The Public Sector, 1983 December 16

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Official Publication of The Civil Service Employees Association Local 1000,
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees AFL-CIO.

Vol. 5, No. 31
(ISSN 0164 9949) Friday, December 16, 1983

IS ANOTHER WILLOWBROOK |
JUST OVER THE HORIZON?

Too few are trying to care for too many in the state’s mental hygiene _ officials and others brought to the Assembly Standing Committee on
system. That was the message, over and over again, that CSEA Mental Health at hearings in New York City and Buffalo.

Shortstaffing leading to
a return to warehousing

NEW YORK CITY — “A return to warehousing,” “‘a giant step
backwards,” and “‘a reminder of Dickensian conditions of the 19th century,”
were some of the ways that witnesses characterized the effects of budget
cuts on state psychiatric and developmental centers here.

The comments came at a public hearing of the State Assembly
Committee on Mental Health that was called to explore staff-to-client ratios
and the impact of personnel cutbacks.

Testimony from mental hygiene therapy aides, social workers, parents
organizations and elected officials, all pointed to similar results including
low staff morale, excessive overtime, worker “burn-out,” denial of personal
leave time and vacation requests, an increased rate of employee
absenteeism, attrition and escalating incidence of physical injuries to both
clients and staff.

‘We have heard the phrase,‘Do more with less,’ ” said Robert Watkins,

CSEA Local 412 president. at Letchworth Village Developmental Center. i
Se (Continued on Page 9) 7)

a a TaN
Don't hoard holiday leav:
Best wishes for a happy and \ |. snany — sta reninis Yate voters

eB _that there are two reasons not to hoard

holiday leave: There is no cash payment for
Safe A olay SCASOM foall those who leave state service, and in the
Administrative and Institutional bargaining

of You. And Qa Sincere wish ute oy leave must be used within a year
that ] 9 8 4 wil be ahealthy Employees can earn holiday leave because

antl oe Neca pay for the time
i wo on a iday or, in the case of
and prosperous New Vear. Fitters, Chena Bolioy' tll’ eg thee

—CSEA President William £. Megowan,
Officers and Staff

2 A CT EES

CSEASONS GREETINGS FROM UTICA — Six Utica area CSEA locals of DOT Barge Canal Local 502; Fran Kauth, president, Local 425 Utica
responded to the Salvation Army call for volunteer help during the Psychiatric Center. Standing, left to right, are Bud Mulchy, president,
Army’s annual holiday drive. The CSEA team of state and county Local 414 Marcy Psychiatric Center; Dorothy Penner, president, Local
workers representing more than 10,000 members in the greater Utica ~833 and activity coordinator; Janet Sloan of Utica State Employees Local
area volunteered a Saturday to serve at the Salvation Army kettle. Bell 014; Frank Zammiello, president, DOT Barge Canal Local 502; and
ringers included, front row kneeling, left to right, Ralph Young, Region V Chuck Whitney, president, NYSDOT Local 502.

first vice president; Tony Scalise of NYSDOT Local 505; Dick Reinhardt ‘

ALBANY — Monday, Dec. 26, is the day New York State legally
observes Christmas. State offices will be closed and most workers will

haye the day off.
State employees who work Dec. 26 will receive time-and-half , |
compensation in addition to the regular day’s pay. SANTA’S CSEA HELPERS — Onondaga County CSEA Local 834 Presi- |
State employees who work Dec. 20 will not receive extra dent Pat Callahan, right, shares the holiday spirit with Major Donald
compensation since it is not the officially designated holiday. Klemanski and daughter Lyn at the giant Salvation Army Celebrity Ket-
Employees who work state holidays normally receive one day’s tle in a shopping mall near Syracuse. Other CSEA Region V officers who
extra compensation. The CSEA contracts, however, provide an extra served during the annual Christmas campaign at other locations includ-
| half-day compensation for people working Thanksgiving and ed: Kathy Collins of Local 615 Upstate Medical Center; Claire McGrath of |
| Christmas or the day it is officially observed. Local 013 Syracuse State Employees and Mary L. McCarthy of Local 913 |

| _ New Year’s Day will also be legally observed on Monday, Jan. 2. Syracuse Retirees.

iday, December 16, 1983
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By Daniel X. Campbell
CSEA Communications Associate

ALBANY — They may be the loudest bunch
at the Department of Transportation, but
they’re getting bravos for their vocal efforts.

They’re the DOT Glee Club, and they’re
“ready to sing at the drop of a hard hat,”
jokes director Joan Taylor, a member of
CSEA Local 687.

Indeed, over the past four years these DOT
tunesters have provided the musical accom-
paniment at dozens of official events, as well
as at many area nursing homes.

“We've opened bridges and highways and
sung at the governor’s inauguration,” said
Jerri Briggs, a veteran chorister. “But we like
captive audiences best,” she added with a
smile, after a recent performance at the open-
ing ceremony of the new day care center at
the State Office Campus Building.

The enthusiastic singers do everything on
their own time and at their own expense. ‘I'he
members skip one 40-minute lunch period a
week to practice and contribute $1 a month for
dues, which cover the cost of sheet music and
travel. Most have purchased their own
uniforms.

They usually perform between eight and 12
times a year, and have also recorded a special
version of the popular song, “I Love New
York,” arranged for them by Douglas Moore,
a student at Potsdam Music School.

There are usually about 20 members in the
club, but the group swells to nearly twice that
at Christmastime.

“We have clerks and assistant commis-
sioners and a few management/confidentials
thrown in for good balance,” says Taylor,

THIS GLEEFUL

DOT GROUP HAS

/A-CHOIR-ED -
UITE THE

REPUTATION

ki =
IN HARMONY — A trio of DOT choristers is pictured at
the recent opening ceremony of the Campus Children’s

Center at the State Office Campus Building.

NOTEWORTHY GROUP — Members of the choir are shown in performance. The group will
appear at the.tree lighting ceremony at the DOT cafeteria on the State Campus on Dec. 19.

noting that the mix has engendered a con-
genial spirit at the office. ‘‘The club probably
has allowed both the employees and manage-
ment to see each other in a different light, as
plain, ordinary individuals who enjoy singing
and working together.”

The glee club came into being four years
ago when DOT management suggested that a
few of its employees get together to sing at a
one-performance event, the lighting of the
State Campus Christmas tree. After singing at
the ceremony, the workers went caroling at
other DOT buildings on their way back to
work.

