Ballots go out January 19 to eligible voters.
Official publication of
The Civil Service Employees
Association
Friday, January 16, 1981
(ISSN 0164 9949)
BUFFALO — Erie County employees will be voting this month for the
union of their choice ina representation election for all county employees
ordered by the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
CSEA, the incumbent union representing Erie County employees, faces
a challenge from a so-called ‘‘association’’ which presently represents no
one, has no staff, no constitution or by-laws, and no structure of any kind.
Despite CSEA’s objections to a representation election involving a non-
entity, PERB will be mailing ballots to all county employees on January 19.
Marked ballots must be returned to PERB by no later than February 6 to be
valid. Ballots will be counted on that day in Albany.
For county employees, the election represents a continuing delay in
CSEA’s negotiations with the county for a néw contract. While the union was
ready to go to the bargaining table with employee demands months ago, the
challenge’ — led by people defeated in democratic union elections in the past
— forced postponement of. bargaining under orders from PERB.
CSEA Local 815, representing Erie County employees, had already
CSEA: Performance, not distortions
BUFFALO — Anybody can call itself, “Erie County Rank and File
Association’’, but what is R and F really all about?
First, it sure isn’t about Erie County employees. R and F doesn’t represent
any Erie County employees. It’s never negotiated a contract, it’s never had any
membership elections, it doesn't have any constitution or by-laws, it doesn’t
have any offices, it doesn’t have any professional staff, it doesn’t have any
political action program, in short, it doesn’t have anything that is needed to
make a real union work. f
It’s time to ask some really hard questions about R and F and the kind of
group it is. Remember the pathetic ‘‘you lose, you win’’ ad they ran in the news-
paper desperately trying to get anybody to sign designation cards to get an
election? Take a hard look at some of the things they said and you'll know the
kind of group we're dealing with.
They claim CSEA doesn't fight for retroactivity in contracts, and that’s
nonsense. Go back and look at your old contracts and you will see the truth for
yourself. They say you have no say in union decisions and that’s a lie. CSHA
members are represented by democratically elected officerseand delegates
who represent membership interests. In fact, CSEA is probably the most
democratic union in New York. Their leaders know about CSEA’s democracy
because some of them have run for office and been rejected by Erie County
employees.
All CSEA contracts in Erie County have been ratified by CCEA members.
That's a fact. It’s even a part of Local 815’s Constitution. If you don’t ratify a
contract. your Local president can’t sign it. It’s that simple. What is R and F
going to do? Who knows? They haven't got a constitution and they-haven’t got
any members to ratify a contract.
R and F even accused CSEA Local 815 of being a part of a bigger union
outside Erie County. That’s a real revelation. That bigger union-in addition to
- rebating 25 percent of dues to our local — also provides full-time professional
labor relations experts to represent us, it provides, offices to, service us, ‘it
keeps us informed on’ what’s going on in our union, lobbies to protect our jobs in
the state legislature, fights to get federal aid for Erie County in Washington,
D.C. and comes to our aid in battles like Meyer Hospital and Proposition One.
Maybe R and F should answer it’s own questions. Where’s their
professional staff? Who will represent you in grievances and arbitrations?
Where's. their office? Who are their elected leaders? Where’s their con-
stitution? Are they going to have a unit and section structure to serve
employees like CSEA? How do we know that?
~Erie County Rank and File Association”’ is a bunch of rejected dissidents
teaming up with a lawyer to try and create their own union. They have no ex-
perience. They have no staff. They have never negotiated a contract. They
probably even know less about dealing with job protection, political action and
other issues vital,to. your future.
When you get your representation election ballot during the week of
January 18, compare what you know about CSEA and what you have seen it do
for you against the unsubstantiated promises and distortions of Rand F.
Future at stake in Erie election
assembled a list of contract demands — headed by salary. increases and new
dental insurance — and.a negotiating team to go to the bargaining table with
the county. Ironically, despite the fact that it is responsible for the present
expiration of the county contract without a successor agreement, the
challenging “‘association’’ has accused CSEA of not pushing for retroac-
tivity in past contracts, a charge flatly refuted by the facts.
Local 815 President John Eiss and CSEA Region 6 President Robert L.
Lattimer have strongly criticized the challenging union for making
erroneous and misleading statements about CSEA’s representation of Erie
County employees. In an effort to present the facts about the issues, this
special edition of The Public Sector has been’ prepared.
