The Public Sector, 1986 March 10

ats Publication of The Civil Service S| Association Local'1000, Rea Vol. 9, No. 5
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees AFL-CIO. <= Monday, March 10, 1986

CAUTION!

PUadBLIC EMPLOYMENT

MAY BE DANGEROGUS
TO YOUR HEALTH

See pages 2, 3, 7, 13, 20

ago. SEE PAGE 20.
Xe

DIVISION OF HUMAN RIGHTS MEMBER CLAIMS

Workplace hurt health,
forced early retirement

By Sheryl Carlin
CSEA Communications Associate

HEMPSTEAD — When the Division of Hu-
man Rights moved to an office in the Hemp-
stead Bus Terminal Building last Nov. 1,
“The office was incomplete and there was
water leaking from the ceiling onto the rug
and the surrounding floor,”’ claims Frances
Dloughy. :

That, says Dloughy, was the start of what
she said were constant problems with the
new location, problems which Dloughy says
damaged her health and led her to decide to
retire early, less than a year short of her
tenth year with the Division of Human
Rights.

Dloughy was the only CSEA member in an
office otherwise staffed primarily by PEF
members. She did not notify CSEA of her
problems at the new location until after she
decided to retire early. Still, CSEA Field
Representative Nick Pollicino, State Em-
ployees Local 016 President Tom Byrne, and
CSEA Occupational Safety and Health
Specialist Ken Brotherton investigated the
problems. ‘‘We heard nothing of the
problems until she had already decided to re-
sign,” notes Pollicino. ‘‘So, although we may
not be able to help her, we will do whatever
we can to prevent these problems from af-
fecting other members who may be moved
into the building.”

Brotherton said that because most of the
employees in the office belong to PEF, that
union had already submitted a complaint to
the Division of Safety and Health, state
Department of Labor.

Dloughy’s supervisor, Mary L. Lloyd, her-
self a PEF member, said, “‘It’’s a terrible sit-
uation here. I’ve called PEF, OSHA and
OGS. I’ve written letters to anyone I thought
could help but we still have the same
problems we’ve been having since the first

FRANCES DLOUGHY, second from right, talks with CSEA Field Rep Nick Pollicino, left,

and State Employees CSEA Local 016 President Tom Byrne, right, about workplace
problems that caused her to choose early retirement due to health problems.

day. At one point, a deputy came to inves-
tigate the claims and I was copied on a memo
to the landlord citing the many violations, but
still nothing has been done to alleviate the
problems,” she claimed.

Dloughy said she was driven to early
retirement for health reasons because the
rug began to smell moldy, and that in addi-

tion to the leaks, there were paint fumes, ex-
haust fumes, and lack of heat in the office on
many occasions. One one occasion, Dloughy
said, the office was entirely without heat
while it was 9 degrees outside, and the em-
ployees were told to go home that day. Lloyd
noted that recently the ventilation was
turned off, causing an employee to faint.

SMITHTOWN — When the fire and building
inspectors in the town of Smithtown put their
best foot forward now, it will be protected by
a safety shoe, thanks to the efforts of CSEA.

CSEA Occupational Safety and Health
Specialist Ken Brotherton pushed for the safe-
ty shoes for the 12 inspectors, and recently con-
vinced the town to approve the issuance of the

CSEA obtains safety
shoe protection for

° e : A oe
Smithtown inspectors CSEA Unit President William Maccaro, safety equipment. e
CSEA Field Representative John Cuneo, and
The Public Sector (445010) is published every other
Communication Associates Monday by The Civil Service Employees Association,
a — 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210.
HERYL CARLIN ----------- Region |
(516) 273-2280 Publication Office: 143 Washington Avenue, Albany,
STEVE MADARASZ Region I New York, 12210. Second Class Postage paid at
Official publication of The Civil Service (212) 514-9200 Post Office, Albany, New York.
Employees Association Local 1000, AFSCME, ANITA MANLEY Region Iil
AFL-CIO 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, (914) 896-8180 ®
New York 12210 serteteneese
DAN CAMPBELL Hey We ea Address changes should be sent to: Civil Service Em-
(518) ployees Association, The Public Sector, P.O. Box
CHUCK McGEARY -- Region V 7125. Capitol Station, Albany, New York 12224
AARON SHEPARD-- ON GETORN PLEAS GS 50. st nur
ROGER A. COLE enreere aRIROAY , ‘
BRIAN K. BAKER --- (716) 634-3540
@

2

THE PUBLIC SECTOR March 10, 1986

Testimony before joint hearing of

Senate and Assembly Labor Committees
Re: PESH Act /Department of Labor
Albany, N.Y. February 19, 1986

ASSEMBLYMAN FRANK J. BARBARO

Chairman Assembly

Labor Committee

SENATOR JAMES J. LACK
Chairman Senate Labor Committee

‘CSEA’s DIAGNOSIS:
Health and safety program

is sick and incapacitated

By Roger A. Cole
Editor

A 5-year-old program designed to
protect public employees is in ill-health
itself and unable to do its job properly.

The Public Employee Safety and Health
Act (PESHA) is in need of a transfusion
of funds and personnel, CSEA and other
union representatives told a joint hearing
of the Senate and Assembly Labor
Committees in late February. Meanwhile,
they said, public employees throughout
New York state continue to report to jobs
that are unsafe, unhealthy and sometimes
deadly.

Attorney John Mineaux of CSEA’s law
firm of Roemer and Featherstonhaugh
presented testimony citing the apparent
inability of the state Department of Labor
(DOL) to effectively enforce the law
designed to provide safe and healthy
workplaces for New York’s one million
public employees. Much of the problem,
Mineaux testified, can be traced to
serious budgetary constraints and severe
personnel shortages in DOL.

And discussion also centered around the
need for a change in the state’s Labor
Law and Taylor Law to allow workers to
protect themselves by refusing to perform
dangerous or unhealthy work. ‘‘We ought
to look into this question of when an
employer tells a worker to go do this work!

and die,” Assembly Labor Committee
Chairman Frank Barbaro said.
Assemblyman Ronald Tocci suggested the
idea of allowing public employees to walk
out after notifying officials that a job is
dangerous and offering to do other work
instead.

Mineaux told the legislators, ‘“CSEA
ardently urges you to ...supplement the
DOL budget with funding sufficient to
implement a departmental program whic
will...establish a safe work environment

(Continued on Page 7)

ABOVE—CSEA Director of Oc-
cupational Safety and Health
James Corcoran, left, and CSEA
Attorney John Mineaux go over
CSEA’s testimony for joint legis-
lative hearing.

LEFT—Attorney Mineaux, left,
presents copies of CSEA’s tes-
timony on health and safety is-
sues to Assemblyman Frank J.
Barbaro, center, and Senator
James J. Lack. Barbaro and
Lack are chairmen of the Assem-
bly and Senate Labor Commit-
tees, respectively.

PESHA failed in SUNY asbestos case

Understaffing

ata critical
level at DOL

March 10, 1986

The state Department of Labor is so
understaffed there are no hygienists
available for emergency situations and
the department is ‘incapable of
responding to employee complaints with
timely inspections and citations.”

for all of Long Island and its more than
one million residents from a single office
in Hempstead, and until recently ‘that
office was staffed by only one industrial
hygienist.’’ And, he told the legislators,
“the DOL’s White Plains Office was

CSEA Attorney John Mineaux presented forced to close due to the departmental
testimony to a joint hearing of the Senate budget’ and ‘“‘any complaints made in

and Assembly Labor Committees that
DOL covers health and safety concerns

(Continued on Page 7)

3

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

The case
against

contracting-out

AFSCME International President Ger-
ald W. McEntee speaks out against
contracting-out in this edited version of
his recent report. “The Case Against
Privatization.”

Reprinted from ‘The Privatization Review,’ Fall,

1985.
A as the panacea for budget problems
overwhelming evidence shows that
contracting-out state and local government
service to private companies is not the easy
answer for today’s tough fiscal situations.

The American Federation of State, County,
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has studied
the issue of contracting-out for many years. The
on-the-job experience of the 1.4 million public
employees represented by AFSCME across the
country has clearly shown that using private
firms to deliver public services has serious
shortcomings

The Pendulum of History

Historically, American government has
provided many public services directly, but there
has always been some degree of contracting-
out, particularly at the federal level. In the early
years of this century, cities and towns around
the country turned to private companies to run
local streetcar systems, to collect garbage, to
provide fire protection and to perform other
basic public services, often because their
communities lacked the needed public
resources

But there were problems: contractors
frequently overcharged municipalities; under-the-
table payoffs by contractors were common;
contractor-provided services were notorious for
their poor quality. It was also the era of big-city
political bosses, and municipal contracts became
a favored way of lining pockets and rewarding
political cronies

“Because of gross abuses,” Ralph W. Widner,
staff vice president of the Urban Land Institute,
has noted, “the reform movement of the 1920's
tried to professionalize the delivery of quality
public services by making them part of the
municipal government.’ Prodded by reformers,
many municipalities decreased their dependence
on contractors and delivered more services
using the public work force.

