirijase al Presidente de la Unidad de CSEA 0 de su
Local 0 al Especialista de Relaciones Labo
correspondiente oficina regional de CSEA.
tener razones fundadas para presentar una queja,
hagalo cuanto antes.

CSE

les en la

December 1991 1 1

GENERAL NEWS SECTION

Foster parents need love,

patience and commitment

By Anita Manley
CSEA Communications Associate

WEST HAVERSTRAW - How do you love a
child and then give him or her up? Ask any
foster parent and they'll tell you it iE
easy, but they do it over and over again.

Ray Canale, a hospital clinical assistant
and member of CSEA Helen Hayes
Hospital Local 302 and his wife, Priscilla,
know. They have done it a few times.

Raised by parents who took in 45 foster
children in 25 years, Priscilla is the
backbone of the Canale foster home,
according to Ray.

“If it wasn’t for my wife, I couldn't do it,”
Canale said. “She's with them all the time
and puts a lot of work into it.

It takes more than love to care for a
foster child, he said.

“Love is giving, caring and sharing, but it
goes beyond that,” he said. “You have to be
able to give total acceptance.”

Canale is dissatisfied with the foster care
system.

“The authorities need to decide what to
do with these kids,” he said. “They're
bounced around. We're breeding kids to be
problems. They're crying out for attention
and they get into trouble. The legal system
has to change.”

The first child the Canales cared for was
a 10-day-old baby who they eventually
adopted.

Canale talks about another child, a boy,
whose mother was a drug addict. She
attended a drug rehabilitation center and
the boy was returned to her.

Canale keeps in touch with the family

and sends care
packages.

“We call him on a
r basis,” Canale
won't give three
years of my life toa
child and then forget
him. That's the tough
part. How do you
emotionally bond with a
child and then give him
up? But you love them
anyway.”

Canale said more
foster parents are
needed — “if you have
the time and the love to
give.”

Some of the children
come for just a few
days. Others stay for
years. Some are
handicapped. Many
come at a moment's
notice. Those interested
should contact their
county children’s
services department for
more information.

She knows how much caring counts

WEST HAVERSTRAW - Joyce Mills has a special feeling for

foster parents and children.

She knows what it’s like. Mills, a secretary at Helen Hayes
Hospital, spent many years living in foster homes after her parents

divorced and her mother became unable to care for her.

Her happiest memories are of the foster family she went to live

with in Cornwall (Orange County) when she was just two and a

half. It was her ninth foster home. Later she lived with relatives

to make sacrifices.

“It's a full time commitment with a lot of

responsibility.”

Canale advises parents who are thinking
of becoming foster parents to be prepared

CSEA MEMBERS Ray Canale, a fodter
and Joyce Mills, once a foster child.

3

and eventually returned to her mother.
Her foster family provided her with love, affection and hugs,
commodities she desperately needed at.that time in her life, she
recalled.
“To be without your mother is devastating,”she said. “You're like
an eggshell, but empty inside.”
“The most important thing my foster parents gave me were
hugs. It’s so important.”

CSEA supports fight to free Joe Doherty

NEW YORE: “Time is running out for Joe
Doherty,” CSEA Region II President George
Boncoraglio said at rally for the jailed Irish
nationalist.

In his ninth year in federal prison, Joe
Doherty has never been convicted of or even
charged with any crime in the United
States, said CSEA Executive Vice President
Danny Donohue, who introduced a
resolution in support of Doherty at CSEA’s
Annual Delegates Meeting in October.

“America has always been a place of
asylum for the oppressed and a haven for
the politically persecuted,” Donohue said,
“and a House of Representatives resolution
passed in 1989 calls upon the Attorney
General to grant bail to Joseph Doherty,
and, ultimately, political asylum."

Doherty's mother, Maureen, spoke at the
New York City rally before traveling to

Washington, where the Supreme Court is
scheduled to hear Bush administration
arguments in favor of deporting her son to

Britain.

England convicted Doherty in absentia in
1983 for the death of a British soldier
during a Belfast shootout.

Doherty, arrested in Que
to the United States before h

the killing was a “z

from British control.

