The Public Sector, 1992 November

Official publication of

Vol. 15, No. 11 NOVEMBER 1992

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS PAGES 1 GENERAL NEWS SECTION PAGES 7-14 STATE NEWS SECTION PAGES 1

ENTER |

STATE POLICE

Denise :
Nancy I
i

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

COUNTIES aS |

: SCHOOL |

| TOWNS | ‘vases DISTRICTS,
INDEX

Page 3

Tragedy strikes Schyler County as four
CSEA members are murdered on the job.

Page 4
Nassau County employees vote to stay

with CSEA. In Onondaga County, CSEA
keeps fighting senseless layoffs.

Page 5
Rockland County workers face a stomach-

turning exposure to potentially rabid
animal carcasses.

Page 6

Handicap is no issue for CSEA member
and co-workers in Town of Newburgh.
Progress in Monroe County budget, but
problems in Delaware County.

CSEA wins dispute over

insurance premiums

NIAGARA FALLS — Thanks to CSEA,
Niagara County CSEA member Synobia
Gordon will now have her full health
premiums paid.

Gordon worked in the Department of
Social Services when she was laid off. She
was rehired after 13 months. Under the
contract, employees who work for the
county for five years get their health
insurance premiums paid in full.

But five years from her start date, the
county insisted she had to work another
year because she had left service for more
than a year.

CSEA successfully argued that the 13
months did not constitute a break in
service. The county will owe her $1,800 in
premiums which she has paid.

Royal Bragin scholarships awarded

MINEOLA - The CSEA Nassau County
Probation Department Unit recently
awarded scholarships to two family
members of unit members.

The second annual presentation of the
Royal Bragin Memorial Scholarships for
continuing education took place at the
Probation Department offices recently. The
scholarships were created by the union to
commemorate the memory of Supervisor
Royal Bragin, a Probation Department
employee for 20 years.

Unit President Jane D'Amico said Bragin
had a distinguished career in the

In Orange County, member issues

department and was also a dedicated
member of the CSEA board.

The two $500 scholarships were
presented to Elizabeth Buckley Colgan,
daughter of Probation Officer Helen
Buckley, and to David Scott Thomas, the
grandson of Transcribing Machine Operator
Mildred Guarini.

Colgan attends SUNY at Farmingdale
where she expects to receive her degree in
science in 1993.

Thomas attends Yale University, studying
English. He expects to receive his
bachelor’s degree in 1994.

A plea for burn victims

MT. HOPE - What was to have been the
beginning of a new life for two families has
turned into a nightmare for two young
children. Now CSEA members are being
asked to help.

The niece of CSEA member Margaret
Trentacosta was one of two children badly
burned in a propane gas explosion.

Bridgett, 7, and Kelli, 6, were each
burned over 70 percent of their bodies.
When the explosion occurred, the two girls
were playing in the house that Bridgett’s
mother and Kelli’s father had rented for the
newly blended family that includes 11-
month-old Keelin. Bridgett's mother,
Jessica Everett, and the baby escaped
serious injury.

At the Westchester County Medical
Center Burn Unit, the two have undergone
numerous painful procedures to keep them
alive. Kelli also suffered a broken arm and
pneumonia. Although doctors say that
Bridgett is stable, the prognosis for both

children is cautious. The beginning of skin
graft procedures has started for both girls,
but each operation puts the children at risk
for serious infection.

For now, the future holds hope, but the
family has been devastated by expenses
that are not covered by insurance,
including the cost of a motel for the parents
in Westchester County and transportation
to and from the hospital.

Trentacosta, Ms. Everett's sister, is
hoping CSEA members will open their
hearts and help the family. Fund-raising
efforts in the Orange County area have
raised some money over the last month.

Trentacosta, a six year employee and
account clerk for the Ramapo Catskill
Library, is a member of Local 730.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can
send their contribution to the Bridgett and
Kelli Burn Relief Foundation, c/o
Middletown Mazda, 200 Dolson Ave.,
Middletown, NY 10940,

Niagara County CSEA member wins thousands over out-of-title work

LOCKPORT — A CSEA Niagara County
Unit member won nearly $6,000 in back
pay after the union pursued an out-of-title
complaint.

Mount View Nursing Home in Niagara
County, was hired in June 1991. She did
the work of the the senior physical therapist
because the job was vacant.

Although she had all the qualifications

for the job, Chorazy was not appointed.
After CSEA filed an arbitration, the

county settled and agreed to pay the

physical therapist more than $6,000 in out-

Kari Chorazy, a physical therapist at

THE

Official publication of The Civil Service

Employees Association, Inc., Local 1000,

AFSCME, AFL-CIO, 143 Washington

Avenue, Albany, New York, 12210
cara acdsee TANTS

MICHAEL P. MORAN, Publisher
ROGER A. COLE, Editor

KATHLEEN DALY, Associate Editor

STANLEY HORNAK, Assistant Director

of Communications

<

The Public Sector (USPS 0445-010) is published monthly by The Civil Service Employees
Association. Publication Office: 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210.
Second Class Postage paid at Post Office, Albany, New York 12288.

Postmaster: Send address changes to: Civil Service Employees Association,

Attn: Membership Department, 143 Washington Avene, Albany, New York 12210.

oes COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATES =e

SHERYL C, JENKS Region I

(516) 273-2280
LILLY GIOIA Region II

(212) 514-9200
ANITA MANLEY Region III

(914) 896-8180
DAN CAMPBELL Region IV

(518) 489-5424
MARK M. KOTZIN Region V

(315) 433-0050

of-title back pay.

RON WOFFORD Region VI
(716) 886-0391
STEPHEN MADARASZ Headquarters

(518) 434-0191

\ABOR COMMUN cg

SSERNATIONAL
ZANIDOSS¥ SOY

TSAFLCIOICAS *

2 November 1992 g,
LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

A tragedy in
Watkins Glen

By Mark M. Kotzin
CSEA Communications Associate
WATKINS GLEN - Grief, pain, horror,

shock, disbelief and fear were the most
common emotions expressed throughout
CSEA and Schuyler County over the recent
tragic deaths of four Schuyler County CSEA
Local 849 members, killed simply because

Four
CSEA
members

killed

To help employees deal with the tragedy,
the legislature immediately declared the
next day an emergency and brought
employees in to hear their concerns and
make them aware of available counseling.
Several area clergy were also present to
help the employees deal with their feelings.

According to Local President Brill, a DSS
employment

they were doing their jobs.

Killed were Phyllis K.
Caslin, Florence A. Pike,
Denise Miller Van Amburg
and Nancy J. Wheeler.

The four women, three of
whom were CSEA officers,
were killed on Oct. 15
when a man carrying a
semiautomatic handgun
walked into the second
floor offices of the county
Department of Social
Services (DSS) Support
Collection Unit where they
worked, shooting each of
them.

The gunman, identified
by police as John Miller of
Ohio, then turned the gun
on himself and committed
suicide in front of police.
Miller was reportedly angry
at the support collection
unit for tracking him down
and garnisheeing his wages for
missed child support
payments. He had been arrested more than
six times in the past 20 years for failing to
pay child support for his daughter, now 26.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, a small
community was left grieving. Families, co-
workers, bosses, friends and union leaders
were all shocked over the senseless
killings. CSEA President Joe McDermott
expressed his sorrow, noting that
unfortunately it was not uncommon for
violence to be directed at social services
workers.

“Everyone at CSEA mourns the deaths of
the Schuyler County Social Services
workers,” McDermott said. “Unfortunately,
this senseless tragedy makes clear the
constant danger that social services
workers, and many other public employees,
face on the job every day.

“CSEA will honor their memory by
continuing to make every job site in New
York safer.”

CSEA Central Region President Jim
Moore echoed those thoughts, saying that
CSEA had “lost some of our best and
brightest in an instant.” He met almost
immediately with the County Legislature,
CSEA Occupational Safety and Health
Specialist John Bieger, CSEA Labor
Relations Specialist Merwin Stevens and
Local 849 President Sue Brill to address the
union's concerns. They discussed measures
to limit building access, additional building
security and counseling for employe:

The legislature was “extremely receptive”
to the union's input and credited them for
acting quickly and professionally in dealing
with the situation, Moore said.

In memory of

° Phyllis K. Caslin, 54, a Support Unit
investigator and CSEA Local and Unit
treasurer. She had worked for the county
for 18 years, served as a former CSEA
Local president and was the mother of
three grown children;

¢ Florence A. Pike, 60, the Support
Unit supervisor and CSEA Local and Unit
secretary. She had worked for the county
since 1972, and was married with three
grown children;

¢ Denise Miller Van Amburg, 28, an
account clerk who worked for the county
for two years. She was married with two
young children; and

° Nancy J. Wheeler, 48, a senior
account clerk and CSEA Unit vice
president. She had worked for the county
for eight years, and also served as the
Local's grievance chair. She was married
with three grown children.

coordinator,
those feelings
ranged from
pain to fear.

“We're
feeling grief
for the people
we lost, the
fear for the
people that
are left, and
the anxiety
over how we
can prevent
this from
ever
happening
again,” Brill
said. “There
isn’t a person
in our
department
who hasn't
been
threatened at
one time or
another. We want to feel as safe as we can
in these jobs. We owe that to the women
who were killed, as well as those of us who
are left.”

A few days after the tragedy a host of
CSEA staff and officers helped pay tribute
to the victims and their families in a
community-wide memorial service in
Watkins Glen.

“We must use this opportunity to not only
reach out to one another in our time of
sorrow, but must also
reach out to the other
counties and states
around us, to prevent
things like this from
occurring again,” Moore
told the gathering of
families and friends in a
packed auditorium.

“We must not let
ourselves remain victims
of this tragedy. It won't be
, but we must support
each other and move on.
As long as we remember
the good things about our
union sisters, they will
always be with us. They
will always live on in our
memories,” he said.

During the memorial
service, Moore presented
Legislature Chair Angeline
Franzese with a plaque
from the region honoring
the memories of the

A PLAQUE IN MEMORY of the four slain employees is
presented to Schuyler County Legislature Chair Angeline
Franzese, left, by Local 849 President Sue Brill and CSEA
workers. Franzese said she Central Region President Jim Moore.

Memorial fund established

The Schuyler County Legislature has
set up a fund called the "Schuyler County
Workers Memorial Fund" to assist the
families of the victims.

CSEA members wishing to contribute
can make checks payable to “Schuyler
County Treasurer - Memorial Fund” and
send them to:

Schuyler County Treasurer
_ 105 Ninth Street
. Watkins Glen, NY 14891.

was thankful for the union’s support.