“We were all so excited by the event and the
acceptance by our fellow workers that we
formed a committee to keep the glee club go-
ing all year long, and we’ve been going ever
since,” said Jean McClelland, the club’s
secretary-treasurer and historian.

“We all love to sing. That’s what brought us
together and that’s what keeps us together.”

Of all their activities, the members seem to
like the annual performances at Teresian
House and Our Lady of Hope nursing homes
best.

“It’s very touching to see your effort to sing
a song, to reach a note, brighten the face of a
bedridden resident with a smile or sometimes
a tear,” said John Seiling, a DOT bureau
director. “They appreciate our efforts to
entertain them so much that we forget about
the lunches we skipped to practice.
Sometimes we’re so high after a nursing home
performance that we sing on the bus all the
way back to the office.”

Said McClelland: ‘We must be pretty good.
No bus driver has asked us to stop yet.’’

IRA payroll deduction plan gets good response

ALBANY Con Ahusrecoiiedafavcrablerseponse OTS eT Te en en ee 4

to its new payroll deduction plan for Individual
Retirement Accounts (IRAs), which went into effect
recently.

“We're getting good response from throughout the
state, and many members have already taken advantage
of this opportunity to plan for their retirement through
convenient payroll deduction,” said John Gully of the
union’s State Executive Committee.

An IRA is an investment plan which allows
individuals to build their own retirement savings in a tax-
sheltered investment. CSEA negotiated with the state to
set up IRA payroll deduction for those in the
administrative, institutional and operational bargaining
units, as well as for CSEA-represented employees in the

CSEA-IRA
P.O. Box 7125
Albany, NY 12224

| am interested in receiving:
General information on IRAs
____The Dime Savings Bank IRAs
___Prudential-Bache IRAs
___Oppenheimer Funds IRAs

NAME:. =

Please send me information on the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) programs now being made available
to me through payroll deduction. | am a state employee in the ASU, ISU, OSU or OCA bargaining unit.

Office of Court Administration.

Eligible members can set up aff IRA through the Home Address:

DIME Savings Bank, Prudential-Bache insurance
company or Oppenheimer Management Co., an

investment firm.

Members who haven’t looked into the new plan yet Place of Employment

can receive information by filling out the accompanying
coupon.

po---------------------

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983
pal sae a

Official publication of
The Civil Service Employees Association

Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
33 Elk Street, Albany, New York 12224

The Public Sector (445010) is published every
other Friday by the Civil Service Employees
Association, 33 Elk Street, Albariy, New York
12224,

Publication office, 1 Columbia Place, Albany,
New York 12207.

Second Class Postage paid at Post Office,
Albany, New York.

MICHAEL P. MORAN — Publisher

ROGER A. COLE — Editor
TINA LINCER FIRST — Associate Editor
BRIAN K. BAKER — Assistant Editor

Address changes should be sent to Civil Ser-
vice Employees Association, The Public Sector,
33 Elk Street, Albany, New York 12224.

Safety Director =

ALBANY — CSEA is seeking a director for its
Occupational Safety and Health Maintenance
department in Albany.

Duties will include administration of the union’s
safety and health program in accordance with the

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"y-v. YOU WANT ME T-T-TO COME
WITH YOU? Y-Y-YOU'RE GOING
To SHow ME THe FUTURE?”

New York State public sector Occupational Safety
and Health Law, the Hazardous Substance Act and
national fire and electrical codes. The director will
also train and supervise staff.

Qualifications include a bachelor’s degree with
specialization in labor relations, public
administration, occupational safety and health, or

Oh, you beautiful doll

a
Kae
Ss In what has become a hol-

. iday tradition, members of
~*~ Taxation and Finance De-
partment CSEA Local 690
again have presented hun-
dreds of dolls to the Salva-
tion Army for distribution
to needy children at Christ-
mas. This is the 18th con-
secutive season that the lo-
cal’s members have col-
lected and outfitted dolls
for the project. Among
those participating in ef-
fort were: front, from left,
Clare Ferracane, Beverly
Ford and Ida Willette (co-
chairwoman); rear, Ste-
phen Wieland and Kit Bar-
bour (chairwoman).

Page 4 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December

16, 1983

personnel; or four years of relevant work
experience; or a combination.

CSEA provides a fully paid health and benefits
package in addition to a competitive salary. In
keeping with the union’s equal employment
opportunity policy, applications from women,
minorities and,the handicapped are encouraged.

Submit a resume and salary history no later than
Jan. 3 to CSEA Personnel Director, Box 125 Capitol
Station, Albany, NY 12224.

Information Processing

Trainers

ALBANY — The statewide Clerical and
Secretarial Employee Advancement Program
(CSEAP) is seeking candidates to fill twa long-
term, temporary grade 14 positions as information
processing trainers. Successful candidates will
staff an information/word processing center which
CSEAP plans to open here in mid-February.

Duties of the position will include designing and
conducting information processing training courses
for both entry and advanced operator levels;
helping develop supervisory and managerial
information processing seminars; assisting agency
staff in designing internal information processing
training courses; demonstrating equipment
capabilities to potential user groups; and
researching and reviewing peripheral technologies
(telecommuniation, media conversion, etc.) for
purpose of incorporating them into the center’s
training program.

Applicants must have permanent status at grade
9 or above and have at least three years fulltime
experience operating an IBM Displaywriter, a
Xerox 860 IPS or a CPT 8525. Experience is
required in training others to operate such
equipment as well as in operating advanced
equipment such as records processing, forms
design, and OCR.

Resumes and cover letters should be sent by Jan.
4 to one of the following:

John Conoby, Collective Bargaining Specialist,
CSEA, 33 Elk St., Albany, N.Y. 12224; or Robert
Eckart, Associate Personnel Administrator, Dept.
of Civil Service, Building 1, Status Campus, Albany,
N.Y. 12239,

The temporary positions will be in place until
March 1985,

3? a a

er

By Lorraine Calvacca
CSEA Communications Associate

NEW YORK CITY — What do plumbing, photography and being a shop
steward have in common? They all demand patience, commitment and a
sense of pride and they are all passions of Local 010 Shop Steward Charlie
Jacobsen.

A plumber and steamfitter at the Arthur Kill Correction facility on
Staten Island, Jacobsen has worked there for the past 14 years and readily
embraces his status as ‘‘the old one.”