“A representation election can literally impact on the future of all
employees in the bargaining unit,’ comments Local President Eiss. ‘‘We’re
confident that the membership will know that supporting CSA is the right
choice to make, but we don’t want anyone to be misled by the distortions
spread by the opposition. This is too important a decision to allow un-
answered accusations to interfere.”
FIRST CLASS
Nonprofit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID ~
Albany, N.Y.
Permit No. 376 : ,
Rising federal aid
means connections |
in Washington are .
qe of
aimust for public |
worker labor union
cekeadnt oy ea istic gnas 0) by
As federal aid continues to grow as a percentage of state and local
government operating budgets, a strong and respected relationship between
their union and the federal government becomes increasin; rtant to
the well-being of public employees. Public service programs of all types in
New York State are dependent upon federal assistance, and that equates to
public employees jobs being dependent on an effective “‘Washington connec-
tion.’’ Through AFSCME, CSEA has input into federal legislation, Senate
and Congressional committees and hearings, federal agencies and
departments, and national politics. The following excerpts from a report
prepared by AFSCME’s Department of Public Policy Analysis shows how
vital it is*that~a strong, effective relationship between CSEA and
Washington continues on behalf of public workers. J
I. Total Federal Aid. : areas
A. In fiscal year 1979, New York received $8.1 billion in federal aid, or _
it
i wees
pee heucn aperts \ Us ater UN alley cx peed 2 1s
Full time effort by full service union
required for memier jobs protection
BUFFALO — Protecting the jobs of Erie County employees is a full-ti
effort that requires the experience and resources that only a professional, fu|
service labor union like CSEA can provide.
“These are hard times that our members are facing and protecting the:
jobs requires more: than just strength at the bargaining: table,” comment
CSEA Regional Director Lee Frank. ‘‘CSEA:and AFSCME have the resource:
the professional staff, the experts and the ability to fight for our memt@rs
the local political arena, the state legislature, and in Washington, D.C. Thq
means job protection for Erie County employees.”
“Job security in the public sector went the way of low priced gasoline.
today’s world, public employees are continually under attack from tax-cutter:
budget-eutters, and politicians who want to make us the ‘whipping boys’ for a
the economic problems in America. We need a strong labor union to proteq
Erie County employees and no local ‘‘association’’ without staff, structure, e:
perience or resources can do the job.
“In 1978, Erie County reacted to budget problems by attempting to gi
away the brand new Meyer Memorial Hospital. CSEA went to bat for coun
employees by bringing in fiscal experts to audit the hospital’s records ax@ di
close mismanagement by executives. The CSEA took its case to the media a
formed a coalition with community groups to stop the give-away, keep Me
Memorial as a ‘peoples hospital’ and saved hundreds of county employee
trom unemployment. What could a local ‘‘association’’ do about that?
“Last year some politicians decided to put a limit on county expenditures
that would have choked county employees to death. Layoffs, cutbacks, and a
wage freeze would have been the likely result. While everybody else was com-
plaining about it, CSEA was doing something about it. Experts analyzed the
county budget, planned a massive media campaign, conducted grass roots lob-
bying: and pulled ‘off a major political upset with the‘defeat of Erié County
position One. What could a local ‘‘association” have done about that?
“Each year millions and millions of dollars of federal funding comes into
Erie County and helps support the cost of county government, including our
members’ salaries. Last year, federal tunding amounted to more than $108
million, almost a quarter of the County’s own revenues.
“When. some politicians in Washington decided to balance’ the féderal
budget by cutting revenue sharing, CSEA and AFSCME swung into action to
protect this vital source of funding for Erie County jobs. AFSCME won a three
year continuation of the local government share of general revenue sharing,
protecting Erie County jobs. What could a local ‘‘association’’ have done about
that? -
@ “Time and again, CSEA has delivered job protection for Erie County
employees. We all know how bad the local economy has been and the layoffs
and cutbacks that are killing private sector people, but CSEA and AFSCME
have been on the job to protect Erie County workers. That’s the kind of job that
only a full-time, professional labor union like CSEA can do,” Mr. Frank said.
CSEA — 70 years of
ionism leadership
- almost 28¢ for every dollar raised on the state and
are often even more dependent on Washington:
local level. Cities,
a
fi.
ey: yy
BUFFALO — What's behind
CSEA’s representation of Erie County
employees? There’s so much to. tell
that it’s hard to know where to begin.
For seven decades CSEA has
leading the way in public empi¥yeq
unionism. CSEA is not only the oldest
public employee union ‘in America.
igs also the largest public employee
union in New York State and it didn’t
get that big by not doing its job.