Now, state and local governments have been
returning to the use of private contractors. In
1982, Widner noted, “The pendulum is
swinging back the other way. It will continue to
swing until there is another round of abuses and
scandals and then [will] swing back the other
way.”

Ithough privatization has been promoted

Problems with Contracting-Out

Experience with contracting-out at the state
and local levels has demonstrated severe
weaknesses in the practice of using private firms
to deliver public services.
@ Higher Costs

Rather than saving money for state and local
governments, contracting-out often results in
higher costs — especially when all the true
costs of contracting are actually considered
Private companies exist to make a profit; the
necessity of a profit drives up the costs, if not
immediately, then eventually.

awarded at an attractive rate becomes more and
more expensive, a common practice called
“buying in" or “lowballing.”’ In order to obtain
the contract and thus get a foot in the door, a
firm offers a very low price to perform a
particular service. As contract performance
continues, however, the city or state finds itself
dependent on the particular contractor to such
an extent that it cannot change contractors or
take back the service’
®@ Poorer Services

Contracting-out often results in poorer
services for citizens. Contractors, looking for
ways to reduce their costs and maximize their
profits, frequently “cut corners” by hiring
inexperienced, transient personnel at low
wages, by ignoring contract requirements, or by
providing inadequate supervision.
® Corrupt and Questionable Activities

The age-old problem of corruption in
contracting-out has not disappeared over time.
Contracting is all too often associated with
bribery, kickbacks, and collusive bidding. Also,
contracts have frequently become a tool of
political patronage — just as in the days of the
spoils system, when public jobs were doled out
to supporters of the winning candidates.

@ Lack of Public Control

Contracting-out results in less accountability
by the government to the citizens. When
citizens complain about a contracted service,
government can often do little more than
complain in turn to the contractor or enter into
costly contract renegotiations or termination
proceedings. At a time when many citizens feel
that government is too removed from the people
it serves, contracting-out pushes the level of
accountability and responsiveness one more
giant step away

In addition to the above problems, contracting-
out correctional facilities — the newest target in
the push for privatization — faces serious legal,
ethical and public policy questions.

For example, although a state may contract-
out the management and operation of its
correctional facilities, it remains questionable
whether it can relinquish the legal responsibility
for the incarceration of inmates. The fact that a
state or local government has a legal contract
with a private corporation that has liability
insurance to protect itself may not necessarily
protect a state or local government from such
liability. At the very least, it is sure to involve a

long and costly legal challenge, which most
state and local governments cannot afford

Recent Experiences
The following examples illustrate that
contracting-out has been a costly experience for
many governments.
® Arizona

In 1982, Arizona hired the McAuto Systems
Group, Inc. (MSGI) to administer the Arizona
Health Care Cost Containment System
(AHCCCS). From the beginning, AHCCCS was
plagued with cost overruns, charges of

corruption, and failures to deliver on contract
terms

@ New York

New York City’s Human Resources
Administration cancelled several contracts with
private vendors for printing and custodial
services. The City hired new employees to
perform the work and expects to save
$575,000 per year from the switch.

(Additional documented cases in which
contracting-out had disastrous results are
provided in an AFSCME publication entitled
Passing the Bucks: The Contracting Out of
Public Services. Copies are available through
AFSCME.)

Role of Responsible Government

With competent public management, there
would be no need even to consider contracting-
out in many of the instances in which it is now
used. Contracting-out is frequently used to mask
the inadequacies of public officials who can't
manage their own departments properly. Any
state or local government agency with skilled
managers should be able to effect the same
kinds of economies and efficiencies that good
private managers achieve — and without the
added problems that contracting-out brings.

If there is dissatisfaction with the performance
of a given in-house service, public managers
should not automatically assume that
contracting-out is the answer to the problem. At
a minimum, public officials must be willing to
explore the alternatives to contracting-out; that
is a basic management responsibility. Much can
be done in-house to improve the cost and
quality of the delivery of services

Responsible government requires improving
the quality of public management and public
services, not the selling off of government.

Frequently, a contract which was originally

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

March 10, 1986

He’s losing four hours of sick leave every pay period

A little luck and good health

keeps Andy McGuirk on the job
day after day after day after...

By Ron Wofford
CSEA Communications Associate

AMHERST — Every pay period tens of
thousands of state employees gain four
hours, or one-half day, of sick leave
accruals.

Andy McGuirk loses it.

McGuirk, a 26-year employee at SUNY
Buffalo, has 1,600 hours, or 200 days, of
sick leave accruals. And McGuirk figures,
in addition, he has ‘“‘given back’’ more
than 60 hours of sick leave hours to the
university since reaching the maximum
allowable limit of 200 days.

At the present accural rate of 13 sick
days a year, a state employee would have
to work more than 15 years, without using
any sick time off, to amass 1,600 hours of
leave.

But he’s not complaining. ‘I look at it
two ways,” McGuirk says. ‘First off, I
don’t abuse it. And secondly, I’ve been
very lucky to have been healthy over such
a long period of time. And I hope I
remain that way, so I won’t ever have a
need to use a large amount of it.”

McGuirk is a carpenter in the
university’s maintenance department
working in the Ellicott Complex of the
Amherst Campus.

ANDY McGUIRK is congratulated by SUNY CSEA Local 602 President Barbara Christy,
left, and Vice President Kathy Berchou.

CSEA Local 602 President Barbara McGuirk and his “obvious devotion to In addition to his admirable personal
Christy feels McGuirk’s positive work duty.” work ethics, McGuirk is also motivated by
record “typifies the majority of our “As a local president, one is often his admiration for the university itself,
members and SUNY Buffalo employees. subjected to negative comments about our Where he has worked since 1964, two _
I’m sure there are many more who have — members from a variety of years before it became a state university.
equally good records.” Christy said she sources,” observed Christy, ‘‘so it gives __ The purpose of a great university is
learned of his incredible number of me a great deal of pleasure to be able to _ Digger than any of us,” said MeGuir k. “T
accrued sick leave hours during a recent —_cite Andy as an employee who treats sick /0Pe it will go on indefinitely. And it’s a
informal conversation with McGuirk, leave as it is meant to be used—time to "eat place to work, because of my fine
which in turn prompted Christy to senda _be banked in case it is needed at some fellow employees. They’re good people,

deserving of more.”

letter to university officials to praise future time.”

RESPONDS

A MISTAKEN IMPRESSION — That, says
CSEA Metropolitan Region II President George
Boncoraglio, is what a recent NBC-TV editori-
al gave viewers when the station claimed pub-
lic employee unions are blocking reform of the
state’s mental health system. That editorial
called for immediate adoption of the recommen-
dations of the Governor’s Select Commission
report, which CSEA strongly opposes. So Bon-
coraglio, shown being wired with a mike, went
on the air with a response in opposition to the

" editorial. He said that no one knows better than

, CSEA members of the need for restructuring of
the mental health system, but said CSEA be-
lieves the Select Commission findings raise
more questions than they answer. Boncoraglio
concluded CSEA is “‘ready to help improve serv-
ices in institutions or in the community as long
as quality of care is the main concern.”

March 10, 1986 THE PUBLIC SECTOR 5

Federal budget cuts
would cost New York

McGowan: Plan will
‘Cripple’ the state

ALBANY—‘Dangerous domestic budget
surgery that could cripple New York,”’ is
how President Bill McGowan describes
upcoming budget cuts being proposed by
the Reagan Administration.

McGowan made the remark after
reviewing an analysis of the Reagan
budget which shows New York state
losing a whopping $1.7 billion in federal
funds.

Cutbacks will cost each state resident
approximately $9,700. The only state
where the impact costs residents even
more is Alaska.

“The Empire State has the dubious
distinction of being number two in overall
impact,’ McGowan adds. “I’m glad
Reagan didn’t try harder.”

The American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees released
the analysis. AFSCME President Gerry
McEntee says its findings reveal “a
crushing burden on the states, on the
middle class and the poor.”’

The president’s budget, in effect, shifts
the federal deficit onto the states and
local governments. (See impact analysis,
this page.) Ironically, the president’s
priorities are exactly the opposite of what
the people want.

A recent poll shows that only 22 percent
of the public wants military spending
increased. Yet Reagan proposes a 12
percent hike in the Pentagon budget.
Meanwhile, he wants to take $16 billion
away from state and local governments
and $5.4 billion from the needy and
elderly even though the same poll
indicates overwhelming support for
various people programs: 91 percent want
Medicaid protected or even expanded; 96
percent support Medicare; 79 percent
support student loans.

