Alot of questions remain!
— see pages 4and 5 —
Rockland
we luv ya!
CONGRATULATIONS! CSEA Region II
President Pat Mascioli, right, rushes to. :
congratulate Rockland County Unit Ct
President Vicki Burton. At right is
CSEA activist Darlene Foust, one of
many members of a huge volunteer €/
army that worked on CSEA’s behalf.
LINSWDIE
DOL LAYOFFS...they have
a human side as well as a
business side. Washington
turned off the cash flow,
~~ we'll try to turn it on
Wk again...PAGES 4—5
Capturing the conscience of a
community...PAGE 8
‘OPAGES 10-11
Ese
Official publication of The Civil Service
Employees Association Local 1000, AFSCME,
AFL-CIO 143 Washington Avenue, Albany,
New York 12210
AARON SHEPARD..
ROGER A. COLE.
KATHLEEN DALY
ac
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
2
Firing reflects HVCC anti-union attitude
e
Job or no job, he’s
joD,
still unit president
TROY—Mark Lansing may have been series of unfair labor charges CSEA has
fired from his job with the Hudson Valley filed against HVCC FSA alleging anti-
Community College’s Faculty Student union actions by FSA management
Association (FSA), but CSEA says HVCC against the union, its members and
FSA management can’t fire him from his elected officials.
union office. é
So, in a unique situation, Lansing will
once again begin showing up on campus
in his role as CSEA FSA Unit president to
provide the day-to-day union
representation needs of the 18 private
sector members of the unit.
CSEA statewide President William L.
McGowan, acting on a request from CSEA
Capital Region President C. Allen Mead,
has directed Lansing to continue to serve
as unit president.
CSEA says Lansing’s firing is nothing
more than part of an overall anti-union
campaign by the management of HVCC ~
FSA. A grievance filed by CSEA over
Lansing’s firing will go to binding
arbitration soon before an arbitrator from
the American Arbitration Association. A “BRING MARK BACK” campaign has
Meanwhile the union is also preparing been launched by HVCC FSA members, who
for an upcoming formal hearing before are wearing badges such as these on
the state’s Labor Board concerning a campus.
Agency Specific Program training in Region III
®
; ae : e
t 7 \ nT SS
ABOUT 60 EMPLOYEES from state facilities throughout the Hudson Valley area recently
participated in a Honeywell training seminar funded by a grant under the CSEA-State Agency
Specific Training Program. Some of the maintenance assistants, stationary engineers and
plumbers and steamfitters who participated are shown above. Standing at rear of room are, from
left, CSEA Program Coordinator John Weidman, committee members Antoinette Yerkes, George
Ballard and Darlene Foust, state Program Coordinator Dan Cunningham, and CSEA Region III
President Pat Mascioli.
The Public Sector (445010) is published every other Monday by The Civil Service
Employees Association, 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210. Publication Of- 2
fice: 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210. Second Class Postage paid at Post
Office, Albany, New York.
Address changes should be sent to: Civil Service Employees Association, Attn:
Membership Department, 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210.
COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATES
SHERYL CARLIN Region I RON WOFFORD Region VI
(516) 273-2280 (716) 886-0391
LILLY GIOIA Region II STEVE MADARASZ Headquarters
(212) 514-9200 (518) 434-0191
ANITA MANLEY . . Region III
(914) 896-8180
DAN CAMPBELL . Region IV
(518) 489-5424
CHUCK McGEARY Region V
(315) 451-6330
i)
February 8, 1987
ROCKLAND
COUNTY
|} eee County employees have given
CSEA an overwhelming vote of confidence,
continuing CSEA as their union by a nearly
2-to-1 landslide margin in a mail ballot
representation election supervised by the
state’s Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB).
CSEA countr
Rockland County CSEA Unit President
Vicki Burton hailed the outcome as a
triumph for the rank-and-file members, and
pledged to further strengthen the unit for
the benefit of the membership.
The employees soundly rejected the chal-
lenge of an independent organization headed
by a former unit president in giving CSEA
its large margin of victory. CSEA has
KEEPING TABS on the Rockland County election totals is CSEA Director of Organizing Larry
Scanlon, left. At right, CSEA statewide Secretary Irene Carr, right, congratulates Unit President
Vicki Burton.
y!
represented the 2,600 Rockland County
employees for the past 19 years, and Burton
said it was the union’s success record over
many years, the heavy volunteer efforts of
the rank-and-file during the election chal-
lenge, and the potential for even greater
success in the future that accounted for the
strong support for the union.
Burton and CSEA Region III President
Pat Mascioli both credited rank-and-file
volunteers and union activists with having a
major role in the decisive outcome. Both
noted the work of the Region III Political
Action Committee (PAC) in conducting
phone bank operations on behalf of CSEA
during the campaign. The committee is
chaired by Alex Hogg and the phone bank
campaign was directed by PAC Specialist
Doris Mason. ‘They and their volunteer
group, which contacted employees over
several weeks leading up to the election
itself, deserve a tremendous amount of cred-
it,” said Mascioli.
Burton and Mascioli both said a team of
union organizers who coordinated the
successful campaign under the supervision
of CSEA Director of Organizing Larry
Scanlon were also instrumental in the union
triumph. Mascioli pledged the continued
commitment of the full resources of CSEA
to work with the unit in every way possible.
The election win followed closely on the
heels of a nearly unanimous ratification of a
new three-year contract which CSEA
hammered out on behalf of the membership
over 18 months of intense negotiations.
Rockland equity clause is unique
Compiled by Anita Manley
CSEA Communications Associate
NEW CITY — The recently ratified
Rockland County contract is the first local
government agreement in the state to
contain a pay equity study clause and a
specified negotiated dollar amount to cover
wage adjustments.
CSEA Collective Bargaining Specialist
Manny Vitale said the contract covering
2,600 Rockland County employees calls for a
pay equity study and an allocation of
$100,000 per year for wage adjustments.
“This is the first time that we have
negotiated for a study which will be paid for
by the employer and has a dollar figure
attached. I don’t know of any employer,
except the state, that’s done this,”
Vitale said.
The Rockland County agreement drew
strong praise from CSEA Statewide
Women’s Committee Chairperson Helen
Zocco and CSEA Statewide Secretary Irene
Carr.
Zocco said inclusion of the clause in the
Rockland agreement, along with increased
awarness of the pay equity/comparable
worth issue statewide, will influence other
contract negotiations also. She noted a
number of members on her statewide
committee were from Rockland County and
had worked with that county’s legislative
task force on female-dominated jobs. ‘‘The
new contract is proof positive that if you’re
February 8, 1987
well informed, you can accomplish your
goals,” Zocco said.
“T’m ecstatic,” exclaimed Carr, ‘“‘because
the people in Rockland have worked for this
for a very long time.”’ Carr, however,
remained cautiously optimistic that the
study will be completed on a timely basis.
“T'd like to see it done in a year. New York
State has dragged its feet implementing its
pay equity study, and I don’t want to see
that happen in Rockland.’’
County Personnel Director John Leavy
has assured CSEA members that the county
will carry out the project as soon as a
decision is made as to who will conduct the
study. One possibility, he said, is the Center
for Women in Government, which was
heavily involved in the state study and also
conducted an AFSCME-funded local
government study for neighboring Dutchess
County. The Dutchess study has not
proceeded further because that county has
not committed funds to implement
recommendations of its study.
THE AYES HAVE IT—and by a huge margin. Rockland County Unit Pre
ident Vicki Burton,
right, has her hand raised in a symbolic gesture of victory after Rockland employees approve
contract by a tremendous margin. '
‘he pile of ballots on the table represent the “
stacks. Behind Burton stands CSEA Collective Bargaining Spec
agreement. Surrounding Burton and Vitale are some of the volunteers and organi
the successful campaign to gain ratification of the contract.