“We appreciate the support that CSEA
has been to both our employees and our
county government in our time of need.
Together, we will hopefully have a better
place for everybody in the future,” she said.

Local President Brill said that the tragedy
was especially hard on the union, because
Caslin, Pike and Wheeler were so active.

“They didn’t just do their jobs - they
reached out to their fellow employees
through their union activism,” she said.
She remembered them fondly.

Florence Pike, she said, was someone
who loved to travel and read. As a former
local president, Brill said Florence lead the
union through “some of our toughest fights.
The union was something she felt very
strongly about.”

Phyllis Caslin, Brill said, put everyone at
ease. “In a job that you naturally make
people angry, she was just the kindest
person. If anyone could do the job without
making people angry, it was her. She was a
quiet woman, but had tremendous
strength.”

Denise Van Amburg, Brill said, was well
liked throughout the building. “It's hard
when you're relatively new, but she would
always reach out to people,” she said. “Even
if it was just to say hello, she was always
smiling.”

Brill said sadly that she probably missed
Nancy Wheeler most of all in the aftermath
of the tragedy, because “she would've been
our loudest voice in a situation like this to
fight to protect the rights of those of us who
are left.” She characterized Wheeler as
someone who wasn't afraid of anybody, and
who would “stand up” for her con -workers no
matter what the eS

November 1992 3

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

-

NASSAU
COUNTY

Ca nl

Nassau
County

still CSEA
country

i ۤ

we

to

Members of Nassau County Local 830
have overwhelmingly reaffirmed CSEA as
their labor union of choice.

Members voted to retain CSEA as their
union by a margin of nearly 2-1 ina secret
ballot union representation election
overseen by the American Arbitration
Association (AAA).

CSEA has represented Local 830, the
largest jurisdiction in the union's local
government division, for a quarter of a
century.

"Now we can get back to the bargaining
table and work at hammering out a new
contract for our county members," Local

830 President Rita Wallace noted.

The Local 830 contract, covering about
11,900 CSEA members, expires Dec. 31.
Negotiations were on hold during the
representative election.

'Now we can get back
to the bargaining table
and work at hammering
out a new contract for
our county members."

-- Rita Wallace

oy

In Onondaga County,

CSEA fights layoffs to bitter end

SYRACUSE - Despite urgent pleas and a
strong political action effort from CSEA
members in Onondaga County, the union
was unable to persuade the county
legislature to reduce layoffs called for in the
county budget.

Instead, more than 350 county
employees will get their pink slips less than
three weeks before Christmas.

The bad news came after several
marathon legislative sessions, designed to
hammer out a budget agreement different
than the one proposed by County Executive
Nick Pirro. CSEA Central Region President
Jim Moore spoke in a public hearing before
the legislature to reduce the layoffs by
utilizing the county's more than $21 million
surplus.

Moore based his testimony on a review of
the county's proposed budget by CSEA
Budget Analyst Kathy Albowicz. Moore said
there are better ways to cut the budget,
that layoffs didn’t work, and that the
county had a responsibility to taxpayers not
to cut services unless absolutely necessary.
With such a large surplus, the cuts were
“irresponsible and unnecessary,” he said.

Before the public hearing, Moore joined
nearly 400 county workers and supporters
in a informational picket to spread the word
about the county's large surplus. The
workers marched around the county Civic
Center and gave out fact sheets to passers
by.

Pisces and local officers spearheaded an
intense political action effort having CSEA
members call legislators to urge passage of
the CSEA plan. Despite this, the legislators
could not agree on a budget plan by the
deadline, so the county executive's budget
was automatically adopted.

CSEA Onondaga County Local 834
Acting President Joe Alcare said the union
will continue to fight the cuts. CSEA is also
planning to file an improper practice charge
claiming that some employees to be laid off
have been targted because of their union
activism. noting that an investigation would

NEARLY 300 CSEA members protested
layoffs at an Onondaga County budget
hearing

be conducted regarding charges that
workers were improperly targeted for layoffs
due to union activities.

Services to be cut include the county's
dental bureau and bookmobile program,
along with significant reductions in the
county’s social services highway and
correction departments.

4 November1992 g 4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

In dangerous conditions, Rockland workers are

By Anita Manley
CSEA Communications Associate

NEW CITY - Some workers in Rockland County are being forced
to face the deadly rabies virus as they hack off the heads of
animals in primitive conditions with improper tools and little or no
protective equipment.

Determined to end the potentially risky practice, CSEA is
fighting with every resource available. The union has gone to court
to force the county to stop ordering the environmental health aides
(EHAs) to do the decapitations. The state Department of Labor has
already inspected the worksite based on CSEA's complaint; its
report is pending.

And CSEA has filed a grievance because the
practice violates the safety and health clause in the
contract.

The EHAs decapitate the animals suspected of
having rabies so the skulls can be sent to the state
Department of Health labs in Albany for analysis.

CSEA is fighting the assignments because they
are not in the EHAs' job description; worse, rabies
is easily contracted through contact with infected
animals, and the conditions under which the
employees perform the work are unsanitary and
dangerous, CSEA Labor Relations Specialist
Annette Raetz said.

CSEA Unit President Caroline Osinga and Raetz
met with the county health commissioner in
August, but made little progress.

“We said that to have EHAs perform the work is
an inappropriate and unacceptable work practice,
that this was not part of the job description and

Forced to face rabies

that problems had not been properly addressed by the immediate
supervisors,” Raetz said. “We cited lack of training and personal
protective gear.”

Most New York state counties: use veterinarians to perform the
decapitations. Rockland County officials said they don't hire one
because of budget constraints, Raetz said.

The EHAs decapitate animals in a 15-by-18 foot fenced-in area
behind an animal shelter. They are expected to use tools such as
pruning shears, hacksaws and hunting knives. They previously
used an ax. The county recently issued the EHAs new knives, a
sharpening stone and a cutting block.

Rather than a sterile stainless steel table, the EHAs bend over a
cement slab that doubles as a
door stoop to decapitate the
animals. Next to the slab is a
bucket filled with animal
carcasses. Nearby is a
crematorium to incinerate the
animal remains. The bloody
tools are stored in a rusted
locker.

After CSEA complained
about the unsafe conditions, ,
county officials gave the
workers a plastic welder's
| helmet to protect them from
being splashed with fluids
from the animals. However,
they should also wear
protective clothing, according
to state health standards.

Employees have a bottle of
bleach to use as a
disinfectant, but there is no
running water in the
immediate area and they
must wash up in a kitchen
sink inside the shelter.

Prior to August 1991, a
public health technician
performed the decapitations.
When he retired, the county
assigned the job to the EHAs.
Because of the present rabies
outbreak, the EHAs have sent
more than 230 skulls for
testing this year.

Veterinarians should do
decapitations, public health
veterinarian Dr. John Debbie
told Raetz. Training and
safety precautions are
necessary, he said. A sharp,
knife-like instrument should
be used in decapitation, he

SOME OF THE TOOLS CSEA
members have to decapitate
possibly rabid animals -- a knife,
pruning shears and bleach as
disinfectant.

At left, Rockland County Health
Aide Joe Guidice demonstrates
how he decapitates animals for
rabies testing on a cement slab.

gZ November 1992 5

said. If a veterinarian is not
doing the work, those who are doing it should at least get
instruction from a veterinarian.

Heads should not be severed by chopping or sawing, Debbie
emphasized,

Only after CSEA made the dangerous conditions public did the
county finally agreed to have a veterinarian train the EHAs.

“The county health commissioner is justifiably concerned with
the public health issue (of rabies), but his concern does not appear
to extend to the health and safety of his employees,” Raetz said.

“We intend to issue personal invitations to the members of the
County Legislature to tour the facility.”

They are expected to use tools such as
pruning shears, hacksaws and hunting
knives.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

After 24 years on the job,

Wheelchair doesn't hold him back

By Anita Manley
CSEA Communications Associate

Architects of the Americans with Disabilities Act need
only look to the Town of Newburgh and police dispatcher
Ray Tweed for guidance in enforcing laws protecting
disabled workers.

A victim of polio, Tweed has been confined to a
wheelchair since he was 19, When he first came to work
as a dispatcher for the police department in 1969, the
police station did not even have a ramp.

“I was running a nurses registry with the wife of the

police chief,” Tweed said.
“When the Chief needed a
dispatcher, she
recommended
mes!)

He started with a one day
trial.

"He told me to see if I liked it,
and I stayed for eight hours. I've
been here ever since."

prohibits

discrimination = Makeshift
against people with ramps were
disabilities. Ray Tweed constructed
succeeded without it. Rotiwced
"I don't feel handicapped Paull

“My co-workers are my
friends. I don’t feel
handicapped here.
They're like my
family.”

here," he says.

wheelchair
Into work. A
new police building

fully accessible
and equipped for the
disabled. But more
important is the caring
attitude of his co-
workers.

“We have a beautiful relationship here,” Tweed said. “My co-
workers are my friends. I don’t feel handicapped here. They're like

A STRONG
SHOWING OF
UNITY-- Members
of CSEA Delaware
County Unit and
Local 813
demonstrated
recently in a
show of
solidaridy as the
unit prepares to
enter contract
negotiations.
Difficult
bargaining
conditions last
year resulted in
the county
imposing a
contract for the
current year; the
CSEA members
wanted to senda
message to the
county that they
are more united
and determined
than ever to win
a fair, equitable
contract.

6 November 1992 gZ :

maneuver his AFTER MORE THAN TWO DECADES as a police dispatcher, Ray Tweed
doesn't plan to retire in the near future. "I don't know what I would do" in
retirement, he says.

my family.”

Recently town police officers obtained a generator for Tweed’s
respirator in case of a power failure.

Town officials recognized Tweed’s dedication to his job in 1990,
presenting him with the Republican Man of the Year Award at a
banquet in his honor. He also received awards from the Police
Benevolent Association and Police Chief John “Terry” Kulisek.

The 24-year employee says he doesn’t plan to retire any time
soon.

“I don't know what I would do,” he said.

Monroe County Unit
cautious, optimistic on
1993 county budget

ROCHESTER — CSEA Monroe County Unit of CSEA Local 828
was prepared for the worst when the 1993 proposed Monroe
County budget came out.

But so far, their early preparations appear to have warded off
serious threats of layoffs and privatization.

“I'm cautiously optimistic,” Unit President Flo Tripi said. “It
looks like all our services are funded, but contracting out can
happen at any time. We have to be on our toes.”

The Monroe County Executive ran for office last year on a
platform that called for contracting out of county services, CSEA
Labor Relations Specialist Karen Spies said. But after CSEA
launched a major campaign to reduce hundreds of proposed
layoffs earlier this year, he apparently learned his lesson.