But given the reality of budget deficits,
are there any alternatives?

Says McGowan: ‘‘The president is
irresponsible by taking from the poor and
the middle class when he should be
focusing on the corporations and the
‘wealthy to pay their fair share.”

It is widely acknowledged that current

deficits stem from generous tax cuts for
corporations and the rich coupled with
monumental increases in defense
spending. Loopholes virtually exempt
many corporations and wealthy people
from paying taxes. Reagan says ‘‘no new
taxes,” but state and local governments
which are being dumped on will not have
that luxury. : :

4 The president is
taking from the poor
and the middle class. . .

...when he should be
making corporations
and the wealthy pay
their fair share. 9

f
Less for NYS

© $538 million LESS for the state’s
infrastructure and to promote economic
development. Cuts here mean less money
to build and maintain roadways, clean up
the environment, conserve energy and
subsidize busses and subways.

@ $450 million LESS in vital revenue
sharing funds for local governments.

@ $330 million LESS in health services
including a staggering $310 million LOSS
in Medicaid reimbursements.

$266 million LESS for human service
programs such as financial assistance to
poor families with children, special
projects for older Americans, food
stamps, housing for low income families
and services to the handicapped.

@ $63 million LESS in aid to education.

e $61 million LESS to feed the elderly,
pregnant women and children.

@ $24 million LESS for job training and
employment projects.

New Yorkers also LOSE another $473
million in programs that make direct
payments to individuals. Hurt most are
older Americans, retired workers,
disabled adults, the blind and students.
For example, $66 million will be slashed
for college loans.

6

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

March 10, 1986

CSEA is proposing legislation which would allow public
employees to legally refuse to perform work which they have
justifiable reasons to believe would be unhealthy or dangerous.

The proposed legislation would, in effect, authorize public
employees to refuse unsafe work assignments without penalties,
ae will require changes in the state’s Labor Law and Taylor

saw.

CSEA has been researching the concept for several weeks in
preparation for including the proposal in the union’s annual
package of legislation to be submitted to the state Legislature for
consideration.

A similar idea was discussed in testimony recently before a
joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly Labor Committees (see
page 3). The Public Employees Conference (PEC), of which
CSEA is the largest member, also annually submits proposed
legislation to state lawmakers, and it appears likely that both
CSEA and PEC will include a right to refuse unsafe work
proposal in their packages.

Safety and health issues
hot items on front burner

SUNY asbestos blizzard
points up PESHA flaws

severely hampered in its investigation of
the asbestos complaints since there are
only two hygienists working out of the
Syracuse office. Evidence of illegal
asbestos contamination has been already
destroyed and/or has mysteriously
disappeared due simply to the fact that

the department was unable to secure such
evidence for analysis. The department’s
investigation of the SUNY asbestos
situation has already dragged on for al-
most three months due to the lack of

CSEA calls
for right

to refuse
unsafe work

gienist originally on campus in response
to a complaint dealing with formaldehyde.
“First, due to the breadth of the
asbestos situation, the department has
been unable to further investigate the
formaldehyde situation. An investigation
of that issue was scheduled for ... almost
two months after the complaint was
initiated. In the interim, SUNY employees
and students have continued to work
under conditions which are alleged to be
violative and dangerous,”’ Mineaux

The Public Employee Safety and Health
Act (PESHA) failed to do its job, protect
public employees, during the current
severe asbestos contamination situation
uncovered by CSEA at the SUNY Oswego
campus.

That was part of the testimony CSEA
Attorney John Mineaux delivered to a
joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly
Labor Committees recently.

Mineaux noted that CSEA raised the

issue of asbestos contamination of campus
buildings to a Department of Labor hy-

testified.

“Second, the department has been

adequate personnel to conduct the
necessary investigation,’’Mineaux stated.

PESHA failing to protect public workers

(Continued from Page 3)

for the public employees of the state of
New York, which was the legislative
intention in the beginning.

“The existing department personnel are
simply unable to keep up with the
overwhelming number of violations which
they find during their too infrequent
inspections. Those inspections are
presently conducted on a complaint-only
basis; it is mind boggling to imagine the
backlog which would result from an
established programmatic inspection
schedule,’’ Mineaux stated.

Among those testifying was State Labor
Commissioner Lillian Roberts, who
blamed the situation partly on inadequate
federal funding to DOL and an inadequate
pay scale for state industrial hygienists
who investigate complaints and monitor
enforcement of citations.

“The pressure-filled conditions under
which the hygienists work are
exacerbated by the inadequate salaries
and benefits they receive,” agreed
Mineaux. “Hygienists leave state service
for more lucrative private industry and
federal positions and create a virtual

revolving door at the DOL,” the CSEA
attorney stated.

The result, Mineaux testified, is that
many employers fail to comply when they
are actually cited for safety violations but
DOL does not have the manpower
necessary to follow up on enforcement.
Charged Mineaux, ‘‘...since the inception
of the PESH Act, not once has the
Department of Labor sought judicial
enforcement of an order! There is simply
no personnel available to seek such
compliance on an ongoing basis.”

Understaffing at critical level at DOL

(Continued from Page 3)

Westchester, Putnam or Orange counties
by a CSEA member or safety specialist
must be investigated by a hygienist from
New York City,” with a resultant time lag
and absence of compliance.

CSEA’s Mineaux said it was a lack of
personnel and budgetary considerations
which caused DOL to allow three ménths
to pass last year from the time two
workers were overcome by toxic fumes in

March 10, 1986

a municipal pumping station in
Amsterdam and the issuance of an order
of violation. ‘‘In the interim, city
employees continued to work under the
same conditions which caused the
...accident,” he complained. And, charged
Mineaux, Amsterdam took no corrective
action even after being issued the citation
and nothing was done until CSEA
intervened five months later to force
corrective measures by the city.

CSEA cited numerous instances where
employers were actually cited for safety
violations but waited three or more years,
in some instances, to simply file
applications to extend the time to take
corrective measures. That, said the union
representatives, was possible because
DOL did not have adequate staff to follow
up on violation citations to see if any
action was taken, leaving employees to
work in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

7

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Teacher aides upgraded

More money for doing more in White Plains

By Anita Manley

WHITE PLAINS — It took three years — but it was worth the wait.

It was three years of scrutinizing job descriptions, committee
meetings and recommendations to convince officials in the White
Plains School District to upgrade 75 teacher aides.

Unit Vice President Del Dinkin says one of the toughest jobs she
had during the whole process was convincing all the teacher aides to
join in the effort for the upgrading. “‘Some of them were terrified. I had
to beg them,” she said.

What prompted the action? Dinkin explained that six months after
she came to work for the district, she realized that she was performing
duties that were not included in her job description.

“TI thought, ‘How could this be my job?’ ” she said. “ ‘I’m giving
tests to kids. I’m posting grades.’ ”

Dinkin discussed the situation with her CSEA field representative
and was advised to complete a form requesting her official job descrip-
tion from the state Board of Education. She encouraged a number of
her co-workers to do the same.

School district officials, meanwhile, suggested that a committee be
organized for the purpose of comparing the job descriptions and the ac-
tual duties of the workers.

But, it was a year and a half before any recommendations were
made and school district officials stalled. ‘‘We based our arguments
on the state Education Department’s job description for teacher assis-
tant, and they interpreted the law the way they wanted,” she said.

When the committee — which was made up of teacher aides,
teachers and building principals — finally made its recommendation to
upgrade 75 teacher aides, school district officials agreed to comply.

It was months before more progress was made and only through
contract negotiations that the employees were upgraded.

Collective Bargaining Specialist Joseph O’Connor says the re-
allocation complicated the negotiation process somewhat. ‘‘We went
into mediation, but we settled and I believe the teacher aides are get-
ting a competitive rate. Everybody gained by it.”

O’Connor explained that the teacher aides will receive teacher

a Based argument
on state Education
Department's job
description. ,)

DEL DINKIN

assistant pay for the time they are working at duties in the teacher
assistant job description. For the remaining time, they will receive the
rate for the teacher aide.

Field Representative Dolores Tocci said she was pleased with the
results of the three-year effort. “This is absolutely fantastic,” she said.
“Now that it’s happened in White Plains, we can push for a re-
allocation in other districts where they are utilizing teacher aides as
teacher assistants.”

White Plains School District Unit President John Catoe indicated
the re-allocation is a step in the right direction for teacher aides.

“Tt’s a starting point,” he remarked. “It’s not a cure-all, but it’s a
beginning.”