” and “no”
t Manny Vitale, who negotiated the
rs who worked on
3
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
eer ey ee
DOL | Labor Department.
LAYOFFS (echachaaaie kaos
fall of $955 miljoney federal funding
Capi rans ‘ "
1} “The state Department of Labor has ‘employees by
been sloped Im ls tracks By 3
hallenge vo the way 1
net 1 Gree
io vie PUSS Bie
Will they, or won’t they? How many? How? When?
Those are just some of the many unanswered questions concerning the scheduled
layoffs of several hundred state Department of Labor (DOL) employees in early
March.
The situation apparently became a bit more clear, however, on Feb. 4 when a
state Supreme Court justice withdrew temporary injunctions he had issued and
dismissed a pair of lawsuits that had held up DOL’s layoff procedure. The department
immediately announced that layoff notices would go out as scheduled and the layoffs
would take effect March 4.
But a whirlwind of activities and confusion still surrounds the situation as the
March 4 layoff deadline approaches. DOL originally announced more than 1,000
employees would be laid off due to a $33.5 million shortfall in federal funds to the
department. That number was later reduced by more than 300 due to an $8.7 million
appropriation in Gov. Cuomo’s proposed 1987-88 state budget, and plans to close
several DOL offices further reduced the numbers. The state Legislature still must
adopt the state budget, however, so the actual layoff numbers remain uncertain.
DOL began the extremely complex layoff process, identifying positions to be
involved and triggering horizontal transfers and vertical bumping and retreating of
employees that leads up to determining who actually receives layoff notices.
Those layoff notices were scheduled to go out to employees getting the ax about
Feb. 11, but that timetable became questionable when lawsuit were filed over the
manner in which DOL was handling the layoffs and the Supreme Court justice issued
temporary restraining orders, which he lifted Feb. 4. The timetable is apparently back
on track.
On Feb. 4 and 5, a team of CSEA officials and activists went to Washington, D.C.,
to personally lobby with U.S. senators and congressmen from New York State in an
effort to restore the budget cuts in the upcoming federal supplemental budget. (A
detailed report of that lobby effort will appear in the next edition of The Public
Sector).
At the same time, in Albany, state DOL officials were meeting with state Senate
and Assembly Labor Committees members to appeal for additional state funding to
prevent the layoffs, and some legislators were quoted as saying they were optimistic
state funding could be found.
About all that was clear as the shadow of March 4 loomed darker was that the
situation remained unclear. It boiled down to this: federal funding will stop on March
4, but might be restored at a later date; some state funding is proposed in the
tentative state budget and will probably be approved, and some lawmakers are
optimistic other funding can be found; hundreds of employees are anticipating receipt
of layoff notices which may arrive by mid-February; the layoff procedure was
apparently at a standstill, but seems to be back on track now; and layoffs may or may
not take place, and if they do, future funding could lead to a recall. Maybe.
Labor ‘|’
CSEA seeks relief in
Washington, Albany
By Stephen Madarasz
CSEA Communications Associate
ALBANY — CSEA is stepping up its efforts
to minimize the impact of layoffs set to
begin March 4 at the New York State Labor
Department. Hundreds of employees and
thousands of out-of-work New Yorkers will
be directly and indirectly affected.
DOL, more than 90% funded by the federal
government has been the victim of cutbacks
systematically dismantling its programs
since 1981.
“The waiting and uncertainty are the
worst part,”’ explains CSEA Local 670
President Jeanne Lyons. “‘We’ve already
taken hard hits and this time people with
years of service are on the line.”
Lyons is part of the a)
CSEA team lobbying
for funds to be
restored. Their visit to
the New York
congressional
delegation in
Washington (underway
at press time) was “a
preceded by more than
1,200 letters to the
lawmakers initiated by
the union. Jeanne Lyons
Additionally, efforts are also taking place
in Albany. The Assembly Labor Committee
has gone on record supporting ‘‘whatever
needs to be done”’ to stem the layoff plan,
including coming up with state funds to
make up the shortfall if necessary. No
details are available however.
But even if CSEA’s lobbying is successful,
it is unlikely layoffs will be averted before
March 4. In the meantime, CSEA is working
to prevent people from getting hurt.
Employees are reminded that they must
register with DOL’s continuity of
employment office to maintain their layoff
rights.
CSEA President William McGowan has
written all local presidents across the state
asking them to look out for their sisters and
brothers in DOL by bringing any vacancies
in their worksite to CSEA’s attention. Such
positions should be identified to CSEA
Director of Workforce Planning Paul Burch,
Collective Bargaining Specialist Jack
Conoby, or Lyons.
During the last round of layoffs, Lyons’
extra effort helped ensure that virtually all
DOL members were placed: ‘‘We called on
a lot of presidents and were very
successful...it’s just a matter of using the
network of CSEA people. We’re not going to
give up for our members,” she insists.
Putting it in perspective Lyons notes:
“The Department of Labor employees
deserve better — the people of New York
deserve better.”
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
February 8, 1987
Above, Bronx Assemblyman Larry Seabrook and CSEA Region
II President George Boncoraglie encourage marchers, at right,
during New York City demonstration against Labor Department
layoffs.
N.Y.C. members
take message to streets by storm
By Lilly Gioia
CSEA Communications Associate
NEW YORK — Pelted by wind-whipped sleet and snow, angry
Department of Labor workers and CSEA leaders braved a ferocious New
York City winter storm to protest hundreds of layoffs planned by the
state for early March.
Shouting again and again, ‘‘no more layoffs,” noontime World Trade
Center demonstrators held on for dear life to their union signs and hats
in gale-force wind gusts and swirling snow.
Megaphone in hand, CSEA Metropolitan Region II President George
Boncoraglio stressed how important it is for union members, their fa-
mily and friends to write Congress opposing cuts in Labor Department
services. As a member of the union’s lobbying team, he pledged to br-
ing the ‘‘no layoff”’ message straight to Washington, demanding that
federal funds be restored for state jobs programs.
Boncoraglio blasted the Reagan administration for turning a “cold
shoulder’’ to the unemployed and homeless job seekers of New York by
ALBANY — ‘‘There’s a wide range of
emotions showing around here” says
Barbara Chiplock, a six-year veteran
hearing reporter at DOL who faces a
possible layoff. ‘“There’s anger,
depression, disbelief...we also keep
hearing lots of rumors, but nothing
official.”
For Chiplock, the scene is far too famil-
iar. In June 1985 she lost her job and went
without work for seven months until
reinstated after winning a grievance filed
by CSEA.
DOL’s layoff notices have not yet been
issued to employees, but the complicated
process of horizontal reassignment and
retreat rights — known as ‘‘bumping’? —
has sent a chill of apprehension through the
workforce for weeks.
it from another.””
before.”
affects me.”
Anxiety turns lives upside-down
_ Not knowing if someone with a higher
job title and seniority will displace you
even if the layoff itself misses you, feeds
the rumor mill. Says Chiplock: “If you
don’t get it in one direction, you might get
Unfortunately for Chiplock, the anxiety
can’t just be left at the office: “It really
affects my family life because no matter
how I try, I can’t push it out of my mind,
no matter what I’m doing at home. For
my two daughters, I think the only hope is
knowing that we got through this once
Adds Barbara Charles, a 13-year stack
clerk and local officer: ‘It’s horrible.
Whenever the layoff story hits the news,
all of my relatives call up to ask if it
While Gharles has been fortunate to
laying off the very employees who help them find work.