“And that’s not just chronologically,”’ he explains. “I watched this place
being built. I would come out here on weekends to see it go up. I’ve been here
since the first day the facility opened in 1969 as the Office of Drug Abuse Ser-
vices under the Rockefeller Plan.”

Until 1976, when the facility became Arthur Kill, Jacobsen served as the
unofficial photographer covering social and promotional events in addition
to his full-time maintenance responsibilities.

“Photography is basically forbidden here at Arthur Kill,” says
Jacobsen, adding that the need for it is limited to ‘mug”’ shots.

A graduate of the well-known Germaine School of Photography here,
Jacobsen opened his own studio a number of years ago but quickly realized
what many photographers eventually learn: it’s a tough way to make a liv-
ing “‘if you want to eat on a regular basis.”’

But he is passionate and tenacious about photography and continues to
maintain an active free-lance business, shooting weddings, children and
animals. “I like a job where you can see results,” he says.

Jacobsen feels strongly about getting results whether he’s processing
and printing images, handling a grievance, preparing the facility for a ma-
jor inspection of plumbing systems, or teaching inmates soldering and
switchfitting skills.

“Tf you want to be respected, you’ve got to give respect,” said
Jacobsen, extending that philosophy to his duties as a shop steward. “It’s
the same with the union. We have very few grievances here, and when we do
they rarely go beyond the first step because a respectful working relation-
ship has been established.” c

Commendations from the facility citing his ‘‘staunch perseverance and
outstanding achievement” in boosting the morale of employees underscore
the sincerity and commitment that motivate his constant activism.

Among other undertakings, Jacobsen was instrumental in establishing
an on-site Employee Assistance Program, and was responsible for founding
a “sunshine club” which maintains a kitty for co-workers and their families
in the event of illness. The funds are generally used to purchase flowers or
candy, which Jabobsen often delivers.

“My co-workers and I look out for each other and we see this club as at
least one way to bring a little cheer when it’s needed,” he said.

He also single-handedly organized a number of retirees’ parties and
holiday celebrations.

Jacobsen, 60, says he plans to continue to be as active as possible in the

A PERSONALITY PROFILE

CSEA is blessed with many activists who contribute to the success of the union
and the well-being of the membership at a level well beyond the ordinary. Often
their efforts go unnoticed and sometimes unappreciated by those who benefit
most. This periodic feature about union activists is designed to give recognition
for their contributions.

eae
of

CHARLIE JACOBSEN,
Local 010 shop steward,
is a plumber and steam-
fitter at the Arthur Kill
Correction facility on
Staten Island who pur-
sues each of his goals —
personal, occupational
and union — with a pas-
sion. He is pictured here
fixing a faucet and
inspecting a fire
hydrant.

Fe
An @
&

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aay

union, and to relentlessly pursue his personal and occupational interests.
“You have a choice in life,” he says. ‘“‘You can take the initiative or you
can lie around and waste it. I live every day to the fullest.”

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 5

HOPE, AND MAYBE A NEW JOB, FOR

LAID OFF WORKERS AT LETCHWORTH

|
] By Anita Manley
i CSEA Communications Associate

THIELLS — Losing a job is, at best, unpleasant. But it is not an entirely
hopeless situation for employees laid off or about to be laid off from
Letchworth Developmental Center in this Rockland County community.

The Letchworth facility was one of the heaviest hit in a recent wave of
layoffs in the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
and the Office of Mental Health.

But a comprehensive training and reemployment program, complete
with support services, is giving Letchworth employees more hope than most
in getting another job.

For instance, nearly 200 laid off or about to be laid off employees came
to a unique job fair recently at the facility, sponsored by the
Reemployment and Training Program jointly chaired by representatives of

| CSEA, PEF and AFSCME Council 82. The program is funded by a $5 million
| federal grant to assist laid off workers throughout the state.

y The Letchworth project is overseen by Rosa Bennett, director; Kathy
| Demarest, assistant director and a member of PEF at Letchworth; and
Micki Avery, a CSEA member who is a reemployment and training
} counselor and who also serves as recording secretary for the
Reemployment and Training Program.

Ready to talk with the nearly 200 workers attending the recent job fair
were invited guests from local industry and training programs and
representatives from the Rockland County Community Action Council,
Department of Social Services, Job Service and Unemployment Services,
and the administration of Letchworth.

Most heartening, said Avery, is the fact that, already, some of the
employees have found jobs in other industries. Those who have not been
placed will be screened for possible re-training programs. An ‘English as a
Second Language” course will be offered to those who need to learn English
to help them get jobs. Other workshops will be held in interviewing skills and
resume writing. Thanks to a special fund established by Letchworth CSEA
Local 412, parents who need day care funds will have the money to pay
babysitters and day care centers while they are taking any courses offered
by the program.

Asked how long the program will continue, Avery noted that it will not
end “until every Letchworth employee is working again.”

In addition to the many training opportunities, Avery explained that a
resource library is being established for employees. It will include

Ie ARSE ISON RET

MARY HASBROUCK, right, a former housekeeper in a Letchworth Center

hostel located in Orange County, hopes to be rehired as a Grade 7 soon,

thanks to the program. Mary talks with Program Counselor Micki Avery at
recent job fair.

INEZ WELSH, seated, a former Letchworth ward clerk, says she “came
running” when she heard about the job fair sponsored by. the Reemploy-
ment and Training Program at Letchworth. As Micki Avery, standing, a
reemployment counselor with the program, looks on, Inez fills out an ap-
plication for a new job at Nyack Hospital.

publications on job training sources, resume writing, how to look for a job,
and public relations material from various firms in the state. Typewriters
will also be available for those who want to practice for tests.

Credited with helping to encourage the program were Edward Jennings,
director of Letchworth, and John Anginoli, director of personnel. Both
arranged the donation of supplies and typewriters.

Bob Watkins, president of Letchworth CSEA Local 412, said the
program is a result of ‘‘a lot of effort on the part of the administration, PEF,
Council 82 and CSEA. There has to be an alternative to the layoffs.” He
added that CSEA’s Research Department prepared material for the project
and provided maps of the state with state prisons and facilities marked to be
used for consideration of job locations.

Kd

LETCHWORTH CSEA LOCAL 412 President Bob Watkins, center, watches
as former Letchworth employees Glenn Bogle and Marge Nolte fill out job
applications during recent job fair for laid off Letchworth employees.

REEMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PRO-
GRAM at Letchworth is operated by Micki
Avery, left, Director Rosa Bennett, center, and
Assistant Director Kathy Demarest.