Dinkin credited the committee for its perseverance. Members are:
Jane Trabakino, Catoe, Alma Cormican (president of the Teacher’s As-
sociation), Susan Belkin, Peter McHugh, Bernie Casey, Barry Year-
wood, Bob Walton, Charles Farrell, Sandy Harris, Becky Kittredge,
Farol Finiani and Nellie Gaughran.

Children of CSEA members who will be graduating from
high school in 1986 and plan on attending college will be
eligible to apply for one of 18 $500 scholarships CSEA will
again be making available under the union’s Irving
Flaumenbaum Memorial Scholarship program.

Applications are available now and accepted until May
1, according to Brian Ruff, chairman of CSEA’s Special
Memorial Scholarships Committee. Three $500 scholarships
will be awarded to children of members in each of CSEA’s
six regions.

The Irving Flaumenbaum Memorial Scholarships have
been awarded annually for several years now, and are named
in memory of the former longtime president of CSEA’s Long
Island Region.

Information and application forms for the 1986 program
have been sent to CSEA local and unit presidents and
secretaries as well as each regional headquarters.
APPLICATIONS MAY BE OBTAINED BY CONTACTING
LOCAL OR UNIT PRESIDENTS.

Under the program, children whose parents or legal
guardians are represented by CSEA and who will be
graduating from high school in 1986:and attending college in
the fall are eligible to apply for the scholarships.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL MAY 1,
1986 AND WINNERS SELECTED SHORTLY
THEREAFTER. WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED BY MAIL.

a

e Scholarship applications for your college kid |

available now

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

March 10, 1986

WOME

WHY WOMEN’S HISTORY? ——

The study of women’s history is relatively new and
comparatively quiet. It is purposeful; the goal is nothing less
than constructive and expansive social change, change that

e must come with honest and thorough education. Through
knowing these true stories, we can recapture the inspiration of
earlier women, and become more optimistic about the power
we have over our lives today to affect change in our long and
varied journey for equal rights for women.

The multi-cultural study of women’s history means
reclaiming the contributions and impact of all groups of
women. Knowing how the lives of women before us were

n celebration of

spent, we gain the richness of our heritage and the inspiration
of this tradition of activism and accomplishment. Correspond-

@ “ingly, boys and men are able to expand their perceptions and
expectations of the real lives and work of women.

WHY CELEBRATE NATIONAL
WOMEN’S HISTORY WEEK? ——

National Women's History Week sets aside a special time
each March for schools, communities and workplaces to
recognize and celebrate the lives of countless women of all

e@ races, ages, cultures, ethnic traditions and ways of life.

Women are honored who have participated in history by living
out their lives, whether in ways grandly eloquent or steadfastly
ordinary, and by so doing have contributed to our shared
history.

National Women's History Week always includes
International Women’s Day, March 8, a day proclaimed at the
turn of this century to recognize the tremendous work of
women in the organized labor movement. This date was
chosen as a focal point for National Women's History Week
for three reasons: to stress the international connections
between and among all women; to emphasize a multi-cultural
approach to women’s history; and to celebrate women as
workers world-wide.

It is our shared commitment to National Women’s History
Week that will serve as a springboard for introducing a more
accurate picture of our history throughout the year.

Pages 10-12

e (

Whereas American women of every race, class and ethnic
background helped found the Nation in countless recorded and
unrecorded ways as servants, slaves, nurses, nuns, homemakers,
industrial workers, teachers, reformers, soldiers and pioneers;

Whereas American women have played and continue to play a
critical economic, cultural and social role in every sphere of our
Nation’s life by constituting a significant portion of the labor force
working in and outside of the home;

Whereas American women have played a unique role throughout
our history by providing the majority of the Nation’s volunteer labor
force and have been particularly important in the establishment of early
charitable, philanthropic and cultural institutions in the country;

Xe

CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION
Designating the week March 2-8, 1986 as “Women’s History Week”

Whereas American women of every race, class and ethnic
background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major
progressive social change movement, not only to secure their own right
of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist
movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor union
movement and the modern civil rights movement; and

Whereas despite these contributions, the role of American women
in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the
body of American history: Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the week beginning March 2-8, 1986, is designated as
"Women’s History Week", and the President is requested to issue a
proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such
week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

y

March 10, 1986

9

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

CO =

BARBARA CHARLES—
Above, Barbara Charles, a
PAL (political action liaison)
for PAC, speaks with
Assemblyman Michael
McNulty. Charles recently
received the Eugene V. Debs
Award for her ‘‘overall
contribution to the labor
movement.”’

in the labor

ALBANY—Two CSEA officers have been
recognized by labor organizations for their
outstanding contributions promoting women's
rights in the workplace

Barbara Charles, a grade 5 statistical clerk
and currently first vice president of Department

of Labor Local 670, recently received henots @

for the second year in a row for her
achievements in unionism. This year, she
received the Eugene V. Debs Award from a

national organization for her ‘overall contribution

to the labor movement.”
A resident of East Greenbush in Rensselaer
County, Charles has been in state service for

some 20 years. She says she is most proud of
her unflagging efforts to make Labor Local 670

an example of unionism at its best
Last year, Charles, who is particularly active

as chairwoman of the Solidarity Committee of @

the Capital District, received recognition by the
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) and

the New York State School of Industrial and La-

bor Relations (NYSSILR) at Cornell University.

his month, the CLUW/NYSSILR awards will go
a group of six trade union women, including
ue Waltz, first vice president of Motor Vehicle
fepartment Local 674.
Waltz is chairwoman of her local’s health and
ffety political action and insurance committees
id g member of the local’s grievance
mMittee. She is also a member of the
FSCME PEOPLE Committee, the Solidarity
committee and was mistress of ceremonies at
je 1985 Labor Day Parade in Albany
A member also of the NYS/CSEA Video
isplay Terminal Advisory Committee, Waltz
peared in 1983 on the Phil Donahue Show,
larticipating as a member of a panel on the use
if VDTs in the workplace.
Waltz will receive her award at a ceremony
larch 16 at the Albany Labor Temple. Other
‘om@) honored will be: Helen Hanrahan,
\CTWU; Josephine Sano, Albany Central Labor
‘ouncil; Arnita Branch, Local 721, SEIU; Nuala
icGann Drescher, UUP; and Angela De Vito,
EF.

novement!/ jaa

Women play a large and important role in
CSEA. They are in positions of leadership"

and statewide levels. Here’s a look at some of
the facts:

Women comprise more than half of
CSEA’s total membership of more than 200,000.

© Women serve as eens of nearly a
third of CSEA’s 330 locals.

© Women head several hundred of the
700-plus units within CSEA locals.

-__@ Women hold two of the four elected
Statewide officer positions—Secretary Irene Carr
and Treasurer Bar pPauser,

the state, on the unit, local, regional

re than a third (47) of
irectors.

Donahue Show.

SUE WALTZ—At left, Region
IV President C. Alan Mead
congratulates Sue Waltz after
annoucement of her award
from CLUWINYSSILR. Waltz,
a union expert on the issue of
VDTs in the workplace, three
years ago discussed the top-
ic as a guest on the Phil

The new CSEA “A Woman’s Place Is In Her Union’ buttons are I
now available. To obtain your button(s), complete the coupon |
below. Please limit your order of buttons to 10 or less.

To: Peg Wilson, Education and Training Department
Civil Service Employees Association

143 Washington Avenue,
Albany, N.Y. 12210

Name

Address

City and State

Number of buttons __

hoon,

LEONORA Q'REILLY

National Women’s Trade Union Leader

An early |
fighter for |
women

From the time she was a teenager, the fire
and passion of Leonora O’Reilly inspired
both workers and philanthropists. The labor
movement was the love of her life and the
struggle to organize women workers formed
the core of her finest work.

Her eloquence as a speaker grew out of
her own experience with poverty and child
labor. Her father, who died when she was an
infant, was active in the printers union. Her
widowed mother worked in a garment
factory, often taking the baby with her ina
little basket.

At age 11, Leonora went to work in a collar
factory. In 1886, at age 16, she joined the
Knights of Labor, a national labor
organization. That same year, she organized
a Working Women’s Society of wage earners
to arouse public concern about the
exploitation of women workers. It drew the
attention of liberal, middle class women who
later went on to found the New York
Consumers League which sought better
conditions for store workers.