“The county administration is starting to realize from its initial
efforts that contracting out is just not feasible,” she said. “They're
starting to realize they have to work with their employees.”

The unit is still studying the budget, but so far it looks as if 19
CSEA-represented jobs may be added, Spies said. The county had
originally talked of contracting out its new landfill, but the low bid
for the project came from the county itself, she said.

But both Spies and Tripi said the preliminary picture could
change and they plan to keep a close eye on the budgetary
process,

“On the surface everything looks good,” Tripi said. “But I don’t
think we can let down our guard just yet.”

ECC NAD

THE PUBLIC

The drive to privatize public services is a growing threat to CSEA
members and all public employees in New York.

Privatization or contracting out is literally a sell-out of
government's responsibility to the taxpayers. It is a political quick
fix that can lead to a loss of service, loss of accountability and
increased costs.

The only real beneficiary of privatization is the private contractor
who profits at the public's expense. At the same time the likelihood
of corruption and other abuses increases.

Giving government work over to private companies is not a new
thing. Long ago governments hired private mercenary navies.
These ships were known as privateers, but we remember them as
pirates.

CSEA is going to make sure the public understands the
similarity between the pirates of yesteryear and the corporations
that want to plunder the public till today.

This will not be an easy fight. Some of the country’s wealthiest
and most powerful corporations are out to take over public
services, They see it as an easy way to make money.

These companies will try to sell the idea to politicians

as an easy way to
ae eliminate

{\_ “headaches” in

A message from CSEA President Joe McDermott

Public pride, not private profits

GENERAL NEWS

difficult areas of responsibility.

The truth is however, that the difficult
problems of government don't go away.
Elected officials are responsible for
solving those problems.

CSEA will work through the labor-
management process to help elected
officials improve the delivery of public
services.

This approach is best for our members
and the general public. Public employees
are on the front line delivering services
under the most difficult conditions. We
know how to make government work.

If government officials are serious about improving services they
will tap into the know-how of CSEA’s members.

The choice is a clear one. Dedicated public employees who are
on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week doing some of the
toughest jobs imaginable. Or privateers looking to make a quick
buck and improve a corporation's quarterly financial statement.

CSEA will speak out on behalf of the public employees and in
opposition to the privateers.

Public pride, not private profits! That
is our message
and we will

make sure it
is heard.

a ula’
we.
7

0

November 1992 3

INDEX

Page 9

The Public Sector is an award winner
again, taking two awards in the
International Labor Communications
Association competition.

Pages 10 and 11

Pride, not private profits, is CSEA’s cry as
it fights privatization across the state.

Page 12

New York state's tax structure favors the
wealthy, and the gap between rich and
poor is growing. And state tuberculosis
tests may have given false results.

Page 13

November is Native American Heritage
Month. And if you have a legislative
suggestion for CSEA’s Legislative and
Political Action Department, here's how to
let us know.

Page 14

An important CSEA benefit: The Buyer's
Edge.

Fund established for

child of slain member

WASSAIC — When Wassaic
Developmental Center employee Jackie
Sigler was murdered recently, she left a
seven-year-old daughter to be cared for.

Sigler's parents are caring for the child,
whose father has been arrested for the
murder.

Ascholarship fund for the child has
been established. Anyone wishing to
contribute may send donations to the
Sigler Scholarship Fund, c\o CSEA Local
426, Box 426, Wassaic, NY 12592.

GENERAL NEWS

Kelly Fund aids students

CSEA has announced the winners of the
J.J. Kelly Scholarships for 1992.

The 1992 winners of the $1,000
scholarships are:

Renee Ann Hadley of Boston, N.Y., the
daughter of the late David J. Hadley, who
was a CSEA member employed at the Eden
Junior-Senior High School at the time of
his death. Renee plans to attend Herkimer
Community College.

Kristen A. Schoen of Derby, the daughter
of Joseph E. Schoen who was disabled
through his work with the state
Department of Transportation. Kristen
plans to attend St. Francis College in
Pennsylvania.

In addition to these scholarships, the

Kelly Scholarship Fund will be used to
increase awards to the 1991 McDonough
Scholarship winners by $300; increase
awards to the 1992 Flaumenbaum
Scholarship winners by $250; and increase
the 1992 McDonough Scholarship awards
by $500.

The Kelly scholarships are given in
memory of an attorney who represented
CSEA. Since the fund completed its original
mission of helping Mr, Kelly’s children
complete their education, the fund is used
for scholarships awarded to the children of
CSEA members who have died or were
permanently disabled on the job. At times,
the fund also supplements other CSEA
scholarships.

Central Region helps fire victim

UTICA — CSEA Central Region activists
recently came together to work on a relief
effort for a fellow activist.

At the region's recent fall conference in
Utica, regional activists brought furniture,
clothing and money to help CSEA Oswego
County Local 838 activist Jeanette Engle,
who lost her house and all her belongings
in a devastating fire. Fortunately, Engle and
her three children escaped harm.

While activists worked to fill a truck with
furniture and other household goods, the

regional Executive Board collected more
than $1,000 for Engle’s family.

Region President Jim Moore passed the
donation along to Local 838 President
Charlotte Adkins, who offered thanks on
Engle's behalf. More than $500 was also
collected at a recent board of directors
meeting in Albany, Moore said.

CSEA members wishing to help out can
send donations to: Jeanette Engle, c/o
CSEA Central Region Office, 6596
Kirkville Road, East Syracuse, NY 13057.

The state Employee Assistance Program
(EAP) is looking for EAP program
representatives to serve in various areas of
the state.

Requirements include three years of EAP
experience and experience in making group
presentations.

For more information, contact EAP

EAP hiring program representatives

Director Jim Sipes at 518-457-9381
Resumes can be sent to:
Sandra DeMeo, program administrator
Office of Employee Relations
2nd Floor, Core 1
Swan Street Building
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12223

Summary of September CSEA Board meeting

Editor's note: The Public Sector regularly
publishes a summary of actions taken by
CSEA’s Board of Directors at the Board's
official meetings. The summary is prepared
by CSEA Statewide Secretary Irene Carr for
the information of union members.

In official actions at the September
meeting, the Board:

* Adopted a budget for the fiscal year
beginning Oct. 1;

* Placed in administratorship Local 554
(Goshen Secure Center), Local 433
(Manhattan Children’s Psychiatric Center)
and Local 003 (Buffalo State Employees);

* Ratified a tentative agreement with the
Field Staff Association;

* Authorized full health insurance benefit
to M\C employees with at least 20 years

CSEA service and provided contingent
coverage when such employees find
alternate employment prior to full
retirement;

* Authorized funds to complete the three
year window treatment project at 143
Washington Avenue;

* Initiated mortgage search to finance
construction of new Capital Region office
building;

* Approved request by Jefferson County
Local 823 to enter into a three year lease for
office space;

* Approved selection of Carmen Matthews
and Grace Ortiz to the Southern Region
Political Action Committee;

*Approved selection of Sharon Carraway,
Sally Heater and Colleen Signorelli to the
Central Region Political Action Committee;

8 November 1992 gz

* Approved revised job specifications for
in-house positions of Public Policy /Budget
Analysis Unit Supervisor,
Employee/Member Benefits Unit
Supervisor, Technical Services Unit
Supervisor and Research
Assistant/Analyst;

* Dissolved Local 705 (Metcalf & Eddy
Services, Inc./ Chadwick Lake Water
Filtration Plant); and

* Added William Deck's name to the
CSEA Memorial Plaque.

Questions concerning this summary of
actions taken by CSEA's statewide Board
of Directors should be directed to CSEA
statewide Secretary Irene Carr, CSEA
Headquarters, 143 Washington Avenue,
Albany, NY 12210, 1-800-342-4146 or
518-434-0191.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

Wins multiple awards in international contest

More awards forThe Public Sector

The Public Sector has again been named a_ International Labor Communications featured a photograph of the "Hot Day in
multiple-award winning publication in an Association annual journalistic awards February" union rally that attracted 20,000
international journalism contest. contest for publications issued during public workers to Albany to protest

The latest awards earned by CSEA's 1991. proposed state budget cuts.
official publication were won in the The Public Sector was recognized for The Public Sector has been a multiple-

"best use of graphics" for a display award winner every year the publication
page in the September 1991 edition has been entered in the international

and for "best front page" for the contest.

cover of the February 18, 1991 The annual contest attracts about 1,200
edition. The award-winning page entries from several hundred publications.

[GENERAL NEWS SECTION —___

When Forbes magazine
ran this ad insulting to
public employees ...

CSEA/AFSCME
responded with
this hard-hitting
rebuttal in the

CSEA's official publication has been a multiple-award winner
every year the publication has been entered in the
International Labor Communications Association's annual
journalistic awards contest

New York Times!

Portrait
of the Great American Investor

orbs rage cornu esac hat NE
ate a San Cunt Mi Cae eyes Wo Ue RCM CE

Forbes hus pai servict
‘Dae patents and Aseria
one

= |

an ad, yhotographs,
man aera for "best use
ational journalistic

THIS PAGE combining
headlines and copy Wo!
of graphics" in an intern:
contest.

KEEP UP WITH
CURRENT

EVENTS!

Call CSEA's Current
Issues Hotline for the
latest daily update on

matters that affect you!

| Plus, Bonds are free from
state and loc:
What's me
to buy. You can purchase
Bonds at most banks or

Ve
i suites Bl
You can tell by looking at

him that he believes. in
1 a Q- 42-41 46 working hard. And. he
expects his investments to

do the same. That’s why he

hit 5 on your touchtone telephone puts his money in - ~~ caooopaoo0ee |] through payroll savings at
USS. Savings Bonds. wouproooreoe work
From Main Street to Wall Whether you're investing
Pe) Street, people all over America are discovering $25 or $5,000, buying U.S. Savings Bonds today
that Bonds have changed. And they're now the is one of the smartest moves you can make
Great American Investment Now that Bonds pay a competitive return, it’s
ae. "s easy to see why, When held for five years or easy to become a Great American Investor.
Bonds pay competitive rates, like money Find out more, call anytime 1-800-US-BONDS
market accounts, So you make the most of your
i money, without having to work at it

Honus tela ies han five years earn a lower rite A publi ‘cofthis punt

November 1992 8)

GENERAL NEWS

‘Government has a responsibility

to provide public services to

everyone in our society, not just the

wealthy who can afford to buy these

services. Government cannot meet
that responsibility by contracting
out its functions to private sector

profiteers.'
-—— CSEA President Joe McDermott

CSEA instrumental in Brookhaven saving

Privatization is a

gimmick that
has repeatedly
failed at
every level

millions by not privatizing public projects

BROOKHAVEN — CSEA has been
instrumental in saving the Long Island Town
of Brookhaven millions of dollars by
convincing officials that contracting out is not
the answer.