GREENE COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AND NURSING HOME is
still operating, thanks to efforts of a Save Our Hospital Committee of which

Against odds, Greene County Memorial Hospital saved

ae

CSEA is a key member. The committee succeeded in helping to defeat a
referendum which would have led to its closing.

CSEA adopts its vast resources
fo needs of community it serves

The legitimate «

CSEA are no longer limited solely to the
worker and/or the workplace. Today
the union is found on the leading edge
of issues and events that impact on the
community, the county, the state and
the nation. The following is a case
history. of a recent, successful, political
action effort by CSEA in a small rural
community. It illustrates the union’s ex-
pertise in areas outside normal union
activities while reminding us, from a
union's point of view, that constant
vigilance must be maintained, win or
lose

CATSKILL — When the Greene County
Legislature first began talking about the possible
merger of the Greene County Memorial Hospital
and Nursing Home here with facilities in adja-
cent Columbia County, a loosely organized coali-
tion of business, industry, labor and senior
citizen groups opposed the plan.

But by last Sept. 1, when the legislature sur-
prised the county community by authorizing a
November referendum to ‘“‘sell, lease or convey
the facility,” the coalition had welded itself into
a countywide ‘Save OUR Hospital Committee’
and CSEA had moved to a leadership role. In a
very short span of time, against nearly impossi-
ble odds, the committee mounted a successful
campaign that resulted in the referendum being
defeated 8,172 to 4,717 or Election Day.

“CSEA did help lead the Greene County com-
munity in overturning the proposal of the
county’s politicians,’ says Greene County CSEA
Local 820 President Richard Canniff, a key
member of the Save Our Hospital Committee.
And that fact, says Canniff, probably spells some
difficult times ahead for CSEA. In fact, he says,
he predicts the legislature will attempt to “even
the score” because of the union’s major role in
defeating the referendum.

Since the referendum, the legislature has
been addressing problems at the 50-year-old

debt-ridden facility. Scheduled salary increases
for management personnel have been frozen and
the legislature and the hospital trustees have
been meeting to terminate the management’s
contract with the Hospital Corporation of
America, a move that would save $340,000.

But, warns Canniff, ‘once the legislature and
hospital board of trustees run out of cost-cutting
ideas, they”ll most likely try to take out their
disappointment on the staff in some way. But
CSEA will be ready, we always are.”

CSEA represents the employees at the Greene
County Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home,
but as Canniff points out, protecting those

RICHARD CANNIFF, president of Greene
County CSEA Local 820, was instrumental in a
coalition campaign designed to defeat a
referendum which would have allowed the
legislature to ‘sell, lease or convey’ the Greene
County Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home
facility.

employees was only one of the reasons the union
battled against the referendum. ‘‘CSEA was in-
volved because everybody who lived and worked
in the county and used the Greene County
Hospital, or had a relative in the nursing home,
would be hurt by any closing, sale or change,”
Canniff said.

The union chief said the legislators campaign
was based on the premise that dumping the
health facility would save taxpayers money, so
the committee pushed the fact that taxpayers
would actually pay a lot of money to obtain
health care at out-of-county facilities if the
closing took place.

As a key member of the Save Our Hospital
Committee, Canniff said he really had his work
cut out for him as he had to help educate the com-
munity on the issue almost overnight. Between
Labor Day and Election Day, he addressed half a
dozen town meetings and several concerned
citizens groups.

The referendum occurred in the middle of the
CSEA Capital Region’s biggest political action
effort to date, with the union involved in a total of
84 election campaigns. Regional President C.
Allen Mead and county Field Representative
Gereg Davis coordinated regional support for
the local effort on a day-to-day basis.

The region used both paid advertising and a
direct mailing to send their message to the Local
820 members.

Said Caniff: “The ‘Save Our Hospital’ Commit-
tee had a game plan and CSEA was quickly
capable of adapting its resources to the commit-
tee’s needs.”

On Election Day, the impossible became
reality with defeat of the referendum. ‘We won
in 43 election districts, while the legislature car-
ried only one,” Canniff said.

“The Save Our Hospital Committee and CSEA
are ready to work with the hospital and the
legislature to address the various problems. We
don’t have any magic formulas, but we do know
that the Greene County community wants to
keep the hospital and the nursing home serving
their needs. And so do we,” Canniff concluded.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 7

CSEA to keep tabs on testing

Bad pipe welds worry workers at World Trade Center

NEW YORK CITY—The recent disclosure here concerning the existence
of defective pipe welds in the World Trade Center’s (WTC) steam system
that heats the structure has prompted Region II President Frances Dubose
Batiste to demand a meeting with top WTC officials.

The pipes, which are located behind the walls of office buildings and both
twin towers, could release high-pressure steam into work areas if a rupture
occurs, according to comments made to the New York Times by Port
Authority Executive Director Peter C. Goldmark, Jr.

Labor

FISHKILL — The New York State School of In-

“The defective welds pose a direct, serious threat to thousands of our
members,” said Dubose Batiste. ‘‘ CSEA _ will be closely watching the
testing and corrective measures taken by WTC management to assure the
safety of our membership.”

Dubose Batiste will be assisted by the CSEA occupational safety and

health specialist in monitoring efforts, and also will examine reports of
testing conducted thus far.

Subject areas to be covered are labor history, labor

dustrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University is offer-
ing CSEA members in Region III the opportunity to earn
a certificate which could lead to an associate’s degree in
labor relations. The program is designed for working
adults involved in or interested in labor education.

Classes, which begin in January, are offered at six
community colleges in the region, including Dutchess,
Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Ulster and Sullivan.

law, collective bargaining, contract administration, ar-
bitration, communication skills, economics, health and
safety and government and politics.

Eligibility requirements include a sincere interest in
the field of labor studies and a demonstrated ability to
meet the demands of college level coursework.

Tuition is $135 per term or $67.50 per course. There is

through
Cornell

-Those who complete the 12 courses earn 18 college
credits from Cornell University and will be awarded a
certificate in labor studies.

also a one-time application fee of $10.

For more information call the Albany office at (518)
473-1931 or the appropriate college.

Who's eligible for new supervisor training program?

ALBANY — An innovative training program
for CSEA members in supervisory roles got
underway in October and is expected ultimately
to reach more than 20,000 such employees.