“The federal government's attempt to
deport Doherty on the ground that he
entered the country illegally flies in the face
1 rights,” Boncoraglio said.
time we joined our voices with so many
other unions and groups concerned with
human rights violations, and let Joe
Doherty know we are all behind him."

of hum

after fleeing
trial, claims
t of combat” resulting
from the struggle to free Northern Ireland

“It’s

REGION Il President George Boncoraglio

1 2 December 1991 Qoctor

GENERAL NEWS SECTION
Health seat ballots to go out Dec. 16; four board seats filled

Ballots will be mailed Dec. 16 to The candidates for the seats as they will Sharon L. Bork was the only candidate to
members eligible to vote in a special appear on the ballot are Barbara Reese and _ qualify for the Genesee County seat.
election to fill a vacant seat on CSEA's Tom McMahon. The two candidates had the David A. Bloom was the only candidate to
Board of Directors representing Health opportunity to submit statements and qualify for the Ontario County seat.
Department employees. photographs for this issue of The Public Bonnie Sprague was the only candidate

Replacement ballots for the Health Sector. (see below). to qualify for the Steuben County seat.
Department seat will be available beginning Four other seats were filled without an
Dec. 23. Deadline for the return of ballots is election. The remarks are the personal statements
8 a.m. Jan. 13. Election results will be Keith Zulko was the only candidate to of the candidate and are not to be construed
announced after the ballot count at CSEA qualify for the Region V Mental Hygiene as reflecting the opinions or beliefs of The
headquarters. seat. Public Sector or CSEA Inc.

Statements of candidates for Health Department seat

BARBARA REESE | a TOM McMAHON

4 STATEMENT AND
"As members of CSEA, who work in the . — PHOTO NOT
state Health Department, we are tired of P
layoffs, short staffing and doing more ' SUBMITTED
with less!!

Let this message be heard at the CSEA
statewide level! Your support is needed to
make a difference!"

CSEA sets first Local/Unit election committee teleconference training Jan. 18

For the first time, CSEA will offer local normal appointment deadline is too late. Region I: SUNY at Old Westbury, SUNY
and unit election committee chairs and Local and unit officers who want to attend at Farmingdale
election committee members training via a must also pre-register. Pre-registration Region II; Fashion Institute of Technology
satellite teleconference in January. forms are available from the region office. Region III: Westchester Community
The CSEA Election Procedures The pre-registration deadline is Dec. 15. College, Orange County Community College
Teleconference is designed to help the Those who are pre-registered will receive and Dutchess County Community College
committees as they prepare for the elections __ written confirmation. Region IV: Hudson Valley Community
of local and unit officers. No reservations will be accepted at the College, Adirondack Community College and
Current terms expire June 30, 1992. teleconference site. Clinton County Community College
The teleconference will be broadcast Jan. * For more information on registering for Region V: Onondaga Community College,
18 in conjunction with on-site training the Local/Unit Elections Procedures Jefferson Community College, Mohawk
across the state. Teleconference nearest you, contact your Valley Community College and SUNY College
Election committee chairs and members region office. at Oneonta
must pre-register for the teleconference with For information other than registration, Region VI: Erie Community College,
their CSEA region office. Local Executive call Sean M. Turley, education and training | Monroe Community College, SUNY College
Boards should select their Election specialist, at 518-434-0191 ext. 458 or 1- of Technology at Alfred, Jamestown
Committee and chairperson in time to 800-342-4146 ext. 458. Community College and Corning
participate in this teleconference. The Following is a list of teleconference sites: Community College.

CSEA can boast of important general election victories

CSEA scored important victories in The Legislature, which has had a 14 to 9 “When they imposed the contract that
November's general elections. The union Republican majority, imposed a contract on showed they took public employees for
supported a number of candidates across county employees. The unfair imposition granted, we vowed to work to make
the state who won their elections. energized the CSEA members, and many changes, and that’s what we did,”

Here are three examples of CSEA helped in campaigns of CSEA-endorsed Ostergard said. “Many of our members
victories. candidates, said John Ostergard, CSEA worked all of the week before the election

Turning things around Cattauragus County Local 805 president. on behalf of our endorsed candidates. And

In Cattaraugus County, CSEA's political When the newly-elected Legislature takes _ we'll continue to stay active and observant.”
action efforts helped turn around the over in January, it will have a 12 to 11 Ousting the incumbent
THe OnLy on the County Legislature. Democratic majority. In Rockland County, CSEA worked hard

- aoe - to put out of office the incumbent chair of

“| the County Legislature, Ken Zebrowski. He
We was the man who spearheaded the call for
ant to be a National Party Delegate? 160 layoffs of county employees and the
If you're interested in running as a delegate or alternate to the | chininelon obs an vaceut esa ae
yi & = 4 $3 a CSEA endorsed his opponent, Richard
Democratic National Convention or the Republican National Caunitz, and worked successfully to put
Convention, contact CSEA statewide Political Action Committee Chair Zebrowski out of office. 5
Sean Egan right away at CSEA's Legislative and Political Action Helping a longtime friend
Department. CSEA endorsed Democrat Joseph
Nicoletti in the race for the state Assembly
seat in district 120, CSEA Region V

| CALL NOW: 1-800-342-4146 Ext. 404 | activists red had for Melt

longtime CSEA friend. He won the seat,
vacated by Mel Zimmer.

ow December 1991 1 3

GENERAL NEWS SECTION

Option transfer period
extended for changes
in health insurance

A delay in approving the renewal rates for the Empire Plan has resulted in an
extension of the health insurance Option Transfer Period.