Lifelong commitment
Leonora’s commitment to the labor
movement was ingrained, nutured by her
mother’s spirit and her father’s progressive
political and union friends. In turn, she
converted philanthropic women she met to
the cause of working women. A new

ation of middle class women had begun
us their attention on social change
ments. :
‘ing the next decade, she met some of
leenest minds among social reformers
shaped the role she would play during
ext 25 years: a link between women

rs and middle class allies, male and
lle unionists, suffragists and women
rs. Her perspective was always that of
en wage earner.
organized her own shop in 1897 and

ecngpra d other factory women to unionize
altijughthe union response to their efforts
wa#pften tepid. The craft unions of those

regarded women workers as poor
dates for unionism. Leonora went to
s, study groups, and classes. Her
hing mind and selfless dedication
ed middle class reformers and they
iced the completion of her formal
tion.

s © Founder of WTUL
L@)nora became involved in the new
set##ment house movement both as resident
and@vorker. Reformers would move into the
poogineighborhoods and establish a
resfential base for educating the working

It was there she met Margaret and
Dreier and brought them into the
n’s Trade Union League (WTUL). Both

1 0 THE PUBLIC SECTOR

women became top leaders and major
“allies” in that extraordinary alliance of
wage-earning and leisure-class women.
O’Reilly was a founder of the League in 1903.
The WTUL emerged during the turbulent
decade before World War I when the
extremes of wealth and poverty, the misery
of workers and the growth of monopoly
sparked the growth of progressive forces.
The League’s purpose was to improve the
dreadful conditions of women workers,
primarily through unionization. They tried to
convince the labor movement that women
could be organized and that this goal should
be given a greater priority. !
The WTUL played a key supporting role in
the 1909 ‘‘Uprising of 20,000” New York
garment workers. When Mary Dreier was
arrested on the picket line, that event
awakened the public to the strike. A huge
WTUL rally at the Hippodrome in New York
brought more publicity and funds. Leonora
wept as she told the story of the strikers. “I
am here by the right of three generations of
shirtmakers,” she proclaimed.

Rallies
During these years, O’Reilly met with
women workers in New York, Bridgeport,
Philadelphia, Kalamazoo, and Rochester.
She spoke at street corners, at factory gates,
and at rallies.

An ardent suffragist, she saw the right of
women to vote as a tool to bettering the lives
of working women. ‘Behind suffrage is the
demand for equal pay for equal work,”
O’Reilly argued.

The New York Wage Earners Suffrage
League, headed by O’Reilly, provided
working women with their own organization
to fight for suffrage. In 1912, when the
League was founded, Leonora devoted most
of her time to suffrage agitation. It was
WTUL women, both wage earners and allies,
who were able to appeal to working men to
vote “yes” on suffrage referendums.

Another cause

Leonora was a fierce supporter of Irish
independence and an activist in that cause.
World War I was painful to O’Reilly who.saw
it simply as a war in which workers killed
workers.

Her body could not keep up with her
political passions and the last decade of her
life had to be limited because of a chronic
heart condition as well as the mental
deterioration of her beloved mother.

After Leonora’s death in 1927, a long-time
friend wrote of her service to humanity
which she achieved ‘‘through the divine fire,
the infinite tenderness and compassion of her
own spiritual life.”

THE PUBLIC SECTOR 1 1

)
ye
me

Films for Wome

For information about ordering these films and for tips on film
showings, contact the CSEA Education and Training Department at
Headquarters. Be sure to call at least four weeks in advance of the
showing date to assure reservation and delivery of the film.

Rosie The Riveter (60 minutes)

This feature film, which has been shown commercially, focuses on
the problems faced by women who were employed during World
War II, especially those in non-traditional jobs such as that held by
the legendary Rosie the Riveter.

Union Maids (48 minutes) i

Three women relate the drama and the tribulations of their ex-
periences in organizing industrial workers in the 1930s. With good
humor and a knack for storytelling, they relive the long hours, low
pay and terrible working conditions of the Depression.

With Babies and Banners (45 minutes)

The General Motors sitdown strike in 1937 touched off a wave of
union militancy across the nation. The significant role that women
played in winning this historic strike is told in this documentary. The
film portrays the everyday life of working women during the 1930s.

The American Woman: Portraits of Courage (53 minutes)
Making Points (10 minutes) This film is a survey of outstanding American women and their con-
A provocative exploration of contemporary perceptions of the roles _ tributions to the American experience. We see women who fought in
of men and women. Issues included are sex discrimination, women the Revolution, suffragists, groundbreakers in the professions,

as union activists, and women in non-traditional jobs. social workers, labor organizers and civil rights workers.
|
A Killing Us Softly (30 minutes)
The Workplace Hustle (30 minutes) Through years of research, filmmaker Jean Kilbourne has detected

An excellent training tool, the film focuses attention on the damag- psychological and sexual themes that appear in most ad campaigns,

ing effects of sexual harassment on productivity, morale and the nq has edited her findings into a highly visual and exciting com-
hidden human and monetary loss of the employer. mentary on corporate persuasion. @

Presented by Region |V Women's Committee -

Workshop on domestic violence

A two-part workshop on “Domestic Violence, Jo-Ann Mullen, Community Service Co-
i Rape and Self Defense for Women’ will be held for ordinator a le
on CSEA members April 12 and 13 at the Holiday Inn Service to Families in Violence.
q in Latham. . : Schenectady YWCA i
The Region IV Women’s Committee is Sunday, April 13, 10:00 a.m. to noon
sponsoring the event in an attempt to bring about *Rape/Self Defense for Women (Group
a greater awareness and understanding of the participation)
, problem. Instructor:
K. The agenda for the workshop is as follows: Maggi Boys

ee :

WS Saturday, April 12, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch and refreshments will be provided on
*Domestic Violence (What it is—Why it Saturday. To make reservations, fill out form below
occurs) and mail to: CSEA Region IV Office, 1215 Western
*Legal Rights of the Battered Woman (Where Ave., Suite 402, Albany, New York 12203. Make

| to seek help) checks payable to Region IV CSEA.

Presenters: i Additional reservation forms are available from

Marcy Kolchinsky, Community your local president and the Region |V Office,

Resource Developer 489-5424. Reservation deadline is April 4. Cost is
$11.00 per person.

RESERVATION FO!

Please reserve a place for me at Region IV’s workshop on Domestic Violence/RapelSelf Defense for Women
on April 12 and 13 at the Holiday Inn in Latham. Enclosed in a check in the amount of $11.00 to cover
expenses.

NAME pita Saetsecn  FAa SRR TES “

TELEPHONE =e - —

To make reservations for more than one individual, attach a separate sheet listing names and enclose
a check or checks in the amount of $11.00 per person.

1 1
1 I
! |
1 @
| I
1 !
1 !
| ADDRESS: 2 <<) ire = ere od ott at 2i- !
| 1
| |
| !
i |
1 |
i} |
U al

1 2 THE PUBLIC SECTOR March 10, 1986

CSEA INNOVATIVE LEGISLATION WOULD

ABATE ASBESTOS

By Roger Cole
Editor

The Civil Service Employees Assn. is
proposing new health and safety
standards that will require a systematic
inspection of every public building in New
York State to identify the presence of, and
abatement of, any asbestos materials that
pose an “imminent hazard to health.”

CSEA has emerged as the leading
proponent of an asbestos—safe environment
in public buildings and workplaces in the
state. Most recently the union accused the
administration of SUNY Oswego with
knowingly exposing employees, students
and the general public to dangerous levels
of asbestos by covering up for at least
three years the fact that more than 30
buildings on campus were contaminated
with asbestos.

Credit Region V

Union officials credit Central Region V’s
Health and Safety Committee with
working diligently on asbestos problems
in that region and with recommending the
proposed asbestos abatement legislation
to the CSEA statewide Legislative and
Political Action Committee.

CSEA’s proposed “‘Public Asbestos
Abatement Act’’ would cover every
building in the state owned, managed,
furnished, occupied, or leased to or by the
state, a municipality, a commission or
public school. The proposal would require
an amendment to the state’s labor law,
and CSEA lobbyists are discussing the
proposal with Senate and Assembly staff
members to gain sponsors to introduce
the proposal to the state legislature.

Very comprehensive

According to Attorney John Mineaux of
CSEA’s law firm of Roemer and
Featherstonhaugh, the union’s asbestos
abatement bill is very comprehensive
and, in addition to covering every public
building in the state, is unique in several
ways. For instance, the proposal:

fi doesn’t require the removal of
asbestos in every instance, providing for
less costly and realistic measures such as
repair, enclosure or encapsulation of
“friable asbestos material” in some
instances;

Why a comprehensive asbestos abatement bill is necessary
is clearly answered in a survey CSEA just completed at 27
State University of New York (SUNY) and 32 Correctional

Department facilities across the state.

CSEA found that at 63 percent of the SUNY locations,
employees have not been told that asbestos exists in campus
buildings, and only 50 percent of the Correctional facilities
have informed employees of the presence of asbestos.