When CSEA Suffolk County Local 852
President Bill Walsh heard the town was
putting out bids for private contractors to
handle the capping of filled sections of the
Brookhaven landfill, he immediately
approached the director of landfill operations
and made a case for keeping the work in-
house.

“The lowest bid that came in
was for $7.1 million,” Walsh said.
“Three-and-a-half million dollars
was a set fee for a special liner,
including installation. The rest
was to pay for the work.

“I figured out that we could do
all the other phases of capping
ourselves at a savings of $3
million, including all necessary
overtime,” Walsh said.

The town agreed and the employees have
been doing the work themselves.

Unfortunately, however, the town failed to
plan for the next area that had to be capped
and is now looking to contract it out before
they miss the state-mandated deadline.

According to Walsh, the town had the
employees working on other projects from
January to June this year, making it virtually
impossible for them to complete the last phase
of capping the first area as well as completing

"So many towns and
counties look for
quick-fix solutions
when they should
look no further than
the CSEA members
they employ"

-~ Bill Walsh

all phases of capping the additional area.

“Poor planning will cost the town
approximately $1.3 million more than if we
did the work,” Walsh said. “The town should
have been aware the deadline was
approaching and given us the opportunity to
handle it.”

Walsh chaired a Solid Waste Taskforce
created in 1989 by CSEA President Joe
McDermott. That taskforce issued a report on
the economic and environmental impact of
handling solid waste throughout New York.

“So many towns and counties look for
quick-fix solutions when they
should look no further than the
CSEA members they employ,”
Walsh said.

Walsh and his unit members
also saved the town money and
aggravation in another situation
by pointing out that employees
with Class B licenses could be
moved up to Class A licenses.
That enabled those employees to
operate a truck and trailer combination.

Before the license upgrade of 12 employees,
the town had men pulled from other worksites
to drive the trailer, which carried a bulldozer
to the worksite. The employees who had Class
B licenses could drive the bulldozers but not
the truck and trailer to get the bulldozer to the
site,

Also, Walsh, said his unit has a improper
practice case pending regarding trucking
trash for ash, a deal the Town of Brookhaven

Penn Yan School District says
‘enough's enough;' contracts-in

PENN YAN — After more than 10 years of
paying a private contractor for transportation
services, the Penn Yan Central School District
decided enough was enough.

“They were paying out a whole lot of money
to do dispatch, maintenance and driving,”
CSEA Unit President Keith Champlin said.

School District Business Manager Gary
Texido agreed, saying changes in the state aid
formula that allow the district to pay
employee benefits with state aid make
contracting-in more cost efficient.

“We felt there was a cost savings,” Texido
said. “Plus there was a benefit to the
transportation employees. They got an
average of a 10 percent raise (over their bus
company salary).”

1 0 January 1992

The transportation staff of about 35 drivers,
mechanics and dispatchers are now
represented by CSEA.

The transition worked well, Champlin said,
since the district hired many employees who
had worked for the private vendor, some of
whom had worked for the school district
before the private vendor was hired.

The transition was smooth in part because
despite hiring a private vendor, the district
maintained ownership of the buses, the
garage and other equipment.

The process of returning to an in-district
transportation system included consulting
with employees and the union, Texido said,
because the district wanted to ensure it went
smoothly.

has with the Town of Hempstead.

According to Walsh, the town could save
approximately $2.5 million if they buy their
own equipment and do the transporting in-
house.

Walsh said the town will spend over $10
million on private contracting.

"Our new town supervisor, John LaMura,
recently made a public statement that if
anyone points out cost-saving measures, he
will work to impement them. This transport
deal is a perfect example of a huge cost-saving!
suggestion,” Walsh said.

Newburgh dumps
private contractor
for water treatment

TOWN OF NEWBURGH — Town officials
have dropped a private water treatment
contractor in favor of a town operation after
five years of privatization. Town Supervisor
Robert A. Kunkel said the decision to regain
town control will

deftely save Supervisor

axpayers money.

The move is says move

another reversal of will

recent local :

government trends to definitely

contract out such

services. save
Privatization of taxpayers

public services is a

gimmick that has money

repeatedly failed at
the federal, state and local levels.

Kunkel's predecessor hired the firm of
Metcalf and Eddy in 1987 after residents
complained of poor water quality. CSEA
protested the decision in 1987, suggesting
that the town instead hire a manager who was
knowledgeable in water treatment operation.

“We lacked the expertise in-house then to
deal with the problems,” Kunkel said. “But
now we have a full-time engineer who is a
water specialist and we have a fulltime plant
manager.”

Kunkel said the town will definitely save
money with its own operation but said it's too
early to tell just how much.

“We won't know until a year into the
operation, but | feel we'll save money,” the
supervisor said.

Seven employees have been added to the
CSEA bargaining unit as a result of the
change.

i

\

The Civil Service
Employees Res, Local 1000, AFSCME
Association, Inc. ,™= AFL-CIO

CSEA IS LEADING THE FIGHT AGAINST

THE RETURN OF THE PRIVATEERS!

to provide public services. Privateers are driven by profit and greed. Public employees, motivated only by the public good, provide the
most efficient public services. That's why CSEA is doing everything possible to prevent politicians from turning privateers loose again.

JANUARY FEBRUARY

SUNDAY MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY| THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY} THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6

New Year's Day

3 4 ie 6 i 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Lincoln's Birthday

10 an 12 13 14 15) 16 14 15 16 “lth 18 19 20
Washington's
Birthday
Valentine's Day (observed)
ee 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 2s 26 27.
Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Washington's
Day Birthday ‘Ash Wednesday
24 25 26 PYG 28 29 30 28
31 deity

nn nn mn x = = om

SUNDAY MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY] THURSDAY FRIDAY | SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY} THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 & 3
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 u 8 9 10
Palm Sunday
Passion Sunday Passover Good Friday
14 15 16 Wie 18 19 20 W 12 13 14 15 16 17
STATE STATE
St. Patrick's Day Easter Sunday WORKSHOP | WORKSHOP
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
CSEA
STATE
WORKSHOP
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30
WORKERS
MEMORIAL
DAY
SUNDAY MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY| THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY| THURSDAY | FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 1 2 3 4 5
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 i 8 9 10 1 12

CSEA. CSEA
LOCAL GOV'T | LOCAL GOV'T
WORKSHOP | WORKSHOP

9 10 1 12 13 14 15 EiagPay: “13 14 15 16 17 18 19
PUBLIC CSEA i
cures PEO
16 17 18 19 20 21 ee 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
23 24 A 25 26 27 28 29 ar 28 29 30
ee
30 ch

reciona. THE CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION CSE&¥

CAPITAL REGION

LONG ISLAND REGION METROPOLITAN REGION SOUTHERN REGION NTRAL REGION WESTERN REGION

GLORIA MORAN, President GEORGE BONCORAGLIO, President PAT MASCIOLI, President CHALLEN MEAD, Fresident JAMES J. MOORE, President ROBERT LATTIMER, President

Suite 402
1215 Western
Albany, NY
(518)

95 Kirkville Road 482 Delaware Avenue
yracuse, NY 13057 Buffalo, NY 14202
433-00: (716) 886-0391

300 Vanderbilt Motor Parkway 40 Fulton Street 22nd Floor 209 Old Route 9 Suite 1
Hauppauge, NY 11788 New York, NY 10038 Fishkill, NY 12524
(516) 273-2280 (212) 406- (914) 896-8180

es, Local 1000, AFSCME
AFL-CIO

The Civil Service
Employees

Association, Inc.

CSEA IS LEADING THE FIGHT AGAINST |

THE RETURN OF THE PRIVATEERS!

le

diss he, ng Pe ‘ Z ae ail bia
Politicians once hired private companies to provide mercenary ships, called privateers, to do government work. We know them as pirates.
Today many politicians are trying to hoist the same old idea. This time around they call it privatization, the hiring of private companies
to provide public services. Privateers are driven by profit and greed. Public employees, motivated only by the public good, provide the
most efficient public services. That's why CSEA is doing everything possible to prevent politicians from turning privateers loose again.

JULY AUGUST

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY |WEDNESDAY| THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY] THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 G
4 5 6 if 8 9 10 8 9 10 1 12 13 14
Independence Day

1 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31

CSEA CSEA

RETIREES RETIREES

CONVENTION | CONVENTION

Em ES me ie
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY| THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY| THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 2 3 4 1 2
CSEA CSEA CSEA CSEA
RETIREES RETIREES WOMEN'S WOMEN'S.

CONVENTION | CONVENTION CONFERENCE! CONFERENCE

5 6 if 8 9 10) 1 3 4 5 6 Uo 8 9

WOMEN'S
Labor Day CONFERENCE
V2 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Rosh Hashanah Columbus Day
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ile 18 19 20 21 22 23
Yom Kippur
26 an 28 29 30 24 25 26 er 28 29 30
eS
ay
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY} THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY ; SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY} THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4
Election Day
i 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 6 7 8 9 10 a)
Veterans Day Hanukkah
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2: 13 14 15 16 iA 18

ANNUAL ANNUAL. ANNUAL ANNUAL ANNUAL
DELEGATES | DELEGATES | DELEGATES | DELEGATES | DELEGATES
MEETING MEETING MEETING MEETING MEETING

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 19 20 21 ee 23 24 25

Thanksgiving
Day Christmas Day

28 29 30 26 27 28 29 30 31

THE CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION

STATEWIDE HEADQUARTERS: 143 WASHINGTON AVENUE; ALBANY, NY 12210 (518) 434-0191 1-800-342-4146
JOE McDERMOTT, President DANNY DONOHUE, Executive Vice President IRENE CARR, Secretary ‘MARY E. SULLIVAN, Treasurer

GLENS FALLS - A long, two-year
prt by CSEA paid off for Glens Falls
@aidents and the city’s wastewater
jreatment plant employees as the city
‘ouncil finally voted down a proposal to

atize the potentially profitable facility by a
of 5 to 1.

‘Our message finally got through - the
Dbwplic should reap any profits the waste water
H incinerator facility generates, not the for-
Ofit contractor,” CSEA Labor Relations
Pe Bob Morris said.