CSEA is 215,000 public employees
across New York State joining hands
with nearly a million public
employees from AFSCME across the
United States in an effort with a
single goal: to improve the standard
of living of all public employees.
A professional staff of nearly 200
service law, research, legal
assistance, political action, com-
munications, data processing, in-
surance, retiree issues, school dis-
trict affairs, budget analysis and
related fields, make CSEA the
premier public employee union in
New York. Added resources from
AFSCME’s Washington, D. C. head-
quarters and nationwide district coun-
cils and locals are available to help
Federal Aid
FY 1979 Revenues
Buffalo $86.0 million 69.1%
Rochester 54.8 million 46.3%
Albany 11.3 million 40.7%
Syracuse 20.1 million 37.1%
Suffolk County 116.0 million 24.8%
Nassau County 108.0 million _ 20.6%
Erie County 108.0 million 23.9%
B. Major Grant Programs
General Revenue
Sharing CETA
Albany $ 1.8 million 2.9 million
Buffalo 6.7 million 26.5 million
Rochester 3.7 million _ 9.1 million
Nassau County 16.4 million 34.3 million
Suffolk County 16.8 million 31.8 million
Total State and Local
Governments 768.6 million 591.3 million
The next major assault will be on CETA, where we can expect ef-
forts to phase-out the program completely by September 30, 1982.
Ay New York will Fhe we plagued by high unemployment |
, Slow grow! next few yearsic 1/3! {nrasexeobns
ae Cantina dependence on federal aid to finance services.
b. Efforts to cut the federal budget will be made,
restructure the grant system and target limited
more effectively.
Implication; The targeting aspect will become more critically im-
portant to slow growth states like New York. The im-.
portance of formula design and allocation of federal
resources — which will affect the distribution of billions
of federal aid dollars — will Pequire extensive oversight
and representation in Washington to insure proper
targeting to states like New York." t
with attempts to
federal resources
epperts in collective bargaining, civil CSEA protect its members jobs and
win economic gains.
Literally thousands of volunteer
members serve in their union as
elected officials, stewards, member
representatives and numerous other
functions to make life better for all
public employees represented by
CSEA.
This manpower, available to any
CSEA members in need, is backed up
by a network of statewide offices
manned by professional staff ready to
meet the needs of members in the
changing field of public employment.
There’s a great deal more to a
modern labor union than: sitting down
at a bargaining table every few years.
It’s a full time job thi { involves
people’s livelihoods, a full time job
that demands the experience, know-
how and resources of CSEA and
AFSCME. ~—————
Labor Comment—
Unions Flex
Political Muscle
The public employee unions that
campaigned against Erie County
Proposition 1 did more than score a
victory at the polls. They fashioned a
campaign that may become a_model
for future battles by public sector
labor against similar referendums.
The local. victors were the Civil”
Service Employees Association and
the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees
(AFL-CIO). The CSEA is an affiliate
of AFSCME, and together they bar-
gain for about 6,800 Erie County em-
ployees who feared that Proposition 1,
by’ limiting county budgets, threat-
By Ed Kelly
it
Buffalo Bills and Sabres games, shop-
ping malls, parking lots, church
areas.
Mitchell said AFSCME national
headquarters sent staff representa-
tives, including one-time Local 109%
president Joe Canella, to assist the
CSEA-AFSCME effort, and Mike
Campon, AFSCME Council 66's area
_ Staff representative.
ened their jobs and opportunities for
wage increases,
Proposition 1 was an outgrowth of
the 1978 passage of California's fa-
mous ~budget-limiting Proposition 13,
an event that the taxpay-
er revolt and struck .terror in the
hearts of public workers and. their
unions everywhere.
The unions, led by AFSCME,
began immediately to fashion battle
plans to combat similar referendum
moves, and it was one of these that
reached successful fruition here last
month.
ee Sa
WORKING CLOSELY together,
CSEA and AFSCME, locally, in the
state, and even nationally, mounted
an attack on Erie County Proposition
1 that saw hundreds of their members
manning telephones, posting signs,
demonstrating, distributing leaflets,
advertising, jawboning and buttonhol-
ing voters.
In the forefront were CSEA Local
815, ‘representing 3,800 white-collar
county workers, and AFSCME.Local
1095, bargaining agent for 2,400 blue-
collar county employees.