Alarmingly, the survey disclosed that 85 percent of the
SUNY locations failed to train maintenance and cleaning
employees on safe and proper methods of working with fa
asbestos, while the same was true at 53 percent of the

Correctional facilities.

@ requires a programmatic inspection
and evaluation of every public building in
the state within 18 months of the effective
date of the law (inspections and
evaluations are now done only after a
complaint has been filed);

i provides measures to inform
employees of the presence of asbestos in
their workplaces and protect employees
from exposure to friable asbestos
materials;

i provides that any person may request
in writing that the state Department of
Labor inspect a public building for the
presence of friable asbestos, and that the
Department of Labor must respond in
writing within 15 days giving the result of
such an inspection or the reason for not
conducting an inspection, and the reason
for ordering or not ordering abatement of
an asbestos condition within the building;

establishes that an “imminent hazard
to health” need not be tied to any
particular test, such as air quality, but
applies instead to the condition of the
asbestos material itself.

Hazard defined

Attorney Mineaux noted that CSEA’s
proposal defines ‘‘imminent hazard to
health” to mean ‘‘that state or condition
in which asbestos exists in a friable,
damaged, deteriorated or disturbed state
due to age, abuse, abrasion, water
exposure or forced air circulation and in
which asbestos, upon inspection, is
determined likely to become airborne.”
The union’s proposed legislation defines
“friable” to mean “that condition of
crumbled, pulverized, powered, crushed,
or exposed asbestoform or asbestos fibers
which are capable of being released into
the air by hand pressure,”’ and defines
“friable asbestos material’ as “any
material that contains more than one
percent asbestos by weight and that can
be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to
powder, when dry, by hand pressure.””

The bill would also authorize and
mandate the commissioner of the state
Department of Labor, among other things,
to develop educational material designed
to inform public employees and all others
regarding the hazards of asbestos
materials; establish asbestos inspection
and evaluation standards which take into
account the potential exposure of public

employees during their work
assignments; and to establish criteria for

‘active air monitoring and/or simulation

testing for the purpose of evaluating
potential exposure of public employees to
asbestos under working conditions.
Attorney Mineaux explained that at
present, any testing done generally
involves taking air samples of a suspected
asbestos location when the area has been
cleared and unoccupied, giving a
distorted, lower reading of asbestos fibers
in the air than when employees had been
and would be working in the area.

CSEA points-out that the new law is
necessary for the protection of public
employees and the general public who
frequent public buildings throughout the
state. The union’s proposed legislation
notes that ‘the presence of asbestos in the
air in concentrations far exceeding the
normal ambient levels has been found in
innumerable public buildings,” usually
where asbestos has reached a
deteriorated condition and very often
while asbestos materials are being
removed.

The danger involved

“Exposure to asbestos fibers has been
identified over a long period of time and
by reputable medical and scientific
evidence as significantly increasing the

-incidence of cancer and other severe or

fatal diseases, such as asbestosis,” the
proposed lgislation states, and points out
that public employees are regularly
exposed to ‘hazardous levels of
asbestos...due to the nature of their work
assignments which ... requires them to
remove asbestos or otherwise cause
asbestos to become airborne.”

Under CSEA’s proposal, the owner of
any public building containing friable
asbestos material would have 60 days
from the date of notice of violation to file
a comprehensive abatement plan with the
Department of Labor.

The proposed legislation also would
provide for fines of up to $500 a day for
every day a building remains in violation
of an order to abate the asbestos problem
and gives the Department of Labor the
authority to close contaminated areas of
any building in violation of orders to
abate the situation.

Sixty-three percent of the SUNY locations responding said
employees are not given personal protective equipment when
working with asbestos, while 44 percent of the Correctional

facilities failed to provide the important equipment.

In another very critical area, CSEA’s survey revealed that
89 percent of the SUNY locations and 88 percent of the
Correctional facilities failed to offer any medical surveillance
to employees working with asbestos.

CSEA local officials also said they believed that more than
three-quarters of the SUNY sites and half the Correctional
ilities failed to maintain any records on asbestos.

The survey was conducted by CSEA’s Department of

Occupational Safety and Health.

aera ae

March 10, 1986 THE PUBLIC SECTOR

REGION II PRESIDE
George Boncoraglic. with
ME. International
retary/Treasurer Wil-
liam Lucy.

AFL-CIO
DIRECTOR H
Donahue addr
shop participant:

ow
STATE LABC
SIONER Lillian Roberts
has a talk with Region II
st Vice President Den-

OMMIS.

nis Tobin and Pr
orge Boncoraglio.

ident Ge-

.

i

Region Il
workshop

Leaders from labor and government
address issues facing public employees

By Steve Madarasz

CSEA Communications Associate e

critical self-examination of organized labor was at the center of attention *
during CSEA Region II’s recent winter workshop at the Concord Hotel.
The program focused on the challenges that organized labor faces
around the world, the nation, and the region. The sessions also
concentrated on ways CSEA can improve its own member involvement.

In welcoming remarks, Region II President George Boncoraglio
explained: ‘‘All around us are forces seeking to destroy us through
blatant union busting or subtler forms of exploitation such as
contracting-out. In the past, organized labor met challenges like thes
and won. It is now our time to rise to the occasion and demonstrate that
unions can be creative, progressive, and have a broad social an
economic vision that goes beyond narrow self-interest.” z

Boncoraglio also suggested that CSEA should become more
aggressive in pursuing its goals: “Our people make the government
run and are in a prime position to make suggestions on how it can run
better. It’s up to us to have innovative, workable plans and to make
sure our views are heard. Don’t expect the state to come to us — we
have to make the effort.”

Is organized labor dead? 4

AFSCME International Secretary/Treasurer William Lucy told
the CSEA members not to believe those who have already written
unionism’s obituary. He claimed that unions still have a vital role to
play and that AFSCME’s growth to 1.4 million members has
established it as the flagship of organized labor.

“We are whatever this nation is all about,” he said. But he added
that for too long unions have not organized to present their views
forcefully enough in the arena of public policy making.

Lucy contends that selfishness has become national policy and the
corporate America’s priority of profits over jobs is being enforced by
government.

He also chided the Reagan Administration for its soapy
entertainment value: “They have more millionaires than ‘Dallas,’
more plots and schemes than ‘Dynasty,’ and a tolerance for corruption
rivaled only by ‘“‘The Godfather.”

Unions must respond positively to crisis
AFL-CIO Regional Director Humphrey Donahue presented the
federation’s recent report on the ‘Changing Situation of Workers aml
their Unions,” stating that while change is needed, it must come from
within the labor movement. He also indicated that unions have to work
more closely to present a united front, improve member services, and
become more creative in facing the challenges of a changing economy.

Education and political action priorities
State Labor Commissioner Lillian Roberts and Assembly Labor
Committee Chairman Frank Barbaro both insisted that unions will
have little social impact unless they get their members to vote and then
hold public officials accountable for their actions and positions. ®
Roberts emphasized the importance of education, saying labor’s
greatest enemy is ignorance inside and outside the movement. She said
unions have to be in the forefront of teaching people to think for
themselves instead of letting television and the media tell us what to
think.
Roberts also pointed out that a labor shortage is projected for New
York state for the 1990’s and that disaster looms unless action is taken
now to train the workforce in anticipation of the need.

14

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

March 10, 1986

dnt George Boncorag
e President De

She added that too many people take public employees for granted.
Barbaro echoed that sentiment, indicating that the contributions of
working people to American history are ignored by history books and
that unions have a responsibility to see that a more accurate view is
@reserved.

Barbaro also insisted that unions have to become the guardians of
all people in society, energizing their rank and file to become involved
in social issues off the job as well as on.

CSEA on the move
Statewide Secretary Irene Carr noted that CSEA’s numerous
programs address the needs of its membership on the job and at home.
But she cautioned that CSEA’s challenge is to make these programs
ean more than just acronyms to those who can benefit from them.

No longer whether, but when

Apartheid will end in South Africa stated United Mine Workers
International Representative Ken Zinn. Zinn pointed out that just in the
past year tremendous steps forward have been made in bringing about
reform.

He explained that unions have played a leading role in those events
and that the process can be helped through a continued push by CSEA
to have New York withdraw public employee pension monies invested
in South Africa. He also appealed for CSEA support in the boycott of
@hell Oil, which makes 27% of its profits doing business with the racist
regime.

CAL 1000

yy
TEWIDE SECRETARY Irene C:
rs. Also
Idsmith, dean of Empire State La’
and Frank Barbaro.

NITED
WOR
International
Representative Ken
Zinn, |

ASSEMBLY LABOR COM-
MITTEE CHAIRMAN
Frank Barbaro with
Region II President George
Boncoraglio.

bour peo-
ple make
government
run and are
in a_ prime
position to
make sug-
gestions on
how it can
run better.9

Region Il President

GEORGE BONCORAGLIO

REGION If THIRD \
PRESIDENT De
ley and Mental H
Statewide Representez

z display bum-
persticker against apart-
heid in South Africa.