‘or two years the Glens Falls Waste Water
jatment plant employees, part of the overall
ity of Glens Falls CSEA unit, have been
mpaigning against a move to privatize the
lity in a variety of ways. These included
@plic statements at various city meetings,
formational pickets and paid advertising
brming the public of the actions of the
tractor in other areas.
“The processing plant can and should make
nancy for the taxpayers and residents so that
{ city taxes could go down. If a contractor
ms the plant with a built-in CPI increase the
ity would eventually find itself paying higher
higher rates, so that the contractor could
e higher and higher profits,” Morris

e union's effort during the

jpaign supplied so much free
losure for the sludge processing
bility and incinerator of the plant

an out-of-state company offered
city $600,000 worth of business.
other private corporation in the city
omised the city $850,000 worth of business
e city continued to operated the facility. At
point Envirotech Operating Systems, the
ivate contractor, offered the city council a
p0,000 franchise fee in advance in order to
prate the plant in the private sector. Some
embers of the city council questioned that
fer as being close to bribery.

pue Brouillette, CSEA city unit president
fieves CSEA has to keep up the pressure on
he city administration to force it to serve the

‘-ANANDAIGUA — CSEA convinced Finger
fakes Community College (FLCC) officials to
iry using its own employees to maintain a new
ilding before going to a private vendor.
ile the Ontario County campus is
leaned by a CSEA-represented staff of about
, Management wanted to contract out for
fo cleaners to work in a new building.
But thanks to an agreement regarding an
earlier contracting-out flap (see adjacent
ry), Ontario County talked with CSEA
fore contracting out services to private
vendors.
That gave the union a chance to make its
Bs. FLCC Unit President Dave Bloom said.
he college agreed to use two temporary
cleaners for the new building in a six-month
ial.
“We gave them the pros and cons,” he said.
‘Our people are much more flexible than
ntract employees, and that's good for the
pricce as a whole.”

needs of the public as
well as the public
employees.

“The mayor has said
the city has a $500,000
deficit. However, it seems
that only he knows
where it is,” Brouillette
said. “We have had
employees laid off, we
have had threats of
contracting out jobs. i
Now we must find out if
the deficit was just a sham and if the city was
using that to make the privatization of the
plant look good to taxpayers.

“Now we must work together with the

GENERAL NEWS

s7 WAST
ror
pe ple

CSE |

FAR ErS to make the sewage treatment plant
profitable and to force the mayor to explain
where the supposed deficit is, how it came
about and how it can be resolved without cuts
in services to the taxpayers,” she said. a

‘dollar for dollar, on a level playing field,
public employees are a bargain..."

NEW YORK - To expose the true waste,
fraud and abuse rampant in privatization
schemes, CSEA Metropolitan Region President
George Boncoraglio and other public employee

union leaders testified at New York City
Council hearings. They supported
proposed precedent-setting council

@ legislation that would force the city
=] to prove in advance that private

contractors will actually save a
ay minimum of 20 percent over the
cost of public employees doing the
same work.
CSEA argued for establishment of
reasonable, minimum cost-saving standards
that government officials must meet before
public work is contracted out, Boncoraglio
said.

“This is ground-breaking legislation,”
Boncoraglio said, “because dollar for dollar,
competing on a level playing field, public
employees are a bargain when it comes to
saving taxpayers money.”

Union officials pointed out the ineptitude
and waste of private contractors caught

During a recent flood in the new building,
for instance, the college was able to marshall
its entire cleaning staff to handle the
emergency. FLCC would lose that flexibility
with contracted workers, Bloom said.

squandering millions in botched construction
jobs and improperly installed water meters
during recent scandals that rocked the city.
Many outside contractors hired by the city
and state are Beadauarered outside New

York, draining
GEORGE

more New York
BONCORAGLIO money out of an
testifying at already
hearing.

devastated
= i
;
§

economy.
“CSEA believes
fl that having
minimum
standards of cost
effectiveness
before
| privatization can
stem the tide
against the
debacle of non-
monitored
outside
contractors
reaping lanes blind,” Boncoraglio said.

SEA convinces FLCC to use union cleaners...

Debbie Lee, CSEA collective bargaining
specialist, said contracting out the work in a
new building would have hurt the morale of
longtime employees. She also echoed Bloom's
concern over lack of direct control.

..and union fighting to regain the college garage

CANANDAIGUA — CSEA is fighting to have
vehicle maintenance services for Finger Lakes
Community College restored to the county
garage.

The college contracted out the work to a
private, for-profit vendor earlier this year.
They based the move on an audit that said
county garage’s labor rate was much higher
than that of the for-profit contractor.

CSEA immediately protested the deal, and
as a result, the county agreed to negotiate
with the union before contracting out any
other services.

“We're not through fighting for the garage,”
CSEA Ontario County Unit President Elaine

Haskins said. “We're not dropping this. We're
very optimistic because everything we have
shows contracting out is costing more money.

CSEA has already criticized the audit that
raised the county garage’s labor rate from $45
an hour to $65 an hour, CSEA Labor
Relations Specialist Pat Domaratz said.

“But you can't just compare labor rates,” he
said. “The contractor charges by the hour,
even if the job takes half an hour. And the
contractor can't get state rates for parts, so
they can’t compete on parts,”

One job done by the for-profit contractor
that cost the college $250 would have cost
$130 in the county garage, Domaratz said.

' i November 1992 1 1

GENERAL NEWS

New York taxes favor the rich,
|

ALBANY — The rich got richer while the
poor lost ground in New York and the
state's tax policies have contributed to the
growing gap.

That's according to the Fiscal Policy
Institute (FPI). New York had the fifth
widest income gap between rich and poor of
the 50 states in the late 1980s, according
to a study by the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities which FPI released.

During the 1980s, while the pre-tax
income disparity between the rich and poor

dropped 10 percent or $1,068 from 1979
to the late 1980s, after adjusting for
inflation. Meanwhile the incomes of the
richest 20 percent rose 20 percent or
$18,051 per family.

New York's tax laws have increased the
disparity between rich and poor. The top
income tax rate, once 13.5 percent, has
dropped to only 7.9 percent and could drop
to 7 percent if remaining steps of the 1987
tax cut are implemented.

“The state is creating a monster with the

was growing faster in New York than in all
but four other states, the state changed
its tax policies to benefit the rich even
more.

Earlier this year, FPI reported that the
richest 5 percent of New Yorkers paid $1
billion less in state income taxes in 1991
than they would have owed under 1985
tax laws.

“We've been saying all along, we all have
to pay our fair share, and fair is the
operative word,” CSEA President Joe
McDermott said. “This study is proof the
richest New Yorkers have not done so, and
that’s because tax laws allow them to
escape paying their fair share. The burden
has fallen on working people and the
poor.”

According to the report, the average
income of New York's poorest 20 percent

“We have to
have a system
that is fair to

everyone”

CSEA President Joe
McDermott

Results may have been wrong
in tuberculosis testing program

Individuals who tested positive for
tuberculosis (TB) infection in the past year
may not actually be infected.

The state Health Department has
investigated unexpectedly high rates of
individuals testing positive and has
determined that there may be a problem
with the testing product.

Following concerns about a TB epidemic
in the state Department of Correctional
Services, nearly 100,000 prisoners and
public employees received TB tests last
year, Thousands of additional public
employees have been tested under
landmark public employee occupational
safety and health guidelines for TB
exposure adopted by the state earlier this
year,

1 2 November 1992 gZ

The rich don't pay their fair share of NY taxes

S

State and local taxes as percentage of income in 1991

159
Se 14.5%

13.7%

NOBROOON FS OD

oe)

$14,200

$44,200 $61,400

THE RICH PAY LESS of their overall income in state and local taxes in New York, as
the graph above illustrates. Those making more than $1.4 million pay only 8.6
percent of their income in taxes, while those making only $14,200 pay 15 percent of

their income in taxes.

The health department investigation
identified 25 individuals in different parts
of the state with no prior history of testing
positive for TB who tested positive using a
product called SCLAVO Purified Protein
Derivative. Follow-up testing using a
different testing product was negative for
TB.

Samples from the product lots that
produced these false positive results have
been forwarded to the federal Food and
Drug Administration for further testing.

In the meantime, the Health
Department advises the following:

* No further testing be done using the
SCLAVO product until there is
additional information. Other products
should be substituted;

tax cuts that lead to bigger and bigger
deficits,” McDermott said. “We have to have
a system that is fair to everyone so the
state can solve its perennial budget
problems.”

Like CSEA, FPI advocates a tax increase
on those making $150,000 or more to
restore the $1 billion a year lost because of
tax policies that favor the rich. FPI also
calls for the closing of corporate tax
loopholes and the expansion of sales tax to
cover business services.

11.9%

10.5%

8.6%

$98,500 $240,500 $1.4 mill

* Individuals who had positive test
results using the SCLAVO product lots
#192, #219, or #221, should be retested
using a different product. Those who
don't know the lot number and can’t
find out should also be retested.

* Individuals who are currently
receiving TB preventive therapy due to
the positive test results using the
SCLAVO product should receive priority
for retesting.

* Individuals who have questions
about their condition should contact
their physician or health care facility,
particularly about the possible need for
retesting.
GENERAL NEWS

November is Native American Heritage Month

CSEA member studies his
own Native American Heritage

EDITOR'S NOTE: November is Native
American Heritage Month, which provides
the opportunity to learn about the
contributions of Native Americans. New
York is home to about 40,000 Native
Americans living in every county and on 10
reservations. Many work for local
governments, school districts and the state
and are represented by CSEA. This story is
about one CSEA member who is exploring
his own heritage.

ALBANY — For CSEA member Anthony
Bonomo, living in two cultures is a way of
life.

A clerk in the state Department of Social
Services and member of CSEA Local 688,
Bonomo is part Chippewa and part Italian.
He has spent time and effort trying to learn
more about both aspects of his heritage.

He has worked on his family geneology
and, as part of his work in DSS, he’s
studied “cultural pluralism,” which
describes how different cultures survive
and work together in American society.

“I think cultural pluralism is a big issue
for Native Americans,” Bonomo said. “The
old idea was the melting pot where A plus B
is supposed to equal AB. What it really
means is it equals A.”

That's because one culture becomes
dominant and the other can disappear. For
example, Native Americans for many years
were not allowed to speak their own
languages or practice their traditional
religions. Many Native Americans have tried
to conform to white culture because they
believe the only way to succeed is to
abandon their own.

Then there is the problem of marginality,
he said.

“That's trying to live in two worlds but
never really being accepted in either,” he
said. “That's a big problem.”

Although he was born in the New York
City area, lives in Albany and spends time
with relatives on a reservation in northern
Minnesota, Bonomo said marginality isn't a

big problem for him: His Native American
relatives accept him completely.