If you wish to change your health insurance option, you must do so no later than
Dec. 24, 1991.

“Benefit Choices Guides”, which provide important information and the premium
rates for NYSHIP enrollees are being shipped to agency personnel offices for
distribution to employees.

Employees are urged to obtain a guide from their personnel office as soon as
possible.

Bi-weekly health insurance premium deductions for employees are as
follows:

Option Individual Family
The Empire Plan. $6.63 $28.48
Blue Care Plu 6.73 31.74
Blue Choice 5.09

5

Capital District Phy
Choice Care.....
Community Blue ..
Community Health Plan (
Community Health Plan of Bassett.

icians Health Plan (CDPHP) .

Foundation Healt
Group Health.............
Health Care Plan (HCP).
HIP - Health Insurance Plan of Greater New Yor!
HIP - Rutgers Health Plan........
Independent Health - Hudson Valley Region.
Independent Health - Western New York Region
Independent Prepaid Health Plan (IPHP).
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of New Yoi

Managed Health......... 6.58
Mid-Hudson Health Plan 6.39
MVP Health Plan - Schenectady 6.92
MVP Health Plan - Central 6.25
PrelerrediCare.cusncvcc 4.93
Prepaid Health Plan (PHP) 6.47
Prepaid Health Plan Slocum-Dickson Medical Network: 6.05
Sanus Health Plan. 5.66
US Healthcare... 6.34
WellCare of New Yor! 6.50

Health insurance information °

rovided by the CSEA/NYS Joint
Committee on Health Benefits

Empire Plan
benefit changes
effective Jan. 1

The following Empire Plan benefit changes will
go into effect January 1, 1992.

* Major Medical annual deductible amount
changes from $130 to $161.

* Maximum co-insurance out-of-pocket
expenses (individual or family) changes from
$625 to $776 annually.

Remember, Empire Plan enrollees can save
considerable major medical out-of-pocket
expenses by using participating providers. Call
Metropolitan’s Participating Provider
Information Line 1-800-537-0010.

Also, deductibles will be calculated at the start
of each calendar year. Major medical expenses
applied toward the annual deductible during the
final quarter of the previous year will no longer
be rolled over into the next calendar year to
calculate the new year’s deductible.

Deferred Health Insurance Coverage - CSEA
employees will be able, when they retire, to
suspend health insurance coverage and delay
use of unused sick leave credits for up to five
years if you can prove coverage under another
health insurance plan.

REMINDER:
CDPHP HMO enrollment frozen

Due to a unanimous decision made by the HMO
Workgroup, no new enrollments will be allowed
into the Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan
for the 1992 plan year.

If you are currently enrolled in the CDPHP
option, you can remain a subscriber in 1992 or
you may transfer to another HMO option or The
Empire Plan.

This action will affect all active as well as retired
employees who reside or work in CDPHP’s service
area.

The HMO Workgroup is comprised of
representatives from the Governor's Office of
Employee Relations, the NYS Department of Civil
Service and the six labor unions representing
public employees in New York state.

Empire Plan introducing mental health
and substance abuse program Feb. 1

The CSEA/NYS Joint Committee on questions such a‘

“Who do I call? What

PyschManagement before your treatment

Health benefits is working toward the
implementation of the Empire Plan’s new
Managed Care, Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Program.

Over the last six months, an extensive
review of managed care vendors resulted in
the final selection of American
PyschManagement, a highly qualified and
experienced vendor in the field of managed
mental health and substance abuse care.
This review consisted of written proposals
from the various vendors, participation at
the bidders interview/p ntation and on-
site s to the vendor's intake facility and
a current major client.

When in need of mental health and
substance abuse treatment, many find it
difficult and confusing, asking themselves

halp can I get? What kind of care would be
best?” and “How do I pay?”

With the cost of mental health and
substance abuse treatment rising faster
than other health plan costs, Empire Plan
enrollees, as well as others across the
country, have found it more and more
difficult to afford the ne ary care.

Beginning Feb. 1, 1992, the new program
will answer your questions and make
quality treatment more available and
affordable.

The Empire Plan's Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Program will give you and
your family:

* Enhanced mental health and substance
abuse benefits and reduced out-of-pocket
expenses when you call American

begins and follow the recommended
treatment plan;

* A 24-hour telephone referral service for
mental health and substance abuse
treatment;

* An extensive network of credentialed
practitioners and facilities;

* Support for treatment already in
progress;

* Help with mental health and substance
abuse emergencies; and

* Confidential referral and treatment
review.