March 10, 1986

THE PUBLIC SECTOR 1

Up

CSEA protests
move of
tax office

MINEOLA — CSEA and PEF employees
here joined together recently in an
informational demonstration protesting the
move of the Nassau County Tax Department
from Mineola to Hempstead.

While employees demonstrated outside
the current tax department, labor and
management were talking inside.

“Management has announced that they
have decided to move the tax department
to Hempstead. We wanted to be sure that
CSEA had input as to the security of our
employees in the building and parking lot,
how parking spaces will be distributed, and
the bathroom facilities,” said CSEA Field
Representative Nick Pollicino.

A subcommittee has been formed and is
scheduled to meet the first week in March
to discuss these and other provisions

Tom Byrne, president of CSEA State
Employees Local 016, said he is unhappy
about the move. “At least we will have input

through the subcommittee,” he said

Union finds solution to untimely problem

ALBANY—What happens when the hours you
work differ from the hours your workplace is
open?

CSEA Board Member Tom Jefferson had to
face that dilemma when Office of Court
Administration (OCA) employees were’
assigned to work at various Mental Hygiene
facilities in New York state.

The law requires that clients be provided with

legal services “‘to protect their rights” and OCA
is responsible for assigning attorneys and
support staff to the various institutions. But
OCA work hours are 9:00 to 5:00 while the
various offices they work in (and operated by
a different state agency) are on a 8:30 to 4:30
schedule. : ;

The result was that OCA people often found
themselves left behind in offices without
security and sometimes even without heat and

electricity.

CSEA went into action.

The union polled OCA employees and found
they were willing to be more flexible. The issue
was then raised at a labor management
meeting and after prolonged negotiations a
solution was reached. Hours were adjusted t@
concide.

“The solution,” says Jefferson ‘“‘works to
everybody’s betterment.”

”

Deadline for

insurance claims

All GHI or Statewide claims for
the 1985 calendar year must be filed
prior to March 31, 1986.

You should submit your claim as
you did previously. Statewide Plan
benefits are provided by
Metropolitan and you should file
your claim with Metropolitan. If
you were enrolled in the GHI Op-
tion, your claim should be submit-
ted to GHI.

Remember to include all suppor-
ting bills, receipts and statements
with your claim.

Judiciary unit nomination

NEW YORK — The nominating period has
begun for the election of officers and delegates
of the Judiciary Unit of CSEA Local 010.

Nominations will be accepted until March
28. Nominating petitions and information for
the Judiciary Unit elections can be obtained
by contacting Anne Shapiro at (718) 643-5358.

16

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

bargaining units (Administrative,
Operational and Institutional), as well as

Court Administration (OCA) are reminded
that they may take advantage of automatic
payroll deduction to set up an Individual
Retirement Account (IRA).

An Ira is a tax-deferred investment plan
which allows individuals to save a portion of
their income for retirement while legally

ISU, OSU or OCA bargaining unit.

| am interested in receiving:

______General information on IRAs

NAME
HOME ADDRESS

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT

Va >
IRA payroll deduction available

CSEA members in the three state

CSEA-represented employees in the Office of

CSEA-IRA P.O. Box 7125 Albany, N.Y. 12224
Please send me information on the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) programs now
being made available to me through payroll deduction. | am a state employee in the ASU,

I
|
|
|
i
|
|
|
|
| The Dime Savings Bank IRAs
I
|
|
|
|
|
|
'

sheltering income from taxes. @

CSEA negotiated IRA payroll deduction
with the state in 1983. Two vendors—a bank
,and an investment firm that manages
mutual funds—are offering the retirement
plans.

For more information, State Division and
OCA employees should fill out and mail the
coupon below to: CSEA-IRA, P.O. Box 7125,
Albany N.Y., 12224.

Oppenheimer Funds IRAs

March 10, 1986

Do you think it’s
important to

celebrate Black
History Month?

WHERE ASKED: NEW YORK CITY
METROPOLITAN REGION II

Cacti ican a oh il Lake
@GLORIA BOOKER Dept. of Labor SOL COHEN Dept. of Labor Local NEVADA SOLANO NY Psychiatric MICHELENA IMPOLLONIA Creed-
Local 350 350 Inst. Local 419 moor/Fineson Local 406
“It’s about time that somebody “lm very happy that blacks get “1 think it’s long overdue and an “Black History Month should be
acknowledged our famous people the chance to do what they can do. asset to better relations between honored. It is about a culture that
in history, namely the state, since Vm a minority too...education is the races with an acknowledge- should be recognized. Blacks are
there are so many black state wor- Very important and black history ment of the contributions that entitled to a celebration of their

month goes along with that.’’ black Americans have made to heritage like everybody else.’’
American history.’’

kers.””

DESCRIBE THE ADVANTAGES OF SEAT BELTS School District

SEND IMMEDIATELY TO:
CSEA, Attn: School District Affairs Dept
143 Washington Avenue, Albany, N.Y. 12210

° P
|

|
\| ATTENTION:
!

|
| swoops §=Segt Belts: Yes or No??? |
I !
'\ DRIVERS |
I !
| CSEA wants to know what school bus drivers think about the idea of DESCRIBE THE DISADVANTAGES OF SEAT BELTS !
requiring seat belts on school buses. Please take the time to complete the {
q questions below, and then IMMEDIATELY send to CSEA, Attn: School i
} District Affairs Dept., 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, N.Y. 12210. I
!
i ARE SEAT BELTS NECESSARY? YES NO DOES YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT CURRENTLY REQUIRE SEAT '
! WHY? BELTS? YES. NO. |
I IF YES, WHAT ARE THE RESULTS? !
| |
! !
| |
WILL SEAT BELTS IMPROVE SAFETY? YES. NO. . |
¢ wuy? Option a] ; masses !
| , Name ie I
| Address = |
} Job title |
| |
! |
H !
|
! 1
L 4

March 10, 1986 THE PUBLIC SECTOR 1 7

Brookhaven battle

CSEA units
. | hold onto

right to

separate

| “fen
4 = ia if ‘ e ete te

MEMBERS OF SUFFOLK LOCAL 852 look over winning decision which orders the Town of
Brookhaven to negotiate with CSEA “‘in good faith.” Pictured, from left, are: Suffolk Local
President John Stein; Brookhaven Blue Collar Unit’s former president, Richard Pepe; unit
Vice President Bill Cullity; President Pasquale DeLuca; and Suffolk Local First Vice President

negotiations

BROOKHAVEN — The Public Employ-
ment Relations Board has ordered the
town of Brookhaven to “‘cease and desist
from refusing to meet with CSEA”’ and to
“negotiate in good faith.”

William Maccaro.

appeal.

According to CSEA Field Representative
Ron King, the problems began when he
sent a letter to the town asking that they
start negotiations. The town didn’t answer
the letter and the issue was brought before
an administrative law judge, who found

the town in violation.

The town appealed, but CSEA won the

The town then wrote a letter asking that
PERB reconsider the decision and re-
questing that Brookhaven units be con-
solidated for negotiations. PERB Director
of Conciliation Services rendered a
separate decision which stated that the
CSEA units should remain separate en- ; Ei 1
tities. (There are currently three units, the eight to 10 weeks,” he said.

blue collar, white collar and highway.) He
used the PERB decision as a basis for his
decision. i

Now, the town is appealing the direc-
tor’s decision.

“It is extremely unlikely that PERB will
reverse its decision on the consolidation
matter,” said King. ‘This is simply
another delay tactic used by the town to
further stall negotiations,’’ King declared.

“The entire issue should be resolved in

Pepe steps down as unit president

RICHARD PEPE, who has stepped down from his position as
Brookhaven Blue Collar Unit president, was recently honored for his
service to CSEA members. Pepe, who held that post for nearly three
years, has been succeeded by Pasquale DeLuca. Recently, the
Brookhaven Blue Collar Executive Board presented Pepe with a plaque
in recognition of his contribution to the union. Pictured at presentation
are, from left: Tommy Rea, second vice president; Bill Cullity, first vice
president; Pasquale DeLuca, Richard Pepe; John Stein, Local 852
president; Lisa Schneider, secretary; William Maccaro, Local 852 first
vice president; and Meg Shutka, treasurer.

Union wins decision on recall pay

OLEAN — Four hours of recall pay awarded to a Cattaraugus
County public health nurse by an arbitrator’s ruling has reinforced an
important contract provision CSEA negotiated for workers here.