For Bonomo Native American Heritage
Month serves an important purpose
because many people have no
understanding of the issues facing Native
Americans. Poverty is a problem on
reservations and prejudice follows them off
the reservation. He has been with his
relatives in towns near the reservation and
they have been followed and yelled at
because they are Native, he said.

Bonomo himself carries a small
identification card that says he is a
Chippewa.

“We are the only race of people the federal
government keeps track of,” he said.

The practice started when the
government was fulfilling treaties that
called for giving blankets, guns and other
items to Native Americans. Often, Bonomo
said, the blankets were flea-infested and
guns would blow up in people's faces.

“The treaties were never held in good
faith,” he said.

His great-grandfather was one of many
Native Americans who because of poverty
sold off his plot of land on the reservation.
By the time federal law prohibited the
practice, more than 40 percent of the
reservation belonged to non-Natives.

Native American Heritage Month is a
good idea because it gives people the
opportunity to learn more about Native
culture. Education is a key to
understanding and acceptance.

“I think people should be informed,” he
said. “I think people should be tolerant and
not so hostile.”

CSEA's Legislative and Political Action Department is preparing for the 1993 session of the state

and mail it to:

CSEA Legislative and Political Action Department

143 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210

r
I

I

1

I

I

'Legislature. If you have any suggestions for legislation, let the department know. Fill out this coupon
I

I

I

I

I

!

I

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
!
I
I
I
I
I
I
CSEA Local No; sd
I
I
I
I
1
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
i

g f November 1992 13

GENERAL NEWS SECTION

This CSEA member
benefit can save

you money this holiday season

CSEA, in conjunction with The Buyer's Edge, a consumer
buying service, offers CSEA members a great way to save money
on the purchase of major consumer products this holiday season
and all year round.

The Buyer's Edge is a consumer buying service that negotiates
extra discounts and lowest price guarantees on many big ticket
products that would not otherwise be available to individual
buyers.

How To Use The Buyer's Edge Program

Shop around. Determine the exact make, model and style
number of the item you want. Then simply call the appropriate
toll-free number listed below and ask the participating Buyer's
Edge vendor for their guaranteed lowest price. Then, using a
credit card or check, and from the comfort of your home, buy by

factory-authorized dealer, The Buyer's Edge requires that the
participating vendor mail you the difference, plus 20 percent of
that difference. This guarantee even covers advertised sales,
discount houses and other buying plans. (Silver and gold items,
services, merchandise offered with limits on availability or quantity, dealer-
installed options and prices after manufacturers’ cut-off dates for model years
on new cars are not covered by this guarantee.)

Member Protection Service That Works For You
If you ever receive less than superior treatment with regard to
price, delivery or service, immediately speak to the management of
the participating vendor. If you don't get satisfactory results, write

ue The Buyer's Edge

1429 Route 22 East

phone from the participating vendor. Mountainside, NJ 07092

Be prepared to give the CSEA group number whenever you
contact a participating vendor.
THE CSEA BUYER'S EDGE GROUP NUMBER IS 1811.

Important Re

der: When compari always be sure you
Sori rvici

price is the comple’

prepared to give
ating vendor

THE.CSEA BUYER'S EDGE GROUP NUMBER IS 1811.

Lowest Price Guarantee
If you buy a product for $150 or more through a Buyer's Edge
vendor, and within 30 days (and within 50 miles if you buy in
person at the vendor's store) you find the same item for less at a

CALL THE APPROPRIATE BUYER'S EDGE TELEPHONE NUMBER BELOW FOR ALL YOUR GIFT-GIVING NEEDS

MAJOR APPLIANCES: Air conditioners, refrigerators, dehumidifiers, freezers,
washers, dryers, ranges, dishwashers, disposal units, microwaves and vacuum cleaners.
TV & VIDEO EQUIPMENT: All types of color televisions including big screen,
video recorders and video cameras.
*Shop in person plans also available.
AUDIO EQUIPMENT: Receivers, turntables, tape decks, speakers, amplifiers,
systems, consoles and compact disc players.
CARPETING & RUGS: Select most any style or color, wall-to-wall broadloom or any size area rugs.
Complete local installation available for home or commercial use. 25 sq. yd. minimum.
CHINA, CRYSTAL, SILVER, PORCELAIN FIGURINES: Bridal Registry available.
DIAMONDS, FINE JEWELRY, WATCHES
EXERCISE EQUIPMENT: Rowers, universal stationary exercise bikes,
treadmills, ski machines, free weights and Physicians Scales.

Rochester area*- 716-427-8360
Buffalo NY area*- 716-838-3345
All other areas - 1-800-377-3700
1-800-543-0911
718-720-3792

Downstate-

1-800-526-5389
1-800-543-8235
1-800-635-9136

1-800-541-9905

1-800-631-0286
1-800-631-0286
1-800-543-8237

FURNITURE: Authorized dealer for over 300 furniture manufacturers. In business since 1940.
LIGHTING: Lamps, chandeliers, and sconces, most major quality brands.
LUGGAGE: Travel, briefcases, portfolios, attache cases, travel accessories.

PERSONAL COMPUTERS: Computers, terminals, monitors, add-on boards, printers, modems,

dise drives. Some computer products may be refurbished. Ask for details. 1-800-345-6265

1-800-526-6825
1-800-635-0755
1-800-543-7406
1-800-634-8538

PIANOS & ORGANS: Choose from almost all major brands for home, church or school. (Ask for Otto or Liz)

SEWING MACHINES: Singer and other brands.

TYPEWRITERS

TRAVEL: Discount on any advertised trip, package, tour charter or cruise - plus FREE trip life insurance on air travel.

CAR PLAN:

1. SHOP - decide make, model, and options

2. CALL - for referral to local cooperating dealer

3. DEALERSHIP SAVINGS - ask for The Buyer's Edge price documentation book, Compute your price.
If book not available, call Car Plan.

Computer printout - Price information mailed to you for nominal charge.

Used Cars - Late models only (5 years or less) 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.

VACUUM CLEANERS

1-800-543-8381
1-800-377-3700

FURS: Buy quality furs directly from manufacturers. Call for appointment. 212-947-9140

KITCHEN CABINETS/COUNTER TOPS: Call for referral. 1-800-327-3599

MOVING PLAN: Professional services, household goods/autos (distances over 40 miles

or interstate), Free in-home estimate. Call 4 weeks prior to moving date. 1-800-356-7771

REAL ESTATE PLAN: Call referral service before contacting broker.

Ask about specific savings on purchase or sale of a home. 1-800-232-6766

YOUR UNION, WORKING FOR YOU!

Keep up with Current Issues:

Call Ae 800-342-4146 and hit 5 on your touch-tone phone for
the latest information

November 1992

14

STATE GOVERNMENT NEWS

CSEA wins age

discriminatio

STATEN ISLAND — It took nine years, but CSEA member Jim
Ward persevered in a legal battle against age discrimination at

Arthur Kill Correctional Facility.

As a result of his victory over the state Department of
Correctional Services (DOCS), Ward will receive $35,000 including
back pay and compensatory damages of $25,000 for mental

anguish and humiliation.

The CSEA New York City State Employees Local 010 member is
grateful to Arthur Kill Correctional Facility Shop Steward Bob
Richards and CSEA Labor Relations Specialist Charles Bell for

their tireless support in his long battle.

The administrative law judge ordered DOCS, Arthur Kill
Correctional and the state departments of Civil Service Department
and Audit and Control to “cease and desist discrimination against

(Ward) or any person on the basis of age.”

He also ordered that written directions prohibiting age
discrimination be provided to all DOCS supervisors and hiring

personnel.

Ward filed his case after his employers promoted a younger, less
qualified employee to senior stationary engineer grade 14 in 1983.

“My wife thought I'd be under the ground with a tombstone on
me before this was over,” Ward said, “but if something had
happened to me, I knew we'd have the Human Rights Commission

and CSEA to see that these things were taken

As a 55-year-old ex-Merchant Marine and licensed engineer,
Ward applied for the power plant promotion with 12 years of

outstanding state job evaluations behind him.

But the promotion went to a 28-year-old unlicensed engineer

whom he had coached to pass examinations.
When Ward was told point-blank “we are go’
old guys,” he decided it was a fight to the finis!

Even while management kept asking him when he was retiring
and being bumped back a grade, Ward hung on with CSEA’s

support.

Even after he was appointed to the job when it became vacant

n case

Bell.

care of.”

ing to get rid of the
h.

CSEA MEMBER JIM WARD, left, gets congratulations on his age
discrimination victory from Labor Relations Specialist Charles

CSEA member
Jim Ward
awarded $35,000
in back pay and
damages!

again, Ward stuck with his case.

Problem followed problem as state cutbacks in the Human
Rights Division and delays with new attorneys slowed the case.
Ward made many long trips to the human rights office, and was
even mugged once. His chief witness believed so strongly in the
case that he traveled 500 miles twice to testify.

Still Ward stuck with it until the last hearing was held.

“I was really sick over it,” Ward said. “At night I couldn't sleep,
hearing voices saying ‘you're too old for the job.’ I had to take
medication, and my wife was very upset."

Now that he’s won his case, Ward has some specific plans that
don't include retirement.

“I'm 65 now and have no plans to retire. I have 21 years’ service
in now,” he said. “I'm going to my church and make a donation
and thank God for my health.”

November is Option Transfer Month,
when state employees may change their
health insurance option, Pre-tax
Contribution status, and/or Dependent
Care Advantage Account participation.

Employees who wish to change Empire
Plan or Health Maintenance Organization
(HMO) options must do so during the
Option Transfer Period by contacting their
health benefits administrator, located in
their agency personnel office.

The 1993 Benefit Choices Guide
(including NYSHIP Profiles) publication was
scheduled to be mailed to homes during
the last week in October. The Guide
describes both the Empire Plan and the
NYSHIP-approved HMO's in your
geographic region. The guide also includes
information about the Pre-tax Contribution
Program and the Dependent Care
Advantage Account Program. Read the
Benefit Choices Guide carefully in order to
make informed decisions,

Two changes may affect your health care
choice. As a result of meetings between
Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan
(CDPHP) and the HMO Workgroup, which
is comprised of representatives from the
Joint Labor Management Committee on
Health Benefits, CDPHP will be accepting
new enrollees in 1993, In addition, Blue
Choice and Group Health have merged and
will be known as “Blue Choice.” Effective
Jan.1, 1993, enrollees can choose to
receive their medical care in either a Blue

Choice private physician's office or one of
the Group Health Medical Centers. Both
settings receive the same benefits.
However, members who receive their care
at a Group Health Medical Center will
incur no co-payment for in-center office
visits. For more information regarding Blue
Choice, refer to the 1993 Benefits Choices
Guide.

Use Benefit Choices Guide and rate
information together
After you receive Benefit Choices Guide
in the mail, look for the 1993 rates to be
distributed at your agency in November.
Should you wish to change your health
insurance option, you will be given 30 days
from the date rate information is
distributed to your agency to make your
change.
If you decide NOT to change your
health insurance option, you do not
have to take any action.

Premium payments

Remember in reviewing the Guide and
the rate schedule that whether you are
enrolled in the Empire Plan or an HMO,
the state pays 90 percent of the cost of
your premium for individual coverage and
you pay the remaining 10 percent. For
family coverage, the state pays 90 percent
of the cost of your premium as the
enrollee, plus 75 percent of the additional
cost for family coverage regardless of the

November is Health Insurance Option transfer period

number of dependents.
Two additional choices
to consider

The Pre-tax Contribution Program
allows you to have your health insurance
premiums deducted from your pay before
taxes are taken out. This may lower your
taxable income and give you more
spendable income. This benefit is explained
in the NYSHIP General Information Book. If
you want to change your tax status for
1993 health insurance premiums, you
should see your health benefits
administrator by Nov. 30, which is the
IRS imposed deadline. No action is
required if you wish to keep your current
pre-tax option.

The Dependent Care Advantage
Account Program helps you reduce your
taxes and increase your spendable income
by paying your dependent care expenses
with pre-tax dollars. This program is
available if you have dependent children
under the age of 13, disabled children of
any age, or adult relatives needing care in
order for you to continue working.

A brochure explaining how this program
works is available from your agency Health
Benefits Administrator. The enrollment
deadline is Nov. 15. However, employees
who experience a family status change may
still enroll during the program year. For
further information, see your agency
Health Benefits Administrator or call
1-800-358-7202.

Qctor November 1992 1 5

taraandls tyre

CRE Ol cee ee

Cth ae hei ch atta A ote

at bain Sah MS on

dhekseets hE K ai

STATE GOVERNMENT NEWS

CSEA members fight for health

They're suing
computer makers
over unsafe
equipment

By Lilly Gioia
CSEA Communications Associate

NEW YORK — CSEA members are filing
lawsuits against computer manufacturers
whose shoddy keyboard designs have
caused them painful injuries.

Carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes
pain in fingers, hands and wrists, is caused
by repetitive motions. One cau: typing
at an awkward angle on a computer
keyboard.

The product liability lawsuits of CSEA
members and others are a ground-breaking
legal approach. Generally, victims of these
types of injuries have filed for workers
compensation. But workers compensation
laws don't allow them to sue their
employers or collect for pain and suffering.

If successful, suing the manufacturers
will give injured workers another avenue for

CSEA LOCAL 450

syndrome.

President Steve Pezenik
suffers from carpal tunnel

recompense for what are often long-term
injuries.

CSEA is helping workers across the state
identify symptoms of carpal tunnel
syndrome. Repetitive strain injuries cause
more than half the country’s work-related
ailments, according to the federal
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration.

CSEA Metropolitan Public Service Local

said, “and I have trouble walking with my
seeing-eye dog on the leash because it
hurts so much.”

CSEA Metropolitan Region President
George Boncoraglio urged members who
think they may have carpal tunnel trauma
to get a diagnosis and file workers
compensation claims promptly.

“There's a statute of limitations,” he said.
“If you delay, you can lose your legal

450 President Steve Pezenik rights.”
wears a wrist brace at work and CSEA Labor Department
walle sleeping to alouate pain “T can't pce oe Ser DL LD ene
rom a compressed nerve. ook cortisone shots in the

“I tried tore my hands even open palm of her left hand to relieve
between calls, but I still had acan of carpal tunnel pain, then had
numbness in my hands,” he ” surgery.
said. “At night I'd wake up with soup “My hands have caused me

pain in my fingers, thumb,
wrist and shoulder.”

Pezenik, a NYS Public Service
Commission employee, realized he had the
syndrome after a CSEA program on carpal
tunnel. He was diagnosed, filed a workers
compensation claim and a product liability
lawsuit.

Jane Teabutt, a NYS Parole Division
keyboard specialist, also followed up after a
CSEA program. Until then, her doctor
thought she had arthritis. Teabutt, who is
blind, has problems at home because of her
injuries.

“I can’t even open a can of soup,”

she

-Jane Teabutt

excruciating pain in the middle
of the night and I still sleep
with a splint,” Penna said. She
now has the condition in her right hand
and is fighting back in the courts.

When Steve Pezenik realized he had
carpal tunnel problems, his supervisor
said, “You know it doesn’t hurt! You're just
making it up. Be a man.” Since then, that
supervisor moved to another unit and PSC
management has brought in ergonomic
chairs.

“They're planning to bring in more
ergonomic furniture in the future,” Pezenik
said. “They're now making an attempt.”

Repetitive strain injuries today cause more
than half the country’s work-related
ailments, according to a new report by the
federal Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA).

Reported cases of repetitive strain injuries
have more than tripled since 1984, when
they cost $27 billion in lost wages and
medical expen: fe

Now OSHA is considering setting new
standards covering a range of cumulative
trauma disorders. The agency also plans to
reopen its investigation into skyrocketing

carpal tunnel problems.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome causing more injuries

Those problems are “the invisible and
silent health problem that is screaming for
attention in millions of workplaces,” CSEA
Safety and Health Director Jim Corcoran
said.

A recent ABC-TV News Special Report
focused on research and development efforts
to construct new keyboard configurations,
calling carpal tunnel syndrome a silent
epidemic that is finally being recognized.

CSEA has long recognized the problem,
however, and has offered programs and
information on this difficult and painful
occupations! injury.

1 6" November 1992 gZ 4

STATE GOVERNMENT NEWS

CSE». CSEs:

Protest over
safety

“WHO HAS TO BE SHOT before someone pays
attention to the lack of security?” CSEA Local 401
members protested recently at the Bronx
Psychiatric Center over security threats. Therapy
aides there continue to be menaced on the job by a
gun-toting former patient.

Fraud conviction shows
dark side of privatization

In a clear example of a “not-for-profit” mental
health care provider bilking taxpayers, the state’s
Appellate Court has upheld the medicaid fraud
conviction of the Brooklyn Psychosocial
Rehabilitation Institute (BPRI) and its operator.

The fraudulent scheme included having BPRI staff
list such mundane encounters as asking patients
“how are you?” as “therapeutic encounters” and
billing the state.

The scheme defrauded the state of more than $2.5
million. The court awarded the state $7.5 million in
damages. But the case required years of painstaking
effort by a variety of state agencies, the Commission
on Quality Care for the Mentally Disabled, and the
Attorney General’s office at a huge cost. That time
and money could have been spent more productively.

“CSEA cringes at the thought that BPRI is the
‘alternative care’ that the Office of Mental Health
refers to as an argument for dumping patients and
running down state facilities,” CSEA President Joe
McDermott said.

Gowanda tragedy
offers a lesson for
Harlem Valley

Psychiatric Center fight

The state Office Mental Health has put a new twist on its relentless drive to
dump patients and run down facilities. Not content with callously downsizing the
system without regard for the patients, the staff or communities, OMH is now

undermining the state Legislature’s
demand for accountability.

The controversy revolves around
the status of the Gowanda
Psychiatric Center. OMH emptied out
the facility last year over the
objections of CSEA and the entire
western New York legislative
delegation.

By law the Legislature must
approve the official closing of the
facility. Lawmakers have balked at
that action because OMH has failed
to provide a responsible plan for
alternative care.

As a result, OMH had to maintain
a small admissions unit at an
exorbitant cost. But OMH has
twisted the situation by portraying
the lawmakers as irresponsible and
wasteful at Gowanda.

OMH's suggestion that the
Gowanda money could be better
spent in community-based care rings
hollow. Gov. Cuomo vetoed a bill
earlier this year that would have
required the “savings” generated by
institutional shutdowns be
transferred to community care.

“OMH has really hit a new lo
their disgraceful irresponsibility
CSEA President Joe McDermott

“OMH has walked away from its

New stody shows

The report wi ihe well- teed
Public Citizen Health Research Group

_and National Alliance for the Mentally

Ill reinforces CSEA’s contention that
too many mentally ill people are
ending up in jails because of
psychiatric center dumping and the
absence of alternative services.

Tronically. the asylum movement of
the 1800s which led to the creation of
psychiatric hospitals stemmed from
mentally ill people being
inappropriately thrown into jails.
New York's mental health policy has
come full circle.

obligations and set up the Legislature for the blame.”
For CSEA, the lesson of the Gowanda Psychiatric Center tragedy is that OMH
will close facilities without regard for the consequences. It’s a lesson that the

union is keeping in mind as it addre:

es other impending facility closures.

Under OMH plans, the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center is at most immediate

risk, with closure expected by April 1994.

CSEA’s Mental Hygiene Task Force, comprised of key CSEA elected officials
and staff and chaired by CSEA Executive Vice President Danny Donohue, is
trying to protect the jobs and interests of CSEA mental health workers and find
appropriate alternative uses for the facilities.

The task force emphasized that mission to Harlem Valley employees during a

recent meeting at the f
“Our concer!

facility.

s about patient care and mental health policy are unchanged but

our immediate objective at Harlem Valley is to preserve the jobs of our members,”
Donohue said. “CSEA will do everything we can to make the best of a bad

situation for our members.”

New group home a celebration of cooperation

NEW YORK - East Harlem's 119th Street
resounded with spirited gospel music and
hope-filled speeches to salute a new
community group home staffed by CSEA
Local 443 Manhattan Developmental Center
members.

Undaunted by chilly winds, 26
developmentally disabled residents joined
the outdoor celebration of their new
building, the result of management, labor
and community efforts.

CSEA Metropolitan Region President

Disabil

George Boncoraglio and CSEA Local 443
President Wally Nash joined NYS Office of
Mental Retardation and Developmental
‘Ss (OMRDD) Commissioner Elin
Howe, Associate Commissioner Jim Walsh
and other officials at opening ceremonies.
“God had answered many prayers” for the
group home's suc:
CSEA put in countless hours to resolve
conflicts over work rules, CSEA Labor
Specialist Floyd Payne said.
“Our efforts have been an important

Relations

Nash said.

factor in making 119th Street a model for
how labor/management cooperation can
turn things around to benefit the residents,
their families

Calling the center “
Boncoraglio praised OMRDD's commitment
to those in need of care in New York City.