After stints walking in the line of frost-bitten activists, Boncoraglio
introduced Bronx Assemblyman Larry Seabrook who came forward to
pledge vigorous opposition to the impending layoffs.
Union leaders applauded the tenacity and solidarity of rank-and-file
members who didn’t let the weather stand in the way of getting their
message out to the public and the media. ‘‘We are tired of Reagan snow
jobs, when what we need in New York are real jobs and a Labor Depart-
ment staffed to meet the needs of our jobless people,” Boncoraglio con-
cluded as the demonstration drew to a close.
As menacing bursts of lightning and thunder began flashing across
the lower Manhattan skyline, demonstration organizers called a halt to
the protest earlier than was originally planned. Braced against the wind,
the shadowy, snow-covered figures of union members could be seen hur-
rying towards subways and back indoors to warm offices, to jobs that
in a few short weeks may no longer exist if the Reagan administration
gets its way.
Barbara
Charles
survive the cuts in previous years, she
says that every time she feels the ax
getting closer and closer. She is
concerned about DOL’s future, employees
and services in light of the federal
government’s trend to cut more and more
each year.
“The President slashes figures on pa-
per, but he doesn’t have to deal with the
pols face to face — people trying to
‘eed their families’’ she points out.
February 8, 1987
THE PUBLIC SECTOR 5
Unanswered questions at Empire State Plaza
eee
Official tries to
ALBANY- More concerns about working conditions in the
Corning Tower of the Empire State Plaza have surfaced following
an angry confrontation between a top Health Department official
and Labor Department safety and health specialists seeking to
conduct an on-site inspection.
The attempt to intimidate and prevent the Labor Department
inspectors from carrying out their legal responsibility occurred in
the presence of three CSEA safety and health representatives. It is
just the latest round of difficulties as CSEA attempts to get answers
to questions about the presence of dangerous materials and fumes
at that workplace.
The main concern centers around the building’s ventilation
system which services Department of Health laboratory fume
hoods. As previously reported in THE PUBLIC SECTOR, members
of Office of General Services CSEA Local 660, who are responsible
for the building’s operations, have sought information under the
state’s right-to-know law for more than a year.
In fact, the Labor Department inspection resulted from CSEA
concerns about immediate dangers at the site. Repeated requests to
the Health Department and OGS for action have not received
priority.
The situation has been complicated because it has been unclear
whether OGS or Health has the ultimate responsibility for the
system.
Following the most recent confrontation however, the Health
Department insisted that it have the right to accompany Labor
Department representatives on any inspection of the facility - even
into areas under OGS responsibility.
CSEA is protesting that arrangement, but in the meantime it
may at least settle the question of responsibility.
Although the Health Department concedes there has never been a
full evaluation of the system, it contends there is little danger.
Plans for testing have been in the works since last summer, but a
number of CSEA recommendations on how the tests should be
conducted have been rejected by the Department.
“The most outrageous aspect of this whole situation” insists
CSEA Occupational Safety and Health Director James Corcoran, ‘“‘is
that the Health Department administers the right-to-know law
statewide - and they appear to be the offending party in this
instance.”
Under the law, an employer must provide information about
oF NEW YORK - DEPARTMENT OF LABOF
stare ict
ar eS
UST BE POSTED NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 1, AN A
In POSTED FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH,
{his FORTION OF THE LAST PAG!
6
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
stop inspection
SOURCE OF
CONCERN-
Corning Tower
joy fans
toxic substances in the workplace within 72 hours of when a request
is made.
An agreement worked out last year allows the OGS workers to
refuse assignments dealing with the ventilation system. However,
members say there has been increasing pressure from management
to take those assignments in recent weeks.
“We’re concerned that the spirit of the right-to-know law is
being violated here even if there is technically compliance’’explains
Corcoran.
“The fact of the matter is that they don’t really know what’s
inside the ventilation system and they’re just letting the situation
slide...there’s a simple solution, let an independent third party do a
complete evaluation so we know once and for all what kind of
protection our people need when they work on the system.”
DOSH-400 time
Does this form look familiar?
It should. It’s called a ‘‘DOSH-400” and is a log of occupational in-
jury and illness that took place in your worksite over the previous calen-
dar year. State law requires it be posted this month in places where
employee notices are usually put up.
An injury or illness is work-related if it occurs in the work environ-
ment, which is defined as the employer’s premises.
If medical treatment was required, the injury or illness must be post-
ed. If it only required first aid, it is not po: unless it involved loss
ASeapiioryt aie restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another
job.
: The notice must be posted throughout February.
If there’s no DOSH-400 posted at your worksite, or if it’s incomplete
or inaccurate, contact your CSEA regional safety and health specialist
listed below:
Region I — Ken Brotherton (516) 273-2280
Region I — Hal Robertson (212) 514-9200
Region I1I — Don Wood (914) 896-8180
Region IV — Barbara Mitchell (518) 489-5424
Region V — Chris Jamison (315) 451-6330
Region VI — John Beiger (716) 886-0391
February 8, 1987.
By Ron Wofford
CSEA Communications Associate
BUFFALO — Continuing its long battle for tougher
regulations on asbestos removal, handling and disposal, CSEA
wants a proposed law made stronger to ensure enforcement.
While proposed state Industrial Code Rule 56 governing the
installation and removal of asbestos is basically sound, it doesn’t
do enough for enforcement, said John Bieger, CSEA occupational
safety and health specialist for Region VI.
Bieger and Edmund Catrine of CSEA’s Occupational Safety
and Health Office testified in Buffalo at a state Department of
Labor (DOL) hearing on Rule 56, which sets down a
comprehensive code of rules and regulations for the licensing of
contractors and certification of workers involved in asbestos
removal or installation.
Similar hearings were held in Albany and New York City to
determine public opinion on the measure that seeks to prevent
exposure to asbestos fibers, which are known to cause cancer.
Asbestos was used extensively in construction as a fire
retardant until it was discovered to cause cancer.
CSEA is “‘mostly in favor of the measure,”’ Bieger said,
noting some points which need expansion or finetuning.
A spokesman for the Asbestos Workers Association joined
CSEA in asking that the proposed law be given more power for
strict enforcement, adding that the proposed law also
inadequately addresses the issue of inspections.
It was suggested that DOL make licensing and certification
fees expensive enough to finance strict enforcement. Proposed
fees for licensing a contractor are $100 and asbestos handler
certification is set at $25 under the proposed law. Handlers will be
required to satisfactorily complete an asbestos safety program
that has been approved by the state labor commissioner.
The spokesman for the asbestos workers called asbestos
encapsulation a particularly dangerous undertaking which should
be separated from the other areas of certification.
RAMONA GALLAGHER, center, assistant labor commissioner, listens to
John Bieger, right, Region VI occupational safety and health specialist,
during a break from the Department of Labor hearing on proposed
regulations for the removal and disposal of asbestos in public buildings.
At left is Edmund Catrine, administrative assistant in CSEA’s
Occupational Safety and Health Department, The two men testified at the
hearing in Buffalo recently. The inset at right shows Bieger giving his
testimony.
February 8, 1987
5
OPP AER he
CSEA HAS BEEN A LEADING PROPONENT of tougher regulations
pertaining to the removal, handling and disposing of asbestos from all
public buildings throughout the state. This very strong asbestos
abatement bill is among proposed legislation CSEA is seeking to have
adopted into law during the current session of the State Legislature.
“Encapsulation means the asbestos will be around for
another 20 to 30 years,” he warned. ‘‘For that reason, special
attention must be given to this area.”
Bieger cited a need to have a union representative of the
asbestos site workers included on the site’s ‘authorized visitor
list.2
The law should also include a strict list of qualifications for
those who do the daily monitoring required at a worksite and the
records should be available to the union and other public safety
authorities, he suggested.