Bonnie Porcello, a member of Cattaraugus County Local 805, had
been denied the four hours of recall pay due her, until the arbitrator’s
binding decision.

As a public health nurse, Porcello provides home care services,
mostly through home visits made weekdays during regular work
hours. In some cases, weekend home visits are required, and these are
prescheduled and rotated among the public health nurses who are
assigned to the home care section. The visiting nurses are paid a
minimum of four hours for the prescheduled visits under terms of a
contract section that specifically addresses the issue.

In this case, Porcello received a phone call at home on a Saturday

18

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

evening from her supervisor advising that she might be required to
make an additional visit — outside her prescheduled ones — on Sun-
day. She was called on Sunday morning and directed to make the addi-
tional visit, which she did.

When she made out her time card, Porcello followed the usual
practice of claiming the four hours due her under the nursing visit pro-@
vision under the contract. She also claimed four hours due her under a
recall pay article of the pact, for the visit that was not originally sched-
uled, but it didn’t show up in her pay check.

Porcello grieved the county’s refusal of her recall pay claim, and
the matter was then submitted to arbitration, where testimony of other
nurses showed recall pay had been normally paid under the same cir-
cumstances,

CSEA Attorney John LaMancuso and Field Representative Mike
Painter brought the matter to successful arbitration.

March 10, 1986

“CONTRACTING-OUT
IS A CANCER we must
fight against,” John D.
Corcoran Jr., Capital
Region director, tells

9 the audience at a
recent meeting of
Region IV’s leadership.

@

ISSUES AT REGION IV MEETING

By Daniel X. Campbell
CSEA Communications Associate

LATHAM — The problem of contracting-out is spreading and
CSEA is working to head it off before it reaches epidemic
proportions.

That’s the message some 250 union activists and leaders from
@ Capital Region IV heard at a recent regional meeting here.

Region IV Director John D. Corcoran Jr., a member of a
special CSEA staff committee studying contracting-out, painted a
scary picture of the burgeoning practice of contracting out public
employee jobs. He ran down a list of examples.

“OGS — contract cleaners, electricians, painters, carpenters
— 35 jobs. Social Services — medicaid reimbursement unit — 500
jobs. OMH main office — 23 jobs. Public Service — 11 jobs!” said
Corcoran.

“TI can’t begin to tell you about the subcontracting going on in
DOT, Labor, En Con, Parks and Recreations and Education. But I
can tell you that it is pervasive. My research indicates this is only
the tip of the iceburg,”’ he said.

The objective of the special contracting-out committee is to
formulate a unified statewide strategy to combat this spreading
issue of concern. ‘Everyone won’t want a slice of the contracting-
out pie,”’ Corcoran said, ‘‘but the next slice of pie they’re
interested in may be yours.”

Dr. Robert Santoro, the new owner of Rose Dental Associates

t On privitization, parking & pulling teeth

KEN KLEMP and
Roberta Solati of CSEA
Executive Local 659
exchange views with
Netha DeGroff of
Division of Parole
Local 669.

{ COLUMBIA
COUNTY’S SHIRLEY
PONKOS, left, listens
as CSEA Region

¥ leaders discuss an issue

g F of union concern at a
re

recent Region IV
meeting.

“T am proud to be associated with CSEA,” Santoro said. ‘In
all my extensive experience, I have never been involved with such
a thorough dental health care benefit program,” the doctor noted.

Santoro told the audience that he wants his facility to become
a major provider of dental services for CSEA-represented
employees.

“Because of CSEA concern, many public employees with
large families can afford to have extensive dental health care
programs for all their children and themselves. Because of CSEA
concern, members can seek professional dental services to
address their individual treatment need with the vast majority of
the cost, if not all of the cost, being paid through the union’s
benefit fund or through contractual agreements,’’ Santoro noted.
“This is a great benefit which CSEA should be proud of and which
CSEA should constantly seek to improve.”

Santoro indicated that his facility was going to continue to
offer reduced rates for CSEA members not currently covered by
the EBF.

One of the major reports of the meeting centered on the
parking problem facing state employees who work in the
downtown Albany area.

“Parking is a problem now because state management failed
to adequately address the concern 20 years ago when the Empire
State Plaza was being built,”’ said Ellen Fontanelli, chairwoman
of the region’s uptown committee and member of the CSEA
parking committee. ‘‘We want state management to address this

March 10, 1986

in Albany, also addressed the regional meeting. problem quickly.”

THE PUBLIC SECTOR 1 9

fi

,Y

William Snyder, Greene Correctional

Richard J. Doyle, Harlem Valley PC

The fact that public employment is often
frought with dangers and can become deadly
was emphasized with the deaths recently of
two CSEA members as the result of separate
on-the-job accidents.

CSEA and state occupational safety and
health representatives are continuing
investigations into a Feb. 21 accident at the
Greene Correctional Facility that injured a
stationary engineer, who later died, and a
Feb. 25 accident that claimed the life of a
refrigeration mechanic at Harlem Valley
Psychiatric Center.

William Snyder, 34, died Feb. 25 of injuries
he received on Feb. 21 when he was severely
burned by steam when a pipe broke loose
from a boiler he was working on at Greene
Correctional Facility in Coxsackie.

Richard J. Doyle, 47, died on Feb. 26 when
a compressed air tank he was working on
exploded in the power plant building at
Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in
Wingdale.

Mr, Snyder, a stationary engineer, was a
former CSEA local president. Ironically, the
boiler he was working on at the time of the
mishap was one of the topics at the first
labor-management meeting of the newly
formed safety and health committee at the
facility on Feb. 19, just two days before the
accident.

Union officials say the boiler room
operations log indicates that since at least

Two die in mishaps

THIS DECEPTIVELY SERENE farm-like setting is actually part of the Greene Correc-
tional Facility at Coxsackie, and was the scene of a mishap which fatally injured William
Snyder, one of two public employees who died recently of on-the-job injuries.

October, 1985, the burner repeatedly
malfunctioned with resultant internal
detonations in the boiler. The burner was
replaced on Dec. 3, 1985 but the Labor
Department was not asked to reinspect the
boiler, according to union officials. Union
officials said that management
representatives at the Feb. 19 labor-
management meeting assured that the boiler

jie

would be evaluated for possible replacement.

Mr. Doyle, a refrigeration mechanic, was
found dead of injuries he received when the
compressed air tank he was working on
apparently exploded in a workshop room at
the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center power
plant building. He was alone in the room at
the time and reportedly no one heard =)

explosion due to nearby equipment noise.

( Fire heavily damages
Albany state offices

ALBANY—CSEA President William L.
McGowan is calling for more frequent fire
evacuation drills for employees and the
addition of more smoke detectors in the
wake of a fire March 3 which caused fire,
smoke and water damage to the top five
floors of one of the several tall state office
buildings comprising the huge Empire
State Plaza complex in downtown Albany.

McGowan said it was fortunate the fire,
which heavily damaged the 19th floor of
Agency Building 4, broke out during
evening hours when the 20-story structure
was largely unoccupied. Several people
working in the building, including
cleaning and maintenance employees who
are CSEA members, escaped without
injury, but at least three Albany
firefighters were injured fighting the fire.

During normal working hours, more
than 2,000 state employees are located in
that building and the building is busy with
\ Sentral public visitors. The fire, still

under investigation, was reported at abou
7:50 p.m. and was confined to the 19th
floor but the four other floors received
smoke and water damage as well.

McGowan said more frequent fire
evacuation drills should be scheduled by
the state to reinforce the proper way to
exit the many highrise state office
buildings in Albany, and called for the
addition of many more smoke and fire
detectors than are presently in the
facilities. He noted that smoke from the
fire was detected by a person in the
building rather than by any of the few
detectors now in place.

McGowan pointed out that it was CSEA
which years ago expressed concern about
fire safety in the downtown government
office complex. In 1982 CSEA filed an
official OSHA complaint demanding
additional alternate exits be built in the
four agency buildings in the downtown
plaza so that both employees and the

_

general public would have more exits in
case of fire. CSEA succeeded in forcing
the state to built the new exits, ahead of
the original schedule, and also to
construct new fire wall corridors and
walls in the building for additional safety @
from fire.

Many state employees normally
assigned to the top five floors of the
structure are working out of temporary
locations elsewhere until it is determined
when they will be able to return to the
damaged floors.

McGowan, and state officials, had high
praise for Albany firefighters for their
handling of the incident. McGowan was
quick to point out the extreme value of
Engine 6, located across the street from
the huge plaza complex, and said it would
be a mistake for the city of Albany to go
ahead with announced plans to close down
the stationhouse. The next closest
stationhouse is about one mile away. y

20

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

RSE aR UUOERS aR CRS RE Sd a SRR AREAS RR A gy

March 10, 1986