Refer to the upcoming January issue of
The Public Sector and “Empire Plan Report”
for more in-depth det about the new
Empire Plan Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Program.

1 4 December 1991 Qocto ay

To record leave used, enter
these letters for the
appropriate date :

V = (Vacation)

S = (Sick Leave)

Your leave benefits were
negotiated for you by

CSEsm - your union!

H = (Holida:
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P = (Personal Leave) If you are sick 4 hours, enter S-4 under the appropriate balslice (femuines teeattt Balance from last record: Balance from last record:
SPEC = (Special) PERIOD day. If you take 2 hours of personal, enter P-2, etc.
C = (Compensatory)
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CONSULT YOUR UNION CONTRACT,
YOUR CSEA REPRESENTATIVE OR
YOUR PERSONNEL OFFICE FOR

HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE SCHEDULE

CSE

Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Leave accruals are an important contractual benefit negotiated for you by CSEA. You can help guarantee the
accuracy of your individual accruals by tracking your leave activities throughout the year. If a discrepancy
should arise it might be easier to document your claim by producing your personal leave record form.

1992 LEAVE RECORD FOR NEW YORK STATE ADMINIST

RATIVE PAYROLL EMPLOYEES 1992

To record leave used, enter
these letters for the
appropriate date :

V = (Vacation)

S = (Sick Leave)

H = (Holiday)

M = (Military Leave)

P = (Personal Leave)
SPEC = (Special)

C = (Compensatory)
LWOP = (Leave Without Pay)
W = (Worker's Comp)

Your leave benefits were
negotiated for you by

Bu
— @
CSEa - your union!

PAY EXAMPLES: ANNUAL LEAVE | SICK LEAVE |PERSONAL LEAVE
If you are sick 4 hours, enter S-4 under the appropriate Balance from last record: Balance from last record: Balance from last record:
PERIOD day. If you take 2 hours of personal,.enter P-2, etc.
THU|FRI | SAT | SUN Earned | Used | Balance
JAN 2 - JAN 15

1992

JAN 16 - JAN 29

JAN 30 - FEB 12

FEB 13 - FEB 26

FEB 27 - MAR 11

CONSULT YOUR UNION CONTRACT,
YOUR CSEA REPRESENTATIVE OR
YOUR PERSONNEL OFFICE FOR
HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE SCHEDULE

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CSE

Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Leave accruals are an important contractual benefit negotiated for you by CSEA. You can help guarantee the
accuracy of your individual accruals by tracking your leave activities throughout the year. If a discrepancy
should arise it might be easier to document your claim by producing your personal leave record form.

== 4
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' 1992 LEAVE RECORD FOR EMPLOYEES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 1992 '
H 92
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| Pe Wacation) negotiated for you by - your union! |
| S = (Sick Leave) i
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! P = (Personal Leave) If you are sick 4 hours, enter S-4 under the appropriate Balance from last record: Balance from last record: Balance from last record: !
|
' SPEC = (Special) ‘ PERIOD day. If you take 2 hours of personal, enter P-2, etc. |
| C = (Compensatory)
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| | fepabgovermment jurladiguon, raegA ee——aw——— should arise it might be easier to document your claim by producing your personal leave record form. H
your contract or personnel office for current t
| | method of accruing leave credits Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO H
iL

Headquarters
143 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12210
Toll Free (All Departments)

1-800-342-4146

CAPITAL REGION 4
1215 Western Avenue
Albany, NY 12203
(518) 489-5424

SOUTHERN REGION 3
Rural Route 1, Box 34
Old Route 9
Fishkill, NY 12524

WESTERN REGION 6 CENTRAL REGION 5 (914) 896-8180
482 Delaware Avenue 6595 Kirkville Road
Buffalo, NY 14202 East Syracuse, NY
(716) 886-0391 13057

(315) 433-0050

LONG ISLAND REGION 1
Hauppauge Atrium Building
METROPOLITAN REGION 2 300 Vanderbilt Motor Parkway
Suite 1500 15th Floor Hauppauge, NY 11788
11 Broadway (516) 273-2280
New York, NY 10004 (516) 435-0962
(212) 514-9200

}

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS SECTION

reste FONE
Staff §) 5

It's never too late

CSEA member runs first marathon

POUGHKEEPSIE - Bob McIntire is
always on the run, but now he has
something new to be proud of — his first
26.2 mile marathon.

McIntire, 46, is electrician’s helper at
Poughkeepsie School District and member
of CSEA Dutchess County Educational
Local 867. He now hopes to try the New
York City Marathon.

“It's a confidence-building thing,” said
McIntire, who has run 10-mile races
before.

He began running about 10 years ago to
keep his weight down. In fact, McIntire
averages about 30 miles a week. He also
lifts weights, plays tennis and skis.

Of the recent race which was sponsored

by the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Mid

Hudson Runners Club, McIntire said ,“the

last three miles were the toughest. I cried
when I finished.”

He advises anyone who is thinking of
running to see a physician first and then

follow a good training program, which cuts

down on injuries.

He also urged potential marathon
runners to eat right and rest before
running.

“Don't eat a lot of red meat and don't
smoke and use very little alcohol or
caffeine,” he said.

“Age doesn’t matter. I'm 46,” McIntire
said. “There are others in their 50's and
60's who run marathons.”

HEUVELTON — CSEA members are
mourning the death of longtime CSEA
activist Patricia Dempsey.

Dempsey, who most recently served as
local president of CSEA St. Lawrence
County Educational Employees Local 873,
was a bus driver for the Heuvelton Central
School District for 13 years. She was the
first president for the local.

Demspey also drove for the village's
summer youth program for more than 10
years.

She was also a state-certified master
instructor for school bus training and the
president of the local chapter of the New
York Association for Pupil Transportation.

Local 878 President Patricia Dempsey dies

Before becoming a CSEA loal president,
she was unit president for eight years.
Current Local 873 President Shirley Cline
said Dempsey was “an outstanding lady.”

“She was so active,” Cline said. “If
anyone ever needed help, she was there."

In her memory, CSEA Local 871, with
the New York Association for Pupil
Transportation, have established a fund to
benefit the school’s band. Contributions to
the fund may be sent to:

The Patricia Dempsey Fund
c/o Doreen Poulton
Heuvelton Central School
Washington Street
Heuvelton, NY 13654

CONTRACT NOW --Teachers
assistants and custodial staff
in the Bayport/Bluepoint
School District, with support
from other district
employees, demonstrated at a
recent school board meeting.

About 165 people picketed,
despite freezing
temperatures.

They were protesting the
lack of a contract agreement.
Negotiations are at impasse.
The previous pact expired
June 30.

The CSEA units have have
about 90 members. They are
part of CSEA Suffolk
Educational Local 870.

CSEA MEMBER Bob McIntire wears the
medal he earned running his first
marathon,

Two Amsterdam units
settle contracts

AMSTERDAM - After months of protests,
public and private, noisy and silent, the
CSEA Greater Amsterdam School District
Clerical Unit and Custodial Unit have new
three-year contracts.

Hammered out in super conciliation, the
contracts include three new salary steps
and three salary increases.

“After 18 months of long, tedious
negotiations a contract was finally
reached,” said Custodial Unit President
Michale Saj. Elsie Corcuera, Clerical Unit
president, agreed with Saj.

The School Aides Unit had settled with
the district earlier.

Qoctor September 1991 1 5

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS SECTION

CSEA fighting several
furlough, layoff schemes

Editor's Note: Budgetary difficulties at
the local government level are impacting
heavily upon CSEA members across the
state. Attempts by management to force
contract concessions are causing huge
labor-management problems in Nassau
and Westchester counties. Erie County
workers feel an imposed contract doesn’t
go far enough and Onondaga County
members rejected an unacceptable offer.
Many local governments are turning to
layoffs, including the city of Fulton
which recently laid off a third of its
workforce without warning. Montgomery
County's proposed budget calls for a
whopping 163 layoffs.

Nassau County

Nassau County began furloughing CSEA
Local 830 members without pay beginning
the day after Thanksgiving despite CSEA
winning a temporary restraining order on
Thanksgiving Eve. The Supreme Court
order was automatically lifted when the
county immediately appealed. As this issue
of The Public Sector went to press, CSEA
was seeking a ruling from the state’s
Appellate Court that would halt furloughs.

Expressing confidence that the furlough
plan will eventually be ruled illegal, CSEA
Nassau County Local 830 President Rita
Wallace said “going through with the
furloughs the day after Thanksgiving will
cause irreparable harm to the members and
the union.”

CSEA advised Local 830 members to
report for work even if they were told they
were out on furlough. The county is
furloughing CSEA members without pay
one day each of 18 payperiods.

“We told the membership to show up,
sign in and let it be on record that they
were prepared to work and the county sent
them home,” Wallace said.

Nassau County resorted to furloughs
after CSEA filed Improper Practice charges
when the county threatened to layoff
workers after the union refused to give back
a scheduled pay raise in the current
contract.

Westchester County

Westchester County is threatening to lay
off hundreds of county employees unless
CSEA agrees to give up raises due in 1992,
something union officials refuse to
consider.

“We have no intention of giving up our
contractual raises,” said Cheryl Melton,
president of the CSEA Westchester County
Unit of Local 860.

Melton said the union is working with
county lawmakers to find an alternative to
layoffs and she urged county workers, their
families and friends to pack a Westchester
County budget hearing scheduled for Dec.
16.

“For us to give up something that has
been negotiated in good faith is unthinkable
and there’s no guarantee that it won't
happen again,” noted CSEA Region III
President Pat Mascioli.

Erie County

CSEA Erie County Unit officials are
seeking further improvements in a one-year
imposed contract that boosted wages 4.75
percent.

Unit President Stephen Caruana said the
imposed contract falls short of a factfinder's
recommendations and the union is seeking
to have the imposed settlement modified to
include items that were agreed to before
negotiations hed impasse.

Contract talks failed when county
negotiators insisted the 4,400-member
white collar unit accept a three-year
contract with less benefits than had been
granted to other county unions.

“We can get back to bargaining for parity
in 1992 and 1993” after the imposed
contract is properly modified, Caruana said.

Onondaga County

Onondaga County CSEA Local 834
members recently rejected a contract
proposal, continuing a contract dispute.

Local 834 President Dale King speculated
the county's offer was rejected beause it
offered no raise for 1991. Raises proposed
for 1992 and 1993 would have amounted to
nine percent over the three-year period.

CSEA and Onondaga County will now go
back to the bargaining table with a
factfinder appointed by the state Public
Employment Relations Board.

City of Fulton

CSEA officials in the city of Fulton are
fuming after the city's mayor met secretly
with members of the city’s common council
and other city officials to finalize suprise
resolutions that chopped more than one-
third of the city’s workforce.

CSEA is filing several contract grievances
against the city for failure to follow the
correct layoff procedure and Improper
Practice charges for targeting union leaders
and others as obvious acts of retaliation.

“The city ramroded these job cuts
through, after concocting them in secret
meetings, and lied to CSEA about their
plans,” said CSEA Region V President Jim
Moore. “What they did is absolutely illegal,
immoral and deplorable. They should be
ashamed of their actions.”

Montgomery County
CSEA is working for alternatives to
massive layoffs called for as part of
Montgomery County's proposed budget. The
county administrator's proposed budget
calls for laying off 163 county workers.

Schuyler County Local 849 sponsors yard
sale to benefit a strapped county budget

WATKINS GLEN - If yard sales are a profitable way to get rid of
unwanted objects, CSEA Schuyler County activists decided they

could make a yard sale work for the county.

Counteracting charges that the union was unwilling to “sha

didn’t want to li

“We were more than willing to sit down with the county and
discuss ideas to lower the deficit,” Oswald said. “But the county
ten, They just wanted to take away what they gave
us in negotiations, We couldn’t allow that."

the pain” to ease the county's budget deficit burden, local acti 5
came up with the yard sale idea to benefit the county budget fund.
They called it the “Share the Pain Yard Sale,” CSEA Schuyler
County Local 849 President Lore Oswald said.

“We raised more than $1,000 in the yard sale to help bust the
deficit,” she said. “We're very pleased that we received such
support.”

The county Legislature asked the union to re-open the contract
that they ratified less than a year ago, and the union flatly refused,
Oswald said. The union was unwilling to let the county take away
what they had promised the employees in good faith, and to
balance the deficit at the expense of the employee. It was simply
“not an option,” she said. The county then criticized the union for
not “sharing the pain.”

1 6 December 1991 Qoctor

The union then came up with the idea for the yard sale.
Gathering items from the homes of many local members and
county residents, they held the sale outside the county courthouse
on an early fall Saturday. The union was very pleased with the
result, Oswald said.

She presented the money to the county legislature at a recent
meeting, and said that while it was financially only a “drop in the
bucke' symbolically it was of far greater importance.

“This showed the county that we are certainly willing to help
‘share the pain’ and that we are willing to work with them to
constructively solve our budget problem,” she said. “We hope that
this will be a signal for the county that it is time to try and solve
our problems jointly, rather than throwing the burden just on the
employees.”

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS SECTION

CSEA wins job
back for member
fired because of

union activities

NEW PALTZ - Village officials violated
the rights of employee James Noon when
they fired him because of his union
participation.

CSEA filed an improper practice (IP)
charge with the Public Employment
Relations Board (PERB) against the village
and won his reinstatement with back pay
and benefits.

PERB Administrative Law Judge Gordon
R. Mayo ruled that Noon’s dismissal was a
result of discrimination because of Noon’s
participation in his union. He ordered
village officials to re-instate him with full
back pay and benefits lost during the
months he was unemployed.

Testimony during the hearing indicated
that Noon’s supervisor clearly
demonstrated on a number of occasions
that he did not approve of Noon’s activities
and even threatened that he would have
him fired when Noon announced that he
was planning to run for CSEA unit
president.

The supervisor has since resigned and
did not testify during the hearing.

Mayo rejected both village officials’
contention that Noon was fired for
incompetence and its technical evidence
that the charges were not filed on time.

“Having rejected the village's
substantive and technical defenses to the
charge,” Mayo said, “I find that Noon was
discharged in retaliation for his union
activities.”

“CSEA will not tolerate any effort of local
government officials to discriminate
against activists,” Ulster County Local 856
President abeth “Betty” Gordon said.

“The village made every effort to
interfere with CSEA's ability to represent
its membership. James Noon wanted to
take on a leadership role,” she said. “In
this day and age, you would think that
village officials would not attempt to set
labor relations back to the days prior to
the Taylor Law.”

CSEA Attorney William A. Herbert
empha: d that employees who engage in
union activity are protected against
retaliation by management.

“CSEA will fight to protect those rights,”
Herbert said. “This kind of blatant anti-
union discrimination will not be tolerated.”

Home rule decision allows Nassau
probation officers 25-year retirement

MINEOLA - CSEA celebrated a victory
recently when the Nassau County Board of
Supervisors voted for a home rule message
providing peace officers in the Nassau
County Probation Department with a 25-
year retirement plan.

About 320 members in the Probation
Department Unit, part of CSEA Nassau
Local 830, will be affected.

The union lobbied for the plan, noting
that it makes “good economical sense in
difficult fiscal times.”

“Such a measure is fitting and just, both
economically and in full light of the
functions and responsibility of our peace
officers in the Probation Department,”
Local 830 President Rita Wallace said.

Peace officers are involved in all phases
of the criminal justice process, including
investigations, pre-sentencing, criminal
supervision and treatment.

With prisons bulging, the probation
system is becoming more and more
burdened.

As a result, those placed on probation.
tend to commit new crimes and are often

violent and aggressive toward the peace
officers whose job it is to monitor their
behavior,

The 25-year retirement will also offer an
incentive to attract career-oriented peace
officers from other law enforcement
positions in the county, CSEA Unit
President Jane D'Amico said.

The retirement plan will entitle peace
officers in the Nassau County Probation
Department to retire after 25 years of
service, regardless of age, CSEA Political
Action Coordinator Stephanie Teff said.
The law takes effect in 1994.

It also provides an additional retirement
allowance for service beyond 25 years and
a credit for prior non-peace officer service
completed in Nassau County.

Peace officers must serve for five years
after the Jan. 1, 1991, effective date before
they are eligible for these provisions.

CSEA Probation Unit members Cheryl
Garber, Chuck Silver, Mike Vicchiarelli and
George Thorsen, who are also members of
the Nassau County Probation Officers
Association, actively lobbied for the bills.

HOME RULE
VICTORY --
CSEA Region I
President Gloria
Moran and CSEA
Political Action
Coordinator
Stephanie Teff
prepare to speak
in favor of a
home rule

| message that
gives peace
officers in
Nassau County a
25-year
retirement plan.

CSEA enforces East Fishkill contract, wins extra raise

EAST FISHKILL - Thanks to a clause in
the CSEA contract and a successful
grievance, police dispatchers and records
clerks in the Dutchess County town of East
Fishkill have received substantial salary
hikes over and above their negotiated
increase.

Unit President Ann Doherty explained
that the clause provided for a salary
increase if other town employees not in the
bargaining unit receive increases over 6
percent.

Following a re-classification, non-union
clerks, typists and justice clerks saw
increases in their salaries of up to 30
percent.

Because of the apparent discrepancy,
Doherty decided to pursue a grievance with
her union. While CSEA members agreed
not to reveal the exact amount of the
settlement, Doherty said she was satisfied
with what she and the nine CSEA unit
members have received from the town.

“I'm very pleased with the way this
turned out,” she said. “CSEA responds to

7

EAST FISHKILL POLICE Dispatcher Marie
Robinson, one of nine CSEA members who
received a pay increase.

our needs and (Labor Relations Specialist)
Rich Blair is very helpful.”

“CSEA serves small units the same as
the large one.” Blair said. “We win!"

Qoctor December 1991 1 7

sowed Ati

CSEA Communications Associate

“BEACON - CSEA members in the
Dutchess County City of Beacon are
cleaning up — and not just the city’s
recyclable material.

They're also collecting the credit for a
successful recycling project.

The members of CSEA Dutchess County
Local 814 are credited with the success of

a

ra

the project that recently
won a 1991 Local
Government
Achievement Award
from Empire State
Report magazine.

Started two years ago
with a state grant, the
project was boosted with additional grants
to help the city comply with new recycling
laws.

BEACON TRANSFER STATION Yard ares Charlie Beativeeat! left, See the

recycling project operation to Unit President Sandy Frost. In the photo at top, pallets
that will be recycled are piled up. Inset are signs used to publicize the recycling project.

1 8 December 1991 Qcto A

The city
now recycles about 55 percent of its waste.

Separating bottles, cans and paper is just
part of the recycling project. At the Beacon
transfer station, leaf waste is being
composted and sold to local residents, used
wooden pallets are chipped and processed
for use in gardens, and furniture,
appliances and tires are accepted for a
small fee. The appliances are compacted
and sold for scrap. Even the transfer station
and coordinator's office are recycled: they
are in what was once the city’s incinerator.
Project coordinator Shabazz Jackson, a
member of Local 814, said fliers and radio
ads helped spread the word. An educational
program aimed at school children helped to
assure the future of the program, he said.

“We focused on the school kids because
they're going to be producing waste for the
next 70 years,” Jackson said. “Kids are not
resistant to these programs.”

City of Beacon transfer station workers
appreciate the project's contribution to the
city, Unit President Sandy Frost said.

The benefit of the program is, of course,
environmental. In addition, according to
Empire State Report, the system has
brought the waste budget under control
after seven years of cost overruns.

a

ee

CITIES |
| || SCHOOL
TOWNS | VILLAGES |pISTRITS

Local Government News

INDEX

Page 15

A round-up of CSEA news for school
district employees.

Page 16

Contractual and budgetary problems
are reaching deeply into many CSEA
local government locals and units.
Union fighting furloughs in Nassau
County, an imposed settlement in
Erie, give-back demands in
Westchester, an impasse in
Onondaga and layoffs elsewhere.

Page 17

CSEA grievances and arbitrations
involving local government
members.

Page 18

The city of Beacon cleans up with an
award-winning recycling program.

OPLE

IN THE NEWS
on

Local 880 honors members
who served in military

EAST MEADOW - CSEA Town of Local
880 held a tribute to their servicemen at
their annual dinner/dance recently.

More than 300 members attended the
event. CSEA presented three servicemen
with plaques and citations.

“These men, all members of our local,
risked their lives for their country and for
that we salute them and honor them,” said
Local 880 President Pete Ellison.

CSEA STATEWIDE
TREASURER Mary
Sullivan, left, talks with
state Assembly
Representative
Anthony Casale, CSEA
Herkimer County
County Local 822
Steward Beth Hall and
Local 822 President
Labrozzi after a panel
discussion on
municipal
consolidations. Sullivan
was a panelist at the
event, organized by
Casale.

CSEA INFORMATION -- Region III Health
and Safety Coordinator Wendy Hord, left,
discusses health and safety laws with
members of the City of Kingston Unit in
Ulster County. Workers met with CSEA
staff and unit officers and received
information on CSEA resources at the
luncheon meeting.

HEALTHY SCREENING -- Margaret Coyle,
left, a medical secretary at Helen Hayes
Hospital, has her blood pressure checked
by Pat Dwyer at a health fair held at the
hospital. Coyle is a member of CSEA Local
302.

CSEA-negotiated program lets Westchester workers study for free at community college

WHITE PLAINS - Milder Belalcazar has a
dream that she will earn a psychology
degree and work with troubled teens.

Thanks to CSEA, she is already on her
way to seeing that dream become a reallty.

The opportunity to attend Westchester
Community College at no charge,
negotiated by CSEA and Westchester
County, has prompted Belalcazar and 449
other county workers to take advantage of
the many programs offered at WCC.

A secretary in the county’s Department of

Mental Health, Belalcazar came to the
United States from Columbia where she
attended college majoring in hotel
administration.

After working at a local hospital, she
came to work for the county a year ago.

The tuition-free program gives Belalcazar
a chance to work toward her degree more
quickly, she said.

“It gives me more incentive to graduate
faster,” she said.

She plans to transfer to a state universtiy

after she graduates WCC; she hopes to
continue working for the county and use
her education to work with teenagers.

“My boss said he’s waiting for me to get
my degree,” she said.

Westchester County Unit President
Cheryl Melton said she is pleased that so
many members are talking advantage of the
program.

“I've already had calls from people who
are interested in signing up for the spring
semester,” she said.

ee ee

Your 1992
personal leave
record form is

Official publication of

‘Si ; _ enclosed
CSER PUBLIC VOL. 14,NO.15 DECEMBER 1991

[ STATE NEWS SECTION -- PAGES 1-7 GENERAL NEWS SECTION -- PAGES 8-13 LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS SECTION -- PAGES 14-20 |}

PUTTING
TRASH
IN ITS}

PLACE

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