Other points addressed by the code include air sampling,
contractor responsibility, required protective equipment, personal
decontamination enclosure systems, notice and record keeping
requirements, limits on installation of any material containing
more than 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter, as well as other
engineering controls.
Widespread interest in the asbestos issue was evident in the
hearing room, which was packed with union representatives,
building contractors, safety groups and others who spoke on the
proposal.
Most expressed support for the measure, with the exception
of a building contractors group which objected to the measure in
general. The builders specifically objected to the requirement
that all workers on an asbestos site be certified by the labor
commissioner as “‘asbestos handlers.”
The designation would apply to any individual who installs,
removes, applies, encapsulates or encloses asbestos or asbestos
materials or who disturbs ‘‘friable”’ asbestos.
Friable is defined as ‘‘the condition of crumbled, pulverized,
powdered, crushed or exposed asbestos which is capable of being
released into the air by hand pressure.”’ Friable asbestos
presents the greatest health threat because the airborne fibers
can be inhaled.
In addition to his testimony at the hearing, Bieger said,
CSEA will file a written summary of its analysis of the
code with the DOL Asbestos Control Program.
The entire proposed code may be obtained from the DOL by
writing the DOL Division of Safety and Health, One Main St.,
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201.
Ramona Gallagher, assistant labor commissioner, said the
department will take into account the testimony heard at the
hearings and consider incorporating items that will improve the
public safety before issuing a final version of Industrial Code
Rule 56.
Gallagher chaired the Buffalo hearing.
7
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Woven brought to her attention that
automobile drivers were routinely violating
state law and passing stopped school buses
with flashing red lights operating in and
around her community , Lorraine Breedveld
did something about it. And the community
responded in a huge way.
Breedveld, a bus driver herself and a
member of the Warwick Valley School
District Unit of Orange County CSEA Local
836, said she felt compelled to do something
after learning during a meeting of district
bus drivers that stopped school buses had
ONE OF MANY SIGNS, above, posted
streets and highways of Warwic!
DISPLAYING SAMPLES of posters created by
Warwick Valley School District children are bus
drivers Lorraine Breedveld and William Lemin,
School Business Administrator Ed Rhine and
CSEA Unit President Naomi Kaplan.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
been passed illegally by automobiles more
than 300 times during September and
October.
She said she recalled that a 6-year-old
child had been killed in neighboring Ulster
County the previous year, and she feared
that a Warwick child could meet a similar
fate. Public awareness of the dangerous
situation must be raised, she decided, and
immediately volunteered to begin a
campaign.
Initially Breedveld and several drivers
addressed the members of the school board,
relating incidents where passing cars could
have caused serious or fatal accidents if
drivers had not been alert enough to
quickly close bus doors to prevent students
from stepping from the bus. “We have to
raise the awareness of the people in this
community of this problem,’’ Breedveld said
after one driver told of a vehicle passing his
bus on the right.
So she and a committee went into the
community to raise the issue and the
television stations with press releases. She
contacted local groups and businesses for
support, and her committee made a series
of roadside signs. Next came a poster
contest sponsored by the bus drivers, and
today the posters made by school children
can be seen in the windows of local
consciousness, flooding area radio and cable
businesses and in public buildings all over
town.
Breedveld said she was impressed by the
willingness of local residents and businesses
to help. A local printing company is
donating bumper stickers. Fliers will be
printed by print shop students from the
Board of Cooperative Educational Services
(BOCES), and local insurance companies
and the telephone company have agreed to
enclose the fliers in their billings to
customers. And even inmates at the Mid-
Orange Correctional Facility are donating
materials and time to make roadside signs.
The campaign is working, and incidents of
cars passing stopped school buses have
decreased. But Breedveld and her group say
they won’t stop now.
The bus drivers are concerned about state
laws that require the bus driver to obtain
not only the license plate number of an
offending car, but be able to positively
identify the driver. The group plans to meet
with local and state law enforcement
officials soon to discuss problems related to
obtaining convictions in such cases.
School Business Administrator Ed Rhine
says he’s very impressed with the
campaign. ‘I’m very thankful that the
drivers raised this issue prior to a disaster.
They took the initiative. They’re the driving
force and we’re proud of them.”
February 8, 1987
VDT recommendations set two-year goal
ALBANY—Recommendations from a joint CSEA-state committee for a
state policy on video display terminals (VDTs) call for worksite
improvements within two years.
Once the state Office of Operations adopts a policy, New York will be
the first state to have a VDT policy resulting from labor-management
cooperation.
The joint CSEA-state Safety and Health Committee released seven
pages of recommendations late last month. They are the culmination of
months of work and concentrate on changes in the work site to improve the
safety and health of state employees who work with VDTs.
“This is a major movement,” said CSEA President William McGowan.
“It’s very significant because New York State, once it implements the
policy, will be the first major employer to do something along these lines.”’
The labor-management cooperation in the VDT policy recommendations
was established in the contract between CSEA’s Administrative Services
Unit and the state. The safety and health committee hired Dr. Robert Arndt
of the University of Wisconsin’s preventive medicine department to help
write the recommendations.
CSEA statewide Secretary Irene Carr praised the recommendations,
but said she is concerned about enforcement of a VDT policy.
“We want to see a true commitment to develop these kinds of plans. We
have been assured by the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations that this
is a policy to be implemented,” Carr said. ‘‘The worksite is changing and
we must be prepared to adapt to those changes.”
Before the recommendations can be implemented, however, the state
must adopt a policy.
“The state will develop a policy from these recommendations and the
point basically is to have each agency study their needs,”’ said James L.
Corcoran III, CSEA director of Occupational Safety and Health. ‘Two years
Preparing for the
workplace of the future
_CSEAP: More room to grow
ELLEN DIANGE, chairwoman of the
Region IV Women’s Committee, at left,
tries one of the video display terminals
during the opening of the newly-expanded
CSEAP training center. Below, CSEA
President William McGowan and
statewide Secretary Irene Carr talk with
Joanne Jones, a member of Adirondack
Correctional Facility Local 170 in
Raybrook. Jones attended the opening to
ind out about training programs that
could be used by her local.
February 8, 1987
is a target for the agencies to put forth a good-faith effort to be in
compliance with the policy.”
The recommendations apply specifically to issues relating to the
worksite, including worksite design, lighting, keyboards, operator chair and
worktable, training, maintenance and policy implementation. They are
intended to be guidelines used by state agencies in establishing worksites
that reduce the amount of strain, stress and injury a VDT operator may
encounter on the job.
“The recommendations are good. Considering that they come from
labor and mangement, I think they’re very good,’’Corcoran said. “It’s a
start.”
Corcoran said that the recommendations are rooted in concern for the
worker.
“The problem with the technology basically is they were just plopping
these terminals on desks. The employer did this knowing full well he
wanted to increase production at a low cost,”’ he said. ‘““There was no
concern for the operator.”’
The VDT policy recommendations are fairly general so that they can be
interpreted for the many different worksites, but they call for worker input
in implementing the policy at each worksite.
“Tt’s extremely important for the operators to be directly involved,”
Corcoran said. ‘‘Agency policy can’t be developed in a vacuum. There has
to be some dialogue.”
Once the state adopts a policy, the next step will be implementation,
and CSEA will be involved in that process, Corcoran said. Videotapes
explaining the policy will be produced and CSEA’s Occupational Safety and
Health staff will be available to help agencies implement the policy.
“I know that my staff will be directly involved at the local level,”
Corcoran said. “We've got a large task in front of us, but it’s achievable.”