Local 815, whose president is John
Eiss, a Health Department employee,
set up phone banks in‘ its office in
West Seneca and in the CSEA’s re-
gional office in Cheektowaga.
AFSCME Local 1095 did ditto in its
Sidway Building headquarters.
The unionists who volunteered to
man the phones contacted fellow
members ( about | junion-supperted
candidates as well as the proposition.
Buffalonian Bill) McGowan, CSEA
state chief, sent out letters, Local 815
hired five placarded vans on Election
Day to promote a “No” vote and take
voters to the polls.
: * . *
TED MITCHELL, head of
AFSCME, Local 1095, had his mem-
bers, holding aloft “‘Vote NO" signs,
greeting inbound traffic every morn-
ing and outbound traffic every
evening at the downtown terminus of
the Kensington Expressway.
The labor groups distributed more
than 60,000 pieces of literature to
union members and the public — at
Ed-Draves of the CSEA-AFSCME
Legislative Office, who coordinated
most of the effort, says that, though
the core of volunteers came from
Erie County employees, the anti-
proposition fight also was supported
by CSEA education and state locals
in the county and by AFSCME Dis-
trict Councils 35, 66 and 82.
In the last four-days before the
vote, the unions mounted a media
campaign that included full-page
advertisements in local newspapers
and radio and TV commercials at-
tacking the proposition.
* 8 ®
‘TO FINANCE the battle, including
the media blitz, a total of $50,000 was
contributed by national AFSCME in
Washington, the CSEA in Albany and
the political action fund of CSEA’s
Western Region, according to John
Eiss.
The day before .election, Locals
815 and 1095 demonstrated against the
proposition outside the county's Rath
Office Building.
The’ entire effort, CSEA-AFSCME
leaders recall, was exhausting and
expensive but, in the words of one,
“worth every second and penny.”
Their attack on Proposition 1 help-
ed sink the proposal by a vote of 121,-
000 to 78,000. The thumping rejection
is even more remarkable when one
realizes that voters usually approve
spending-limit issues by thumping
margins. +
Widening CSEA-AFSCME grins
even more were the victories of many
of the candidates they endorsed.
A local observer of labor and poli-
tics sums it up this way:
“From a political action view-
point, the public sector unions here
have come Of age. ‘They dlways pos-
"sessed political muscle; now: they’ve
jearned how to use it.”
<5. oe
BRIEFLY STATED: Printing
pressmen's Fleyd Lisinski reports the
Ethnic Heritage Studies Program's
“Labor and Polonia” conference at
7:30 p.m. next Saturday in Polish
Community Center, 1081 Broadway,
will be addressed by Ed Sadlewski,
Chicago leader of the United Steel-
workers of America (AFL-CIO), and
by Washington attorney Jee (Chip)
Yablenski, a founder of the Miners
for Democracy Movement in the
United Mine Workers.
SMGN ONINSAD OTVAANG
Page 3
Page 2 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, January 16, 1981
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, January 16, 1981
‘A good union is like an insurance policy’
BUFFALO — John Eiss knows what public employee unions are all about,
so he knows where his support will be in the upcoming representation election
for Erie County employees. John is voting for CSEA.
John Eiss is an Environmental Health Technician with the Erie County
Health Department and has been active in unionism in Erie County for the past
decade. He is the President of CSEA’s Erie County Local 815, an honor bestow-
ed upon him by CSEA members in the Local three years ago.
“In my experience with unions, I’ve found CSEA to be the most responsive
and democratic union I’ve ever dealt with. No union is perfect, but CSEA
stands above the rest,” he says.
John is a firm believer in unionism and feels that many of the benefits of
representation delivered to Erie County employees by CSEA, simply aren't
recognized.
“CSEA is a democratic labor
union run by the members, for the
members. In Erie County, we have
proven our value to county
employees time and again and we
will continue to do that in the
future because that is what CSEA
is all about. Anybody can make
promises and Erie County
employees have heard plenty of
them from the challenger in this
election, but that’s all the
challenger has offered.
r
Region President Robert Lattimer
tells why you should support CSEA
“CSEA provides professional
labor relations staff to service
Local 815 and its membership. We’
provide legal assistance to the tune
of $25,000 per year to Erie County
employees. We use our
considerable resources at the state
level to fight in the Legislature on
your behalf. CSEA spearheaded the
drive for occupational safety and
health legislation (OSHA) for
public employees, it won the first
real reform of the Taylor Law, it
~
fights constantly to protect our
share of the State Budget.