Each program will include 24 hours of training
with workshops having a maximum of 25 par-
ticipants who will be mixed from various agen-
cies to encourage a broad exchange of ideas and
viewpoints.

Are you eligible to take part?

You are, according the CSEA Director of
Education and Training Sally Bouton, if you fit
the definition for supervisor put together by the

Human Resources Development Program.

The definition states that a supervisor is
“anyone who directs, assigns, schedules and
evaluates the work of others regardless of title.

“Employees who now have such respon-
sibilities and who are themselves in the bargain-
ing unit represented by the Civil Service
Employees Association, will be given first
preference in the acceptance process. Second
preference will be given employees of a CSEA-
represented bargaining unit who meet one or
more of the following criteria:

“1. presently in a supervisory job title but not

performing supervisory responsibilities (that is,
a senior account clerk who has no subordinates,
but if transferred to another assignment may
have subordinates),

“2. sign time cards, or

“3. prepare performance evaluation of
others.”

The series of workshops will continue over
several years, eventually offering training to
20,300 supervisors. It was designed by the exten-
sion division of Cornell University in cooperation
with CSEA and the Governor’s Office of
Employee Relations.

512 YEARS OF STATE SERVICE — A dinner honoring 44 recent retirees
with more than 512 years of state service was held in Utica by CSEA
Department of Transportation District If Local 505. Those receiving service
award certificates and gifts included: Front, left to right: Roger Stock-
bridge, 20 years; Raymond Johnson, 37 years; Vernon Thompson, 21 years;
Joseph Warner, 29 years; Helen Pakenas, 15 years; Frederick Niedzielski,

18 years; Carlo Tinelli, 31 years; and Clifford Morris, 24 years. Back, left to
right: Howard Simson, 30 years; Sanford Morrison, 41 years; Charles
Blowers, 36 years; William Burns, 32 years; Harold Montanye, 36 years;
Robert Diefendorf, 27 years; Earl Jewett, 22 years; Arthur Baker, 28 years;
Franklin Suits, 35 years; Edward Rowlands, 30 years; Lyle Evans, First
Vice President Local 505; Charles Whitney, president, Local 505.

Page 8 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

MESSAGE

Ronald Reagan's record
a terrible tragedy for
millions of Americans

As we celebrate another holiday season, the
fact that too many Americans are hungry re-
mains a national tragedy. Everyone seems to
understand this except the Reagan administra-
tion. While soup kitchens around the country
struggle to meet the needs of the hungry, one
of Reagan’s closest advisors Edwin Meese
said there is no ‘‘credible evidence’’ that
hunger is a problem in America.

To add insult to injury Meese went on to say
that the soup kitchens are full because ‘‘the
food there is free and that’s easier than paying
for it.’’ These statements, coming during the
holiday season, show just how little the
Reagan administration understands or cares
about the needs of the unemployed and work-
ing poor who are struggling for the very basic
needs of survival.

PRESIDENT'S _| iitien

McGowan
President

In this issue of The Public Sector on page
14, the Reagan record is outlined. It shows a
total disregard for the needs of the poor, work-
ing Americans, women and minorities. These
statements by Meese just underscore the
damage that this administration is doing to
millions of Americans every day. The worst
thing about these statements is that they ac-
curately reflect Ronald Reagan’s thinking.

In 1984 we will have a chance to put a stop to
this. The presidential election in November will
give Americans who have been hurt by this ad-
ministration a chance to vote it out of office. J

l urge you to register and vote this year. This Fraternally
will be a very important election. a

| also hope that each of you and your

families will have a safe and happy holiday Bet

season. William L. McGowan

or experience to work with clients.

power.

creased and are difficult to control.

that facility.

achieve guidelines.

( Officials testify MH conditions worsening
due to cutbacks in personnel and programs

(Continued from Page 1) care, he added, and that is not included in the calculations.

“That is known at our facility as ‘mission impossible.’ Even though we push “SIDC is facing 300 possible layoffs early this year,” said Daniels, “And
our staff to the maximum, there is only so much that can be done with cur- _ those are layoffs we absolutely cannot endure.”
rent levels. And while we as staff suffer, the clients suffer more.” if ahs

Watkins said that “urine-soaked bedding” must often remain . Ernest Punter, president of Bronx Psychiatric Center Local 401
unchanged because of understaffing and called the conditions “inhumane _ implored the hearing panel to “closely monitor the loss of accreditation” of
and morally wrong.” He also said that personal hygiene suffers. Haircuts the center, where beds are in such short supply that clients have been
have been cancelled and toothbrushing goes unsupervised, said Watkins. He Sleeping on cots and on mattresses placed in hallways.
also pointed out that employees ‘‘on loan” to wards can create risks and
problems, although unintentionally, because they don’t have the knowledge

Local 413 Grievance Representative Fred Daniels, Manhattan iG é RN
Psychiatric Center, said that the escape early this month of two violent 1] ] in f#.
inmates from the facility’s forensic unit graphically illustrates the impact of in y eroic e orts
budget cuts. e

“We saw the seriousness of the cuts in that incident,”’ said Daniels, a
pointing out that only two employees were covering the unit that evening. preventing @ isaster

Daniels also cited statistics to support ‘“‘the direct and obvious link (Continued from Page 1)
between short staffing and incidents of physical injury among staff. One “This holiday season, it is the Division of Budget that is playing
employee, said Daniels, ended up in the hospital with a broken leg when she Scrooge by withholding the money appropriated by the legislature to
could not restrain a violent client. The increase in injuries, he added, leads meet fiscal targets, without regard to the quality of care,” said

to employees losing time needed for recovery which further reduces staff CSEA President William L. McGowan. The CSEA report shows that

Daniels also said that incidents among clients themselves have in- to make up for the lack of staff.

Ina related development, shortly after the hearings closed in New York increased because of the staff reductions.

City, State Sen. Frank Padavan announced that he would conduct a hearing Therapy programs have been eliminated because there just is not
at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center on Dec. 29 to look into conditions at enough staff to carry them out. As a result patients who could be

Regarding how to determine patient-to-staff ratios, witnesses concurred Community based programs run by the institutions and those that
that individualized need, not statistical dictates, would be a realistic way to depend on the institutions for support have been hurt badly by the

‘Tam not prepared to say that there is a single appropriate staff-to- periods of time. This leads to overcrowding in the facility and worsens
patient ratio,” said Dr. Steven Katz, newly appointed commissioner of the all the other problems.
Office of Mental Health (OMH). ‘‘But my experience tells me that current “The progress that has been made in caring for the mentally ill
staffing levels are not adequate over the long term. More staff is needed, but and retarded over the last decade is being lost as a result of the staff
how many and what kinds need to be resolved on. a case by case basis.”” cuts,”’ said McGowan.