ALBANY—Calling it the “workplace of the future,’’ CSEA President
William McGowan praised the newly-expanded training center for the
Clerical and Secretarial Employee Advancement Program (CSEAP) at the
center’s opening.
“This is an example of what can result when labor and management
work together,’’ McGowan said.
The new facility, expanded to meet increasing demand, offers training
in office technology to the 37,000 clerical and secretarial workers in CSEA’s
Administrative Services Unit (ASU). There they have a chance to work
under ideal conditions, since the center uses equipment designed not only to
improve productivity but also to safeguard the worker from job-related
injury and stress.
CSEAP and the center are part of an agreement negotiated between
ASU and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations.
Even with the excellent working conditions and extensive training
offered by CSEAP, McGowan emphasized that the expanded center is a
beginning, not an end in itself.
“We can’t just pat ourselves on the back,” he said. “This should be the
starting place for even more improvements.”
During his remarks at the opening, he called for better salaries for the
newly-trained and highly-skilled office workers and continued
improvements in the workplace to ensure worker health and safety.
McGowan also called for an expansion of training to include a way to
get the equipment and programs out to workers across the state, rather
than requiring them to travel to Albany for training.
“We're ready to negotiate for whatever special needs are necessar’
he said. ‘‘We want our people to have every opportunity. We need this
center in other locations.”
Crystal Hamelink, CSEAP coordinator, said the new facility is.
important because it will help workers maintain an understanding of the
rapidly changing office technology.
“Keeping pace with technology is like trying to change a tire while the
car is moving,” Hamelink said. ‘The center is trying to help workers
become more comfortable with the work they’re doing.”
Joanne Jones and Karla Dumas, members of CSEA Local 170 in
Raybrook, attended the CSEAP center to see what training could be used
for workers at the Adirondack Correctional Facility.
“Our computer people are leaving and we need training,’ Jones said.
“This center is a great opportunity for us.’”
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
BOB DORSEY, standing at right and in insert, clears roadways in Hecksher Park in East Islip,
Long Island, so deer (background) can be fed by park employees from Thanksgiving to Easter.
IT WAS 20FEGREES BELOW ZERO and the : ae
snow pilesfere higher than the garbage piles IT WAS DARK, COLD AND SNOWY when CSEA member Jeffery Green
ona recen winter day when we caught up with : tepped out of his snowplow cab to check equipment on the night shift working
Toe Ashleyfihove, a CSEA member in the City j — the Chautauqua County Department of Public Works.
of Troy Dfpartment of Public Works on his
rounds.
REBBA WYNN, a park recreation aide, uses skis to patrol trails in the Clay Pit Ponds
Park Preserve on Staten Island after a recent heavy snowfall hit the area.
SNOW BANKS and cold weather are a constant chaffnge to Joe Ashley, left, and Willis
Bergerson as they go about their refuse collection fhores during winter months.
1 0 THE PUBLIC SECTOR February, 1987 TH 1 s |
E PUBLIC SECTOR
Irate union leaders
step up protests of
Rome center closing
“We’re going to oppose every
single move they (State) make
until we get a commitment about
job security .. .”’
— Jim Moore,
Region V President
By Charles McGeary
CSEA Communications Associate
ROME — Taking direct aim at the state
decision to close Rome Developmental Cen-
ter, CSEA Region V President Jim Moore
vowed the union fight for job security for
1300 facility employees would dog Gov.
Mario Cuomo on the presidential campaign
trail if he runs for national office.
Rome Developmental is one of seven
facilities scheduled to be shut down between
1987 and 1991 under a ‘“‘Developmental Cen-
ter Closure Plan” recently announced by
Gov. Cuomo and Commissioner Arthur Y.
Webb of the state Office of Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
(OMRDD). Other sites are Staten Island,
Westchester, Craig, Bronx, Manhattan and
Newark.
In hard-hitting language delivered at a
press conference, Moore and Jon Premo,
president of Local 422, said the job security
the union seeks would involve guaranteeing
“We are not going to stand
by while our members are
forced to sell their homes
and suffer the hardship
of leaving their
communities.”
— Jim Moore
cern for employees’ job security follow:
Center. Also covering the range of closii
that employees would be able to have the
same jobs they presently hold, or
assurances that the state would pay for
training to prepare them for new jobs.
Moore added that the jobs should be in
the same area.
“We are not going to stand by while our
members are forced to sell their homes,
and suffer the hardships of leaving their
communities,”’ he said.
Premo underscored Moore’s statements
and added CSEA’s primary concern is for
supportive services employees, who make
up a third of Local 422 membership.
“The direct care employees, who deal
directly with the clients, will have work
even if the clients are relocated to
community residence facilities,” Premo
said. “But if buildings are closed, what
happens to maintenance, trades and clerical
people? Where will they go?”
The announcement of the proposed closing
of Rome D.C. by 1991 also brought a
statement from Jim Martin, vice president
of Local 422.
“This entire episode was the perfect
example of poor — make that very poor —
employee relations. Instead of explaining
the long-range plan to the employees, they
sock it to us through the media from some
carpeted room in Albany,” Martin said. “I
think, as dedicated employees, we deserved
better treatment.”
Moore added the union plans to oppose
every single move that they make “. . . until we
get a commitment about job security.
“I want a commitment from higher up
than the director of the facility. That
commitment should come directly from the
governor,” he said.
“We are not going to panic. We are
confident we can get job security.”
Moore also noted that CSEA endorsed
D.C. president; Jim Martin, Local 442 vice president; and Rick Fiorini, Local 442 board
representative,
12
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Ne
OFFICE OF MEneat Ree
DEVELopmy, neg
Develo
'PMent,
Closure Plage mer
1987-199}
Mario M. ¢
. ‘uome
Governo,
01
Arthur y
Wthur Y. Web,
Commussion?!
THE REPORT shown above calls for the closing
of seven developmental centers statewide,
including Rome. The job security of 1,300 people @
is at stake.
Cuomo’s run for governor on both occasions,
and said the governor can return the favor
by assuring job security for those
employees. “‘That’s the purpose of political
endorsements!”’
To underscore his statements, Moore said
the union will be prepared to send bus loads
of CSEA members around the country to
demonstrate where the governor may make
campaign speeches, if he decides to launch
a bid for the Democratic nomination for
president.
“We intend to take this fight to our local e
representatives in the state Legislature, and
all the way to the governor’s office,” Moore
added.
A series of informational meetings has
been scheduled to keep employees fully
aware of any new developments.
“We plan to update every employee on all
shifts by open letters of explanation and
general membership meetings,’’ Premo
said. “We are well-organized and will do
everything in our power to keep the
members well informed.”
February 8, 1987
i)
JEAN VAN DUNK, an employee of Middletown
Psych ie Center, talks i nan Mary
th Assemblye
right
WESTCHESTER COUNTY Assemblyman George Pataki
is shown with Peekskill Housing Authority Unit
nt Bob Blaich
Breakfast
O
champions
PAC honors winners
The CSEA Region III Political Action
Committee backed some winners in
November — 26 to be exact.
‘The committee recently honored the 18
Assembly candidates and the eight state
Senate candidates who received CSEA
endorsement and were winners in the
November elections.
‘The accompanying photographs were taken
at the breakfast the committee hosted to
congratulate the winners.
ORANG.
Mary Starr greets Asse
COUNTY UNIT Poli
Action Chairwoma’
mblyman Law Bennett
REGION IIT SECOND Vice F ¢ Rose M
Richard Sch n and A H William 1.
Hog {
POLITICAL ACTION COORDINAT
from right, h We
OR Doris M
February 8, 1987
13
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
ALBANY — Regional officers will be
elected in each of CSEA’s six regions in
an election process that begins in early
March and ends in late June.