“Through AFSCME, CSEA is
fighting to protect Erie County’s
share of federal revenue sharing
and other federal aid programs
that provide nearly a quarter of our
member’s paychecks in Erie
County, and no local ‘‘association”’
can do that.
“Anybody can promise, but
only an effective labor union can
provide regional offices,
professional staff, legal assistance,
legislative clout, communications
expertise, and input into federal
programs that Erie County
depends upon. CSEA is the union
for Erie County employees.”
—Robert Lattimer
CSEA Region VI President
J
“McNEELA
DALEO SWEENEY
GOLDEN
“J’ve seen first-hand the benefits that a strong union like CSEA brings to its
members. I’ve seen my co-workers win grievances with CSEA’s backing and
it’s a comforting feeling to know that this backing is there whenever we need
it. CSEA gets my vote.”
—BONNIE GOLDEN, Medical Records Technician
“CSEA has the greatest organization of any union in the
country, so naturally they can do more for county
employees. Our size helps; CSEA is more of a union than
any of the organizations around.”
—JOHN DALEO, Environmental Technician
“In the 12 years that CSEA has been our bargaining agent,
our pay has tripled, and I don’t think we would have the
same benefits without CSEA’s representation.”
—MAGGIE McNEELA, Clerk/Typist
“With CSEA support I received back pay for an entire five
month period that I worked out-of-title. I think CSEA is a
good union and I’ve seen the results of belonging to a good
union. I’m sticking with CSEA.””
—KATHY CHAVOUS, Receptionist
CHAVOUS
Page 4 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, January 16, 1981
“Take political action and lobbying, for example,” Eiss said. ‘‘We work for
elected officials who are themselves politicians. We must have political input
into what they do, not only as it affects us directly, but also in the services that
we provide to the public.
“‘CSEA has ‘the best political action program of any union in the state,
public or private. Being a part of the largest public employee union in the state
helps us in Erie County because we have the support and strength from CSEA
to successfully deal with local problems that can’t be dealt with at the bargain-
ing table, such as the infamous ‘Erie County Proposition One’ which could have
eliminated many jobs and services under the guise of cutting welfare costs. I
firmly believe we defeated Proposition One only with the organization and
strength of our Local backed up by CSEA and AFSCME.””
But Proposition One’s defeat was not an isolated example of CSEA deliver-
ing for Erie County employees, John says, ‘‘Another example of CSEA effec-
tiveness beyond contract negotiations was the defeat of Erie County’s attempt
to give away the brand new Meyer Memorial Hospital to a private company, a
move that would have wiped out hundreds of public employee jobs and reduced
needed health care services for the public,”
“A good union is like an insurance policy,’’ Eiss continued, ‘“‘to protect all
of its members against the unforseen disciplinary charge or other problem that
might pop up. If we had to pay our own legal costs for such matters, it could
create a big problem. Paying union dues is a hedge against the worst
possibility.
“And most importantly, contract negotiations conducted in an aggressive,
professional manner with the employee’s needs in mind are vital to the well-
being of Erie County employees. Before we had a strong union like CSEA, the
County decided on whatever it was they wanted to give us and that was it.
We've definitely done better by our members with raises and other benefits
since we have been with CSEA,” Mr. Kiss said.
‘In my experience
with unions, I’ve
found CSEA to be
the most responsive
and democratic
union I've ever
dealt with. No
union Is perfect,
but CSEA stands
above the rest.’
— John Elss
These members urge
you to vote CSEA
“CSEA has been doing a great job in protecting job
rights. Many people have been working out of title and
our union has been winning grievances and protecting
worker’s rights.”
—TOM SWEENEY, Social Worker
“This city deserves a public hospital and our union was
instrumental in seeing that the Medical Center remained
a public hospital. Without CSEA support on this issue,
I’m sure many jobs would have been lost. Another in-
dication of the value of CSEA to\its members is the
recent enactment of OSHA for public employees and
Right To Know laws. CSEA’s initiative has made
worker’s protection an across-the-board fact. A strong
union is important for public employees and CSEA has a
proven track record. I’m sticking with a winner.”
—DOUG MYERS, Senior Lab Technician
“Several of my co-workers have won grievances for out-
of-title work, with CSEA support, so it’s good to know
that they’ll be there if I ever need assistance. I also know
that in the last contract CSEA helped improve the shift
differential pay for all the switchboard operators. CSEA
gets my vote.”
—SUSAN MATUSZEWSKI, Switchboard Operator
i
MATUSZEWSKI