“Ratios and statistics sound great on paper,” said CSEA Local 429 The union president added that fighting for the restoration of these

President Tyrone Daniels, Staten Island Developmental Center. ‘‘But what \_ badilly needed jobs is a top CSEA priority.
ee missing from that is the human factor.”’ Many clients need one-on-one

workers in the institutions are working enormous amounts of overtime

The danger of attacks and injury for both patients and workers has

helped are being warehoused and their condition is getting worse.

cutbacks. As result more patients are being institutionalized for longer

/)

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 9
CAROLYN ANTONUCCI, REGION VI
“We have a great working crew and have found
that if we all work together instead of each of us
sticking to our one little area, we can accomplish a
lot more.”

TONI SOUCIE, REGION I
“We get all kinds of calls from people who are

frustrated and want help but don’t know where to
turn.”

JUDY MORRISON, REGION III

“I like the diversity, the sense of responsibility and
the feeling of accomplishment I get from working
with a staff that is doing a lot of things.”

c@—/En’s office -

/upervisors...

By Brian Baker
Assistant Editor

Michele Agnew and one of CSEA’s regional of-
fices started out together. Ten years ago she was
just out of high school, and she remembers moving
around boxes and crates as CSHA was setting up its
first Capitol Region IV office on Colvin Avenue in
Albany.

Things have changed a lot since then. The
region’s office moved over to Western Avenue to
make room for a burgeoning staff of clerical
workers, field reps, program directors and a com-
munications person. And Agnew, who used to be the
sole ina office, now finds herself
in charge of a whole administrative support crew.

Agnew — who with her counterparts in the other
five regions was upgraded from senior
stenographer to office supervisor in 1981 — has seen
her responsibilities grow right along with CSEA.
Her story is similar to those of Catie Carranti
(Region V), Judy Morrison (Region III) and Lilly
Gioia (Region II), all of whom have been on board
with CSEA for the past decade; or like those of Toni
Soucie (Region I) and Carolyn Antonucci (Region
VI), who have worked in their regional offices for
almost as long.

“The office started out with just me 10 years ago
and as we grew we hired additional secretarial
help. I would get bumped up because I was the one
with the most experience,” said Carranti.

All of the women followed the same path to their
present positions — from dictaphone machine
operator to stenographer to senior stenographer to
stenographic office supervisor. This last title
change represents for them a clarification of a job
ier had already been doing for quite a while, they
said.

“Now I have a responsible title and the
headaches to go along with it,” said Agnew wryly.
“The work itself hasn’t changed that drastically.”

The job includes mainly working with the respec-
tive regional president and director, and supervis-
ing all clerical employees in the office. ‘““We’re also
responsible for operating procedures for the
satellite as well as regional offices,” Carranti
explained.

Add to those duties others like keeping track of of-
fice files and inventories, handling time cards,
scheduling meetings and answering some routine
and some extraordinary inquiries from members,
and an outline of what the job involves begins to
take shape. _

“Sometimes it’s difficult to explain because we
do a little of everything,” says Carranti. ‘‘Our of-
fice does just about all the kinds of things that
CSEA Headquarters does, the difference being that
we’re more involved with the rank and file,

“Personally, I do everything from fix machines
to wash out coffee pots,” she added.

Agnew said that an important part of the job is
assisting regional committees with their projects.

“We do a lot for the committees by providing

secretarial help, composing notices, taking reser-
vations — necessary but time-consuming kinds of
work,’’ she said.
* Morrison agrees with the others that what’s
changed most about her position over the years is
the added responsibility she’s been given as the of-
fice has expanded.

“It’s an entirely different ball game now with
representatives from CWEP, EAP, EBF and OSHA
working out of our office. But I like the diversity,

0 a A NEA

contami ean

. . .Managing to keep the union's

the sense of responsibility and the feeling of ac-
complishment I get from working with a much
larger staff that is doing a lot of things,’ said
Morrison. @
Lilly Gioia, who worked for the regional office on
Long Island prior to her lateral transfer to Manhat-
tan, says she sees coordinating communications for
her region as one of her main responsibilities as of-
fice supervisor. ig
“T feel a responsibility to get information on pro-
grams out to the locals and to the grassroots. I’m
heavily involved in setting up meetings on the
regional level and making sure that everyone who
needs to know what’s going on is aware of details
like dates and times,”’ Gioia said. @
Keeping a “friendly, helpful atmosphere” in her
office is another key to doing her job right, she said.
“We're dealing with members and their pro-
blems on a day-to-day basis and its important for us
to have a congenial atmosphere,” said Gioia. “‘We
have a CSEA ‘We Serve’ emblem hanging on our
door here and we aim to keep up that motto.”
Souci, who has been with CSEA for eight years
and in her supervisory position for a year, noted
that one challenging part of the job is dealing vg
members’ complaints.

“We had a call from a man recently who com-
plained that a defensive driving course that he
wanted to take was being cancelled. We get all
kinds of calls from people who are frustrated and
want help but don’t know where to turn,” said
Souci. ‘‘We do the best we can.”

Antonucci, who began at the Region VI office
almost seven years ago just one day after
graduating from Niagara County Community Col-
lege, says that attacking members’ problems iga
rewarding, though sometimes frustrating, aspect of
her work.

“Tf they’re upset, we try to calm them down. If we
don’t have the answers to their problems, we try to
track them down. Sometimes they need to under-
stand, though, that they have to be a little patient
and that we don’t always have instant solutions,”
said Antonucci.

“But we do have a great working crew here and
we’ve found that if we all work together instead of
each of us sticking to our one little area, we can @-
complish a lot more,” she went on. ‘‘We really do
take a personal interest in the members’ problems
and sometimes do go beyond delivering a message
to someone else to handle it.”

Morrison noted that her office goes beyond the
call of duty in assisting its members, too. One such
case involved the family of a member who was dy-
ing of cancer.

“Our first contact with the man during his illness
was when he came in to find out about health in-
surance coverage for treating the cancer on
face. We helped him in a number of ways and after
his death we helped his family with their questions
about life insurance,”’ said Morrison. ‘‘We got to
know the family well and they sent us a letter of
thanks for all of our help.”

Gioia says the times when she’s been able to-

reach out to members in ways that were special
have been ‘‘dividends in addition to the paycheck.
“It’s good to see what the union has accomplished
for people and it has accomplished a lot since Ime
been here,”’ she said. ‘‘I’'ve seen people’s jobs sa
ae} people’s home lives put back together through

“What can I say? It’s made me a real union
person.” ‘

eds RR bo Bo. NEE

six regional offices intop shape | e

r 16, 1983.

LILLY GIOIA, REGION II

“It’s good to see what the union has accomplished
for people. I’ve seen people’s jobs saved and peo-
ple’s home lives put back together.”

CATIE CARRANTI, REGION V
“Sometimes the job is difficult to explain because
we do a little of everything.”

MICHELE AGNEW, REGION IV

@ ‘Now I have a responsible title and the headaches
to go along with it. The work hasn’t changed that
drastically.”

eee

INT RREYARV,

& AVPSCU

in the public.

| American Federation
of State, County and

| Municipal Employees

| The Contracting Out
of Public Services

WASHINGTON — AFSCME, the nation’s
largest public employee union, has launched a
national public education program designed to
alert public policymakers to the drawbacks and
abuse associated with contracting out, or priva-
tion, of state and local government services.

AFSCME, CSEA’s international union af-
1 filiate, released a 116-page book entitled ‘Pass-
| ing the Bucks: The Contracting Out of Public
|| Services.” The book, which is the result of two
| years of study and research, details dozens of ex-
| amples of mismanagement, abuse, fraud and
| corruption as a result of contracting out at the
' local level.

5 “The on-the-job experience of AFSCME’s one
| million members has clearly shown that contract-
ing out has serious shortcomings. Contractors
providing government services are frequently
| more costly, contracting out often results in
| reducing the quality and efficiency of services, it
| is inevitably accompanied by lessening of public
‘control and there are documented cases of crime
| and corruption associated with contracting out,”
| declared Gerald W. McEntee, President of

AFSCME.

| The AF'SCME book is being distributed to 5,000
‘public officials around the country — the nation’s
governors, the mayors of the country’s 900
largest cities, 3,000 county officials and key state
legislative officeholders.

“The Reagan Administration’s cuts in aid to
| state and local government have greatly increas-
| ed the budget problems of those governments
| and contacting out is being promoted as a quick
| fix,’ McEntee continued. “But, our report shows

that contracting out is no panacea. In fact, con-
) tracting out much more often operates against
the best interests of the public it is supposed to
benefit.””
j Among the findings of the report are:

e Rather than saving money, contracting out
often results in higher costs. Hidden costs
such as contract preparation, administra-
tion and contract monitoring usually drive
up the price of contracted services.

@ Contracting out can result in a decline in the

| quality and efficiency of services. Contrac-
tors are tempted to cut corners by hiring in-
experienced personnel, by ignoring contract
requirements and by providing inadequate
supervision.

© Corruption in contracting out has increased
dramatically. Numerous cases of bribery,
kickbacks and collusive bidding have
characterized contracting out over the past

i several years. In addition, organized crime
i appears to have assumed an even larger
role in illegal activities associated with con-

Hneaicaeaecnanosea: cnetnen wean!

RA AR AN MP or

tracting out.

@ Contracting out is still a tool of political
patronage in many areas.

© Contractors bidding to provide public serv-
ices have sometimes encountered financial
problems which have left cities, counties
and states in difficulty.

@ Contracting out has often been characteriz-
ed by “lowballing” or ‘buying in” at
unrealistically lower prices in order to ob- |
tain a contract. |

© The drafting of job specifications and con-
tracts often leads to contractor perfor-
mance which is too rigid or narrow to main-
tain quality public services.

© Competition for contracts to provide public
services is too often the exception rather
than the rule.

© Contracting out results in less accountabili-
ty by government to the public.

e Contracting out is frequently used to mask
the inadequacies of public officials who can-
not manage their own operations properly.

Among the case studies cited as alternatives to
contracting out in the AFSCME book are:

e@ Rochester, New York. Public ad-
ministrators there determined that improv-
ed public management combined with a
productivity-minded public employee
workforce could provide city trash collec-
tion services 20 to 35 percent cheaper than
private contractors. The municipality was
able to trim its 1979-80 budget cost for |
residential trash collection from $8.6 million . |
to $6.2 million in 1980-81.

@ New York City. Custodial and printing con-
tracts which were costing the city $1.1
million a year could be performed by city
employees at a cost of $525,000 per year.

“The key to improving public services is good |
public management and efficient public ser-
vices, not the selling off of government,”
McEntee concluded. “Public officials all too
often have used contracting out as a crutch to
prop up weak management. In every case of
failure, in every case where the quality and effi-
ciency of a public service has deteriorated and
the cost increased, where control over public ser-
vices has diminished, where corruption has
come into play, the public is the chief victim. The
public endures the consequences and the public
pays the bill where contracting out has not work-
ed,” McEntee concluded.

AFSCME’s educational campaign also in-
cludes extensive advertising in state and local
government policy publications over the next
three months.

par eo See

iecna

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 11

UALR ATLL TLE TE

“He would have been proud,”
said Pauline McDonough, widow of
the late Thomas H. McDonough, as
she recently presented one of the
first Thomas H. McDonough
Memorial Scholarships for Conti-
nuing Studies. The $200 awards to
aid previous CSEA -scholarship
recipients in completing their col-
lege studies are named in honor of
McDonough, a long-time CSEA ac-
tivist who was CSEA statewide ex-
ecutive vice president at the time
of his death last January.

“‘He was unique, totally
dedicated to the members, to
resolving their problems and
building CSEA,” said Mrs.
McDonough at a presentation to
Capital Region award winner
Kevin Costello, a senior at Siena
College who plans to go to medical
school.

Brian Ruff, chairman of the
Special Memorial Scholarship
Committee, said the six winners
showed signs of the same personal
dedication and selflessness that
were McDonough’s trademarks.
“They are hard-working, deter-
mined individuals seeking to attain
their goals by persistence and
dedication,” he said.

Kevin Costello and the other
scholarship winners are pictured
here receiving their awards.

nee nee i cl = Pa
REGION V — Suzanne Smith, right, of LaFayette, receives scholarship
check from Sandra Delia, Region V scholarship committee member, and:

REGION IV — Kevin Costello, center,
the son of Earl Costello, an Eastern
Barge Canal Local 500 member,
receives scholarship from Pauline
McDonough, widow of the late CSEA
executive vice president. Also
pictured are, from left, Thomas Doin,
Local 500 president; William
Fetterling, SUNY Local 691
president; C. Allen Mead, Capital
Region president; Dann Woods,
Motor Vehicles Local 674 president;
and Brian Ruff, CSEA Special
Scholarship Committee chairman.

James Moore, regional president. Smith, a Syracuse University senior major-
ing in accounting, is the daughter of Karin Stathatos, a Judicial Local 334

vy ©

ny

REGION Il — Deborah Barfield accepts her scholarship from Region II Presi-
dent Frances DuBose Batiste as Lamont Wade, left, scholarship committee
member, and Downstate Medical Center Local 646 President James Woods
look on. Deborah, a third year journalism major at the University of Maryland,
is the daughter of Carrie Barfield, a nursing station clerk at the medical

center.

Page 12

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

THOMAS H. McDONOUGH,
the late CSEA executive vice
president, in whose name a
scholarship for continuing
studies for children of CSEA
members has been created.

School of Industrial and Labor Relations, is presented with award from Field
Representative Felice Amodio while her mother, Julia, looks on. Julia and hus-
band Peter are both employees at Mid Orange Correctional Facility.

REGION I — Diane S. Burke receives her scholarship from Long Island
Region President Danny Donohue as her parents, Beverly and Frank, watch
with pride. Frank is an auto parts storekeeper at the Nassau County Police
Department.

| a eee
REGION VI — Matthew Farrell accepts scholarship check from Region VI
Education Scholarship Representative Art Howell as his parents and sisters,
Jennifer and Elizabeth, beam their approval. Matthew is a senior in computer
engineering at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. His father, Ken, is a
sanitarian with Erie County Local 815.

ALL SMILES — Sean Turley, center,
CSEA education and training specialist,
pauses with participants during the
steward training session held recently in
Utica. Among the more than 80 CSEA
members who took part in the daylong
workshop were, left to right, Lucy R.

a

More workshops fo come

Daniels, Oneida County Local 833;
Sheila Sears, Utica State Employees
Local 014; Turley; Dolores Herrig,
president, Oneida County Educational
Local 869; Odell Wallace, Rome School
for the Deaf Local 201; and Terry Card,
Madison County Local 827.

Two hundred turn out for Region V steward sessions

SYRACUSE — CSEA Region V officers report
that more than 200 members recently took part
in three basic steward training workshops con-
ducted simultaneously in Utica, Potsdam and
Ithaca by staff members from the CSEA Labor
Institute.

The sessions, conducted to geographically ac-
commodate members in the central, northern
and southern areas of the large region, also will
be conducted in Syracuse, Watertown and
Binghamton.

Mary Lauzon, Region V Education Committee
chairwoman, said arrangements for the six
workshops were coordinated by the committee

and the Labor Institute, with reservations made
through the CSEA regional office in Syracuse.

The daylong sessions were conducted by CSEA
Education and Training Specialists Peg Wilson
and Sean Turley in Potsdam and Utica, with
John Carter, an AFSCME education specialist,
handling the activity in Ithaca.

“Our goal was to explore the role of the
steward as organizer, leader, educator and con-
tract enforcer,’ said Wilson. ‘‘After a brief
description of CSEA structure, complete with an
audio-visual slide presentation, we discussed
labor terms, the responsibility and duty of fair

representation, and the grievance process.

“We were very pleased by the attendance at
all three sessions, and anticipate good turnouts
at the second series,” she said.

Wilson also expressed thanks to three field
representatives who assisted in the programs:
Ted Modrzejewski in Utica, Jim Hennerty in
Ithaca and Steve Ragan in Potsdam.

Region V members who are interested in
future steward training workshops are urged to
contact their local or unit officers. The regional
education committee will be closely monitoring
interest in the sessions.

SERIOUS BUSINESS —
CSEA Education and
Training Specialist Peg
Wilson listens to a ques-
tion concerning fair repre-
sentation duties from a
CSEA member attending
the basic steward training
session held in Potsdam.
Wilson explained the pur-
pose of the classes was to
explore the role of the
steward as organizer, lead-
er, educator and contract
enforcer.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, can

Page 13

ae

‘An Ss)
LT

Wi

c

fin

—

REAGAN'S)
RECORD

A SINGLE WORD?

SASTER!

Ronald Reagan’s presidency has been a
disaster for working Americans, especially
public employees. As we move into 1984 we must
look at the record.

TAX POLICY

The Reagan tax plan has provided a boost for
the rich while placing a greater tax burden on
working Americans. Most of those who benefit
from the so-called “tax cuts” earn more than
$50,000. Even Reagan’s Budget Director David
Stockman has admitted that the Reagan tax
policy is the old Republican “trickle-down”
theory, where big tax breaks for the rich are
supposed to eventually help everyone.

Reagan’s tax changes have also shifted the
burden away from profitable corporations and
onto workers. For example, in 1981 General
Electric received a tax refund of more than $90
million dollars even though it made a profit of

$2.66 billion.
BUDGET CUTS

Reagan’s ‘“‘slash and burn” budget cuts have
badly damaged government’s ability to provide
public services at all levels. The federal
cutbacks have put a pinch on state and local
budgets, forcing public employee layoffs or
increases in sales and property taxes which hit
workers’ pocketbooks the hardest. Federal aid to
states and localities has been cut by nearly $30
billion.

Programs benefiting average Americans who
earn less than $20,000 absorbed three-quarters of
the Reagan cuts.

FOREIGN POLICY

Reagan’s saber-rattling has created the
greatest threat to peace in many years. The
Reagan foreign policy has consisted of one wild
adventure after another with no clear goal. Even
conservative Senator Barry Goldwater (R-
Arizona) urged the president to “bring
everybody that’s in an American uniform back
(from Lebanon) and do it now because we’re
heading for war.” (Emphasis added.)

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Reagan has set back the cause of pay equity
for women. Although women make only 59 cents
for every dollar earned by men because most
occupations dominated by women are
undervalued, Reagan has blocked attempts to
correct this situation.

Reagan eliminated all pay equity regulations
for federal contractors and dismissed all pay
equity cases before the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.

Reagan is also a bitter opponent of the Equal
K Biehl Amendment.

MINORITY RIGHTS

The Reagan