Under the union’s open election
procedures, any member in good standing
can have his or her name placed on a
ballot by obtaining a minimum of 500
CSEA member signatures on an official
petition form.
The union’s statewide Election
Committee will oversee the balloting.
CSEA’s Board of Directors recently
Regional, Board elections set
Regional officers
adopted the following election schedule:
March 2 — Nominations open. Petitions
available from CSEA regional offices and
CSEA Headquarters.
April 7 — Final day for nominating
petitions to be received at CSEA
Headquarters. Deadline is 5 p.m.
April 30 — Drawing for ballot position.
May 4 — Names, photos and candidate
statements printed in The Public Sector.
May 15 — Official ballots mailed.
May 22 — Replacement ballots
available.
[1] LONG ISLAND
[2] METROPOLITAN
[3] SOUTHERN
[4] CAPITAL
[5] CENTRAL
(6] WESTERN
Special election to fill
Four vacant
Board seats
ALBANY — A special election to fill
vacancies on CSEA’s statewide Board of
Directors will begin on March 2.
Listed below are the open seats, as well as
the number of member signatures required to
qualify as a candidate:
STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Number of Signatures
Board Seat Required.
Mental Hygiene 450
(Region I)
Executive Department 450
LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
Dutchess County 135
Herkimer County 32,
Under the union’s open election procedures,
any qualified member in good standing can
have his or her name placed on a ballot by
obtaining the required number of CSEA
member signatures on an official petition
form.
In the State Division, a candidate needs
petitions signed by not less than 10 percent of
eligible voters in the agency or department he
or she wishes to represent. Not more than 450
signatures are required.
In the Local Government Division, a
candidate needs petitions signed by not less
than 10 percent of eligible voters in the Local
her or she wishes to represent. Not more than
450 signatures are required.
The union’s statewide Election Committee
will oversee the balloting which will be
conducted by the Independent Election
Corporation of America, Lake Success, N.Y
CSEA’s Board of Directors has adopted the
following election schedule:
June 10 — Ballots must be returned by
noon. Ballot count begins. Results an-
nounced when final. Protest period ends
ten days after official results announced.
In order to be eligible, a candidate must
have been a member in good standing of
CSEA since June 1, 1986 and continuously
paid membership dues since then. In
addition, he or she cannot be a member of
a competing labor organization and must
not be prohibited from holding office
under a penalty imposed by the CSEA
statewide Judicial Board.
March 2 — Nominations open. Petitions
available from CSEA regional offices and
CSEA Headquarters. i
April 7 — Final day for nominating petitions
to be received at CSEA Headquarters.
Deadline is 5p.m.
May 4 — Names, photos and candidate
statements printed in The Public Sector.
May 15 — Official ballots mailed.
May 22 — Replacement ballots available.
June 10 — Ballots must be returned by noon.
Ballot count begins. Results announced when
final. Protest period ends ten days after official
results announced.
In order to be eligible, a candidate must
have been a member in good standing of CSEA
since June 1, 1986 and continuously paid
membership dues since then. In addition, he or
she cannot be a member of a competing labor
organization and must not be prohibited from
holding office under a penalty imposed by the
CSEA statewide Judicial Board
February 8, 1987
14
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
LET'S HOPE
THE YOLK’S
NOT on us!
What are your feelings about the
importance of Black History Month?
Where asked: Region II
DAISY KENNEDY
Brooklyn
Developmental Center
Local 447
children today have the
opportunity to study
about the history of
black people,
especially Martin
Luther King and
Harriet Tubman, even
though I didn’t have
this kind of teaching
when I was in school.”
“T feel glad that my
a
THOMAS WATSON
Kingsboro Psychiatric
Center Local 402
“T believe there should
be more emphasis on
black history,
especially to the
younger generation.”
¢ |
JULIA STANLEY
Institute for Basic
Research
Local 438
“Black History Month
gives everyone,
including myself, an
opportunity to
understand the
problems that black
people have had. I do
hope that we could all
join together and erase
these problems to a
greater extent.”
February 8, 1987
THE PUBLIC SECTOR 1 5
REGION V — Joe McMullen, right, president of CSEA Local 635, SUNY at
Lorraine Opramolla with her scholarship. Looking on are her
“e Opramolla. Lorraine attends Webb Institute of Naval
a member of Local 635, is a senior stenographer at
parents, Robert and Joy
Architecture. Her mothe
SUNY Oneonta
McDonough
Scholars
Six sons and daughters of CSEA members have been announced as
winners of Thomas McDonough Memorial Scholarships for Continuing
Studies from CSEA for the 1986-87 college school year.
The awards are named in memory of the late Thomas McDonough, a
long-time union activist who served as statewide executive vice
president of CSEA. The one-time grants are designed to aid upperclass
college students complete their college studies.
The McDonough scholarship winners, one from each of CSEA's six
regions, are all previous winners of Irving Flaumenbaum Memorial
Scholarships awarded by CSEA to deserving high school graduates
entering their freshman year of college. One of the six, Dawn Marie
Albano, is also a previous winner of a McDonough scholarship as well.
Following is a brief profile of the McDonough scholarship winners
for 1986-87.
REGION II — Andre Walker, center, is congratulated by Region II President
George Boncoraglio and Lamonte Wade, Region IT member of the statewide
CSBEA scholarship committee. Waller, who attends Pennsylvania State
University, is the son of Marlene Walker, a mental hygiene therapy aide and
member of CSEA Local 447, Brooklyn Developmental Center.
REGION I — Region I President Danny Donohue, left, and Helen Noonan, right,
look on as Kathleen G. Noonan receives h holarship from Dorothy Goetz
Long Island Scholarship Committee Chairperson. Mrs. Noonan is a stenographer
at Kings Park Psychiatric Center. Her daughter is studying political science at
Barnard College.
REGION IV
REGION VI — Cort Anastasio, above, of
Corning, attends Brown University in
Providence, R.I. His mother is a clerk in the
Corning-Painted Post School District and is
member of the
University of Miami
Brian Mormile, third
Thomas McDonough. Looking on are from left: Region IV President C. Allen Mead; Brian's mother,
Kathryn Mormile, a health aide and a member of Montgome:
holarship committee; and William Zippiere, Local 829 p!
rom left, accepts his scholarship from Pauline McDonough, widow of
al 829; Bill Fetterling, a
y County Lo
dent. Mormile attends the
a member of Steuben County Local 851
b
REGION III — Dawn Marie Albano, third from left,
accepts her scholarship from Westchester County
Local 860 President Janice McGuiness. To her left
are Region III Field Representative Glenn Blackman
and Region III President Pat Mascioli. Her father,
Richard Albano, right, works for the Town of
tchester. Dawn attends Hofstra University
16
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Vs
February 8, 1987
Watch on Washington
Reagan budget counts o
uncertain economic hope
President Reagan has apparently met the requirements of the
Gramm-Rudman law in preparing his budget for Fiscal Year 1988
(FY 88), but at issue is how he did it.
While the budget technically meets the Gramm-Rudman
deficit goal of $108 billion for FY ’88, it does so by relying on
questionable economic assumptions and by continuing the
Administration’s policies of big defense increases, big domestic
spending cuts and no significant tax increases.
The domestic budget would be cut an actual $18.7 billion in FY
88 through terminations and reductions in programs assisting
primarily the poor and middle class. Of this arnount, one-third
would come from low-income programs which constitute only one-
ninth of the federal budget. Virtually, all non-defense spending
would be cut below the amount needed to maintain their current
level of services, which would be $36 billion more than proposed.