“This building is not just a structure of
brick and mortar,”
example of how public pride and not private
profits can best do the job for the
community.”

d,

and the workers,” Payne
a beacon of hope,

he said, “but it is a bold

gZ i November 1992 17

STATE GOVERNMENT NEWS

Leave program helps state members

By Daniel X. Campbell
CSEA Communications Associate
ALBANY - For years, CSEA has
successfully helped local government
members who face a terminal illness.
Whether it's their own or the illness of a

‘Just can't thank
people enough'

By Mark M. Kotzin
CSEA Communications Associate

UTICA - CSEA member Ken Lyon knows
how important leave time is. After two liver
tranplants, and facing a long recuperation,
he needs all the leave he can get.

And thanks to CSEA and the generosity

of his co-workers,
tl Lyon will have
plenty.

A member of
CSEA NYS
Department of
Transportation
Local 505, Lyon is
one of the first to
benefit from a new
sick leave donation
| program for state
employees. In fact,
the pilot program
_jwas started partly

because of him
(see story above).

Suffering from
Hepatitis-C, a
chronic illness that attacks the liver, he
was hospitalized several times. He quickly
used up his leave accruals and was on sick
leave at half-pay.

In April, he had a liver transplant. But
after 20 minutes, the liver failed, and
doctors immediately replaced it. Lyon was
in surgery more than 23 hours and used
118 units of blood.

Luckily, the second transplant
succeeded. After a long hospital recovery,
Lyon is still recuperating at home; he may
be able to return to work in a year or less.

As he used his leave accruals and
hospital bills depleted his savings, the
future looked bleak for Lyon, his wife,
Sharon, and their three children,

Knowing Lyon was running out of sick
leave, CSEA Local 505 President Lyle
Evans asked CSEA President Joe
McDermott if the union could help.

The wheels started turning and the
program was established, allowing more
than 125 local members donated enough
leave time to keep Lyons on the payroll
until February 1993.

Lyon said he was astounded by the
outpouring of support.

“I didn’t realize I had so many people
who care about me,” he said.

“We just can’t thank people enough,”
added his wife, Sharon. “If it wasn’t for all
the support from family and friends and
people we both work with, I don’t know
what we would've done.”

Evans was also pleased.

“It is another example of what hard work
and cooperation between the union and
management can accomplish when the
need is there,” he said.

spouse or child, CSEA tries to provide what
may be needed most — time.

CSEA has worked with local governments
to negotiate agreements to allow co-workers
to donate unused leave time to help their
co-worker stay on the payroll longer during
the illness.

Despite management's sympathy, such
efforts for state employees weren't allowed
by law.

In 1989, Capital Region CSEA member
Jackie DeMars of the Office of Mental
Hygiene died slowly before her co-workers
eyes. They tried everything to give her more
leave, but the effort failed.

At the urging of Capital Region leaders,
CSEA put a state employees’ sick leave
donation program high on its agenda.
CSEA tried to get a law passed, but the
state said the program should be
negotiated, not legislated.

So while CSEA was in a long contract
battle, negotiators on both sides kept the
sick leave program in mind.

“When Lyle Evans, Local 505 president,
approached Joe McDermott about Ken
Lyon, CSEA knew it was time to move the
issue,” Joan Tobin, CSEA DOT Board
representative, said. “All the pieces of the
puzzle were finally ready to go together.”

Lyon, who used his leave time because of
liver transplants, was to run out of accruals
on July 24 (see story at left below).

Ross Hanna, CSEA director of contract
administration, and Mark Lawrence, a
deputy director, worked behind the scenes;
Tobin worked with DOT management.
Forms and guidelines were developed and
approved. Everything finally fell together.

“By July 20 DOT employees in Local 505
were donating annual leave time,” Tobin
said.

“Within hours 125 state employees in
that local donated enough time to put Ken
back into full leave status and saved his
family from more economic uncertainty,”
she said. “Labor and management finally
did it, and we did it together.”

Donated leave time
made last days easier

WILLARD - Before he died in late
October, CSEA member Frank Perdicho
thanked his co-workers in a local paper.

“God bless all of you, whoever you are, at
Willard Psych. Center CSEA who donated
your time to me during my troubled times.”

Perdicho, a therapy aide with 30 years of
service, was among the first state
employees to benefit from a new pilot sick
leave donation program (see story above).

Suffering from an inoperable liver tumor,
Perdicho spent a week in the hospital then
was released for rest and home treatment.
He was about to run out of sick leave, but
thanks to his co-workers, he was able to
extend his sick leave.

CSEA Willard Psychiatric Center Local
428 President Steve Lichak started the
campaign among co-workers to donate sick

time to Perdicho.

“Everyone knows everyone here,” Lichak
said. “Frank's been like family in his 30
years of service - we've stuck together
through the years and we just wanted to
show him that we care.”

In an interview shortly before his death,
Perdicho said he was astounded by the
support from his fellow workers.

“I was elated. It made me feel stronger
and want to fight my illness,” he said. “I
saw a different light about life - the people
here don’t only care for the clients, they
care about each other. It's just a
heartwarming thing.”

Lichak said the local is mourning
Perdicho's death.

“But at least we were able to help him
out when he needed us most,” he said.

illness.

CSEA WILLARD
Psychiatric Center
Local member Frank
Perdicho, right,
shortly before his
death, thanking Local
428 President Steve
Lichak for leading a
campaign to give
Perdicho more leave
time during his fatal

2

dpe.

18 November 1992 Loe s

STATE NEWS

INDEX

Page 15

A CSEA member will get $35,000 in age
discrimination win. And November is Health
Insurance Option transfer period.

Page 16
CSEA members go to the manufacturers in
lawsuits over carpal tunnel syndrome.

Page 17

The Office of Mental Health shifting blame
instead of doing it’s job. On the bright side,
the Office of Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities opens a new
group home.

Page 18

The CSEA-negotiated pilot program that
allows CSEA members to donate leave time
to co-workers with terminal illnesses is
working already. The stories of two members
in Central New York who benefitted.

CSEA, SUNY Morrisville

honor campus employees

MORRISVILLE - CSEA members at SUNY
College at Morrisville celebrated Public
Employees Day with a picnic and awards.

CSEA and the college recognized the
employees for their years of service,
including members with 33 years service.

The employees were honored with
certificates, CSEA T-shirts and a catered
picnic lunch provided by the union.

CSEA SUNY Morrisville Local 609
President Harry Armondi said more than
120 employees attended. CSEA member
Cindy Miller and Local 609 Secretary Gail
Strain organized the event.

Hanson Place
day care center opens

BROOKLYN - CSEA leaders navigated
around toys, cribs and playdough to
celebrate the opening of a state-of-the-art
child care facility in the heart of Brooklyn.

In the state’s 80 Hanson Place office
complex, it is convenient for workers at Tax
and Finance and Education departments
and other state offices in the area.

CSEA Executive Vice President Danny
Donohue, CSEA Secretary Irene Carr and
CSEA Metropolitan Region President George
Boncoraglio went on the tour.

Carr applauded labor/management
efforts to increase day care slots in New
York City.

Mary Rodnell, vice president of CSEA
Local 259 New York Parole District, was
among area union officers who pledged to
publicize the new facility.

“Hanson Place is so bright and cheerful,”

Rodnell said. “I brought registration
information to all our Parole parents
because there is such a great need for our
young mothers to have a place like this.”

Discounts for 'The Patch’ available through EBF plan

The CSEA EBF Prescription Drug
Program does not cover smoking cessation
aids such as “The Patch,” (Nicotine
Transdermal System), but may help you
Save money on them.

If you are a CSEA member enrolled in the
EBF Prescription Drug Program and want
to try “The Patch,” get a prescription from
your doctor. Check the price at your local
pharmacy; then call the Mail Service
Pharmacy, NRx Services Inc., at 1-800-445-
9707 to compare prices. If the NRx price is

A VIEW OF
RIVERVIEW

‘|

CSEA Metropolitan

Region President

George Boncoraglio

tours the Riverbank State
Park, scheduled to open in
May 1993 on the Hudson
River in upper Manhattan.
CSEA members will staff
the park when it opens.

less, you can use the standard CSEA EBF
Maintenance Drug Mail Order Envelope to
fill your prescription. For an NRx mail order
envelope, call 1-800-EBF-CSEA (1-800-
323-2732) on a touch tone phone; when the
Automated Attendant answers, immediately
dial 1321. Leave your name, Social Security
number and mailing address; your envelope
will be mailed.

All orders must include the prescription
and payment. Check or major credit card is
acceptable.

NEW YORK - CSEA is mourning the loss
of activist Elliot Bernstein, 41, who died
after a lengthy illness.

As an activist who served twice on NYS
Administrative Services Unit (ASU)
negotiation team, he fought hard for
clerical workers’ upward mobility through
establishing career ladders and the NYS
Clerical, Secretarial Employees
Advancement Program (CSEAP). A strong
advocate of equal opportunity, Bernstein
led the struggle to put the first non-
discrimination clause in the CSEA/NYS
contract.

CSEA Metropolitan Region's Executive
Board paused at a recent meeting for a
moment of silence in Bernstein's memory.

“We will miss Elliot's dry wit, innovative
ideas and dedication to union ideals.”
CSEA Metropolitan Region President
George Boncoraglio said, “and we will not
forget his courage.” The March 1993
Regional Workshop will be named the
“Elliot Bernstein Memorial Workshop.”

CSEA activist Elliot Bernstein dies

As an employee at the state Liquor
Authority (SLA), Bernstein staunchly
fought recent lay-offs that decimated the
agency. Active within CSEA New York City
Local 010, Bernstein served as Local
treasurer and budget committee chair and
served on the Local's Women’s and Social
Committees and the SLA Safety and Health
Committee.

During 15 years of union activism,
Bernstein served as chair of the
Metropolitan Region Audit Committee and
as delegate to many CSEA statewide and
regional conferences and conventions.

When the AIDS crisis was first being
recognized, Bernstein launched awareness
programs at the local and regional levels,
established the CSEA Local 010 Gay and
Lesbian Task Force and later served on
AFSCME International's Gay and Lesbian
Rights Advisory Committee.

In memory of Elliott Bernstein, donations
may be sent to the Gay Men's Health
Crisis.

g evs f November 1992 1 9

Vol. 15, No. 11 NOVEMBER 1992

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS PAGES 1-6 GENERAL NEWS SECTION PAGES 7-14 STATE NEWS SECTION PAGES 15-20

CSEA LOCAL 505 member;
Ken Lyon, seated, his wife *
Sharon and Local 505
President Lyle Evans.