The biggest cuts would come in Medicare, other health
programs, post-secondary aid and loans to low- and moderate-
income students, low-income housing and mass transit, including
operating subsidies. Vocational education, WIN, housing for the
handicapped, and state and local drug enforcement grants would
be eliminated. Major cuts are proposed in Medicaid, Aid to
Families with Dependent Children and Food Stamp
administration, public housing subsidies, and employment
services. Moderate-income students would be cut out of the school
lunch program and VA and FHA mortgages would be more costly
to obtain.
The defense budget in contrast would rise by $22 billion,
pushing it to $168 billion over the FY ’80 level. This would mean a
117% increase in defense dollars over the six-year period. When
inflation is taken into account, the annual real growth since 1980
would be 5.2%, well above the 3% post-inflation growth target of
the NATO countries.
The emphasis in the President’s defense budget is on weapons
development at the expense of military readiness. No major
weapons systems would be cancelled, and research and
development (on such items as Star Wars, which would get a 66%
increase from $3.6 billion to $5.2 billion) is the biggest growth
area, thereby forecasting continued future escalation of defense
costs. Should the President’s pending plans for the rest of the
1980s be accepted, the nation would have devoted $2.8 trillion for
defense, the highest decade of defense spending in peacetime
American history.
As revenue raisers, the President proposes to improve tax
collections, bring all state and local government employees under
Medicare, sell off major federal assets such as AMTRAK and the
petroleum oil reserves, and levy user fees, some of which really
are program cuts such as increased Medicare premiums. The
asset sales would bring in revenue for only one year and would
actually cost the government lost revenue in future years.
Most political observers in Washington have characterized the
President’s budget plan as ‘“‘dead-on-arrival” because of its
substantive flaws and its political unpopularity. The budget
assumes a healthier economy generating more federal revenues
than do most economists, and it depends heavily on the Congress
approving spending cuts that it has consistently rejected.
In addition, President Reagan’s budget goes against an
emerging trend in American public opinion that leans toward a
more activist role for governments. This view was reflected in a
recent survey by the Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental
HOW YOUR TAX DOLLARS ARE SPENT
This year, the average household in the United States will pay $5,767 in federal taxes."
$3,103 will go for
$126 will go for
military spending.
education.
$138 will go for
food and nutrition.
$115 will go for housing.
“(excludas additional taxes paid to trust funds, such as Social Security)
Sources: U.S, Budget Documents, Office of Management and Budget.
Relations (ACIR), a quasi-independent government commission,
presently dominated by Republican appointees. The survey is the
15th annual public opinion study done by the ACIR, and it shows a
slow but steady decline in those favoring cutbacks in government
services and taxes since 1979.
An overwhelming majority in the poll favor cutbacks in
defense over Social Security and Medicare as a way to cut the
federal deficit. A solid majority opposes cuts in federal aid for
highways, local public schools, low-income programs, nursing
home care, sewage treatment and community development,
precisely the areas hit hardest by the Reagan budget.
Even so, President Reagan’s budget cannot be disregarded
entirely because Congressional Democrats will be concerned that
they not be perceived as big spenders and taxers or soft on
defense. And in that political dynamic the President’s budget
becomes the political standard against which other ideas are
measured.
( CETA alert: Deadline near on retirement credit buy back >
ALBANY — If you’re a former Compre-
e hensive Employment and Training Act
(CETA) worker now in regular public em-
ployment, you still have until March 31st to
apply for retirement system credit for your
CETA service.
To be eligible, you must have transitioned
into your regular public employment direct-
ly from your CETA position. You must also
have completed at least five years of public
employment with standing in the NYS
Retirement System. If you complete the five
years of public employment after the March
51 deadline, you have up to one year after the
\_ time of the completion to file for the credit.
The cost of the additional contribution to
the retirement system will be borne by the
employer you worked for as a CETA worker,
except for the amount you would normally
pay into the system for the time of service.
The credit buyback does not affect your
retirement tier standing.
The reopened ‘‘window of opportunity’’ to
apply for service credits is the direct result
of a CSEA-backed bill passed during last
year’s legislative session. It was needed be-
cause the rigid terms of the previous require-
ments shut out many former CETA workers
who through no negligence of their own failed
to make the appropriate application.
To take advantage of the service credit
buyback, you must send a letter to the New
York State Comptroller specifically stating
that you wish to buy back CETA service
credit for retirement purposes. You must in-
clude your name, address, social security
number, retirement registration number, the
date of your CETA employment, and the
name and address of your CETA employer.
Send it to:
NYS Employees Retirement System
ATTN: Arrears Unit (14th floor)
Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
© SL
February 8, 1987
Albany, New York 12244 1)
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Auto insurance
rates now just
phone call away
A new telephone service which will enable CSEA members
to obtain auto insurance rates with a single phone call will go
into effect Feb. 11. as —
When a member
dials a toll-free
number
(1-800-833-6220, ask
for Operator 40),
they will be in direct
contact with an
insurance counselor
from Jardine Emett
& Chandler Inc.
Members will be
asked to provide
information such as
make, model and
year of car, and the
individual’s data will
be entered into a
computer within the
hour.
Once the
information is given
over the phone, an
insurance quote and
computer printout
will arrive in the mail at the member’s home within 48 hours.
The program was conducted briefly on an experimental
basis in 1985, and as of Feb. 11 will become a permanent
service offered exclusively to CSEA members.
Members may call the toll-free number (1-800-833-6220, ask
for Operator 40) between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through
Friday.
Avepokespereon from Jardine Emett & Chandler Inc. said
the telemarketing department is exploring expanding the
service to other insurance areas for the benefit of CSEA
members.
(1-800-833-6220)
NEW YORK STATE ANNOUNCES
OPPOWTUNITIES IN GOVERNMENT oe
$21,070"
FORESTER
NEW YORK STATE ANNOUNCES
OPPORTUSITIES 1 GovEUNMEST
Open Competitive Examinations
c |
APPLICATIONS DEADLINE FEBRUARY 16, 1987
Beginning
Title Salary
ir Pollution Meteorologist I $21,070
Air Pollution Meteorologist I 26,354
Air Pollution Meteorologist [11 32,515
APPLICATIONS DEADLINE FEBRUARY 17, 1987
26-763 Building Maintenance Supervisor I 19,845
26-764 Building Maintenance Supervisor I 5
26-587 Habilitation Specialist I
26-753 Superintendent of Construction,
st. 22,289
26-154 Superintendent of Construction,
Senior 27,806 @
28-861 Medical Laboratory Technician I 16,070
28-879 Youth Division Management
Specialist 1 26,354
APPLICATIONS DEADLINE FEBRUARY 23, 1987
26-155 Building Construction Engineer,
Asst. 29,256
26-756 Building Construction Engineer,
Senior 36,111
26-589 Developmental Speciali 21,070
26-590 Developmental Specialis 24,916
26-591 Developmental Specialist IT 27,806
26-765 Facilities Management Assistant 21,070
26-628 Maintenance Supervisor 1 22,289
26-629 Maintenance Supervisor ITT 24,916
26-630 Maintenance Supervisor IV 27,806
26-651 Photographer 1 15,709
26-652 Photographer I 18,636 «
28-885, Teaching Assistant 15,842
APPLICATION FORMS—You may obtain application forms by mail or in person at
the following offices of the State Department of Civil Services:
ALBANY—W. Averell Harriman NYS Office Building Campus 12239.
BUFFALO—Room 303, 65 Court Street 14202.
NEW YORK—55th Floor, 2 World Trade Center 10047, or 6th Floor, Adam
Clayton Powell State Office Building, 163 West 125th Street, 10027.
LOCAL OFFICES, NYS Employment Service (no mail requests). When you
request an application, specify the examination number and title. Mail completed
application to: NYS Department of Civil Service, W. Averell Harriman NYS Office
Ne eog Campus, Albany, N.Y. 12239.
CSEA lawsuit upheld in Supreme Court e
Financial disclosure is
thrown out in Syracuse
SYRACUSE — A state Supreme Court
justice has thrown out a financial disclosure about 100 city employees, cabinet members
policy which would have affected many
institute the policy. It would have required
and members of some boards and their
4 Syracuse City employees. CSEA had brought ‘spouses to disclose their assets,
. . . Statements are
hard on employees...
I found the disclosure
of political affiliations
COREA oe publicity. iy
CSEA filed the lawsuit last May shortly
after the mayor announced plans to
the lawsuit, which challenged the legality of indebtedness, sources of income and e
a financial disclosure policy initiated by
Syracuse Mayor Thomas Young.
Supreme Court Justice Thomas Murphy
has ruled that Young did not have the
authority to issue such a policy without the
€ x approval of the Syracuse Council. Justice
particularly offensive.J Murphy also declared the policy illegal
because it failed to provide sufficient
confidentiality and protection against
political affiliations. About half the
employees affected are CSEA members.
Attorney Michael Smith of CSEA’s
lawfirm of Roemer and Featherstonhaugh
said, ‘‘I found the disclosure of political
affiliations particularly offensive. Disclosure
statements are hard on employees and
generally do not expose corruption.”
CSEA has also filed an Improper Practice
charge against the city with the Public
Employment Relations Board (PERB) over
the matter.
1 8 THE PUBLIC SECTOR
February 8, 1987
hat’s life ;
Variations of the following free verse poem have
appeared in many union publications. It was read
into the minutes of the January CSEA Board of
e Disetors meeting by statewide Secretary Irene
‘arr.
LIVES OF UNION OFFICIALS
If they talk on a subject, they are trying to run
things. If they are silent, they have lost interest
in the organization. If they are seen at the office,
why don’t they get out. If they can’t be found,
why don’t they come around more often. If they
do not agree that the boss is a skunk, they are
company people. If they call the boss a skunk,
they are ignorant. If they are not at home at
night, they must be out drinking. If they are at
home, they are shirking their duty. If they don’t
beat their chest and yell strike, they are
conservative. If they do, they are radicals. If
they don’t stop to talk, their job has gone to their
heads. If they do, that’s all they have to do
anyway. If they can’t put a member to work who
got into trouble, they are a poor agent. If they do,
that is what they are paid for. If they should give
someone a short answer, we’ll get them in the
next election. If they try to explain something,
they are playing politics. If they get a good
contract, why didn’t they ask for more. If their
suit is pressed, they think they’re big shots. If it
isn’t, they are unfit for job. If they take a
vacation, they have had one all year anyway. If
they are on the job a short time, they are
inexperienced. If they have been on it a long
@ time, there should be a change.
— author unknown
eae ee: ae : ee =)
mpire Plan claims
Major Medical claim forms may be
@| obtained from state agency
personnel/business offices or from the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Be
certain your doctor or other provider fills
in all the information asked for on the
claim form, and be sure to sign the form.
If the form is not filled in by the J haat
all bills submitted must include
information asked for. pare
Questions concerning claims
directed to Metropolitan at the following
toll-free eae eed numbers:
ithin NYS: 1-800-942-4640
A oe Outside eo: seine mS,
HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR — Dorothy Haden, a CSEA shop steward for Local
432 at Westchester Developmental Center, was named winner of the 1987 Martin
Luther King Humanitarian Award during ceremonies held recently in Tarrytown. A
beaming Haden accepts the award from Andrew Farley, left, vice chairman of the
Human Relations Committee and a member of Local 432. Others present for the
ceremony included her daughter, Cecelia Hall; her son, Stuart; her husband, Lloyd,
and CSEA Local 432 Vice President Richard Colson. Haden, a therapy aide who works
at Adams House, a community residence in White Plains, was cited for her community
involvement and union activities.
A GOOD IDEA — Kay Perfetti, center, a member of Department of Law CSEA Local
672, holds a check for $260 and a certificate of merit in recognition of an award-
winning suggestion she submitted. Senior Attorney Frank Tedeschi presents the check
and Local 672 official Elisa Bursor delivers the certificate. Perfetti suggested changing
a “satisfaction of judgment” from a two-sided document to one side which makes it
usable on display writer equipment.
Davis, Per Pesci: remembered
We regret to announce that three well-
known former CSEA activists died
recently.
NELLIE DAVIS, past president of
CSEA’s Hudson River Psychiatric Center
Local and a founder of CSEA’s retirees
organization, died last month in
Poughkeepsie. She joined CSEA in 1929
and retired in 1972.
ELEANOR 8S. PERCY, who was
president of CSEA’s Jefferson County
Local from 1968 to 1977 and who held many
union offices, died recently in Albany.
VICTOR V. PESCI, a CSEA activist in
the 1960s and ‘70s until named deputy
superintendent of banks for the state
Banking Department, died in late January
in Hackensack, N.J.
es ana Re AL a OM AU SN eS a GPS Sa,
February 8, 1987
THE PUBLIC SECTOR 1 y
Oswego City School Unit
fights district’s delays |
By Charles McGeary _ Board of Education meeting, and, Kane increases of 9.75 percent, 9.25 percent and
CSEA Communications Associate said, if the board does not ratify the 8.75 percent in each of three years.
contract quickly, the union will file an unfair Kane also charged that the school district
N 9 labor practice charge against the school is ‘‘attempting union busting” because some
e Tre district with the Public Employment clerical employees have been approached —
holding 330 Relations Board (PERB). and told to form a separate bargaining unit.
employees hostage because of the The contract, which covers bus drivers, In addition, the district has granted some
arbitrator’s decision!” mechanics, food service workers, custodial raises to ‘“‘a couple” of people who are
And that, according to CSEA Collective staff and clerical personnel, calls for pay covered by the CSEA contract, he said.
Bargaining Specialist Roger Kane, is why
CSEA plans to file an unfair labor practice
against the Oswego Board of Education.
Kane says the board has refused to ratify
a contract that was agreed upon well over a
month ago. The agreement covers the
approximately 330 non-instructional
employees represented by CSEA in the
Oswego City School District,
He charged the district is holding up the
contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 1986,
because the district lost an arbitration
ruling to the union over the hiring of a
maintenance worker.
“They lost the arbitration and now they
want to reopen negotiations,’ Kane said.
School officials have publicly agreed that
the arbitration ruling is why they are
balking at ratifying the contract. CSEA
disagrees with the district claims that the
ruling changed the terms of the contract
regarding promotions and the union refuses
to renegotiate that provision.
The arbitration concerned the hiring of a
maintenance worker in March 1985. Four
district employees applied for the $14,000-a-
ear job, but i iven ae
eA ob a ht oer See es. BR-R-R, IT’S COLD on the informational picket line in Oswego. Protesting in the cold are, from left,
hed P My Oswego City Schools Unit President Bob Marino, Oswego County Local 838 President Linda Crisafulli
‘ pa shay! Fae
Minton charees, is a “friend of a board and Region V President Jim Moore. The demonstration by 100 school district employees at a Board of
Peete ‘ Education meeting protested the district’s failure to ratify a contract after both sides had reached a ten-
Union members picketed the the latest tative agreement,
“They’re holding 330 employees hostage ... ”
Collective Bargaining Specialist Roger Kane.
BRAVING WINTRY ELEMENTS, left, three
school district employees among scures cf
marchers protest the Oswego Board of
Education’s failure to ratify a tentative contract
agreement. e
20 February 8, 1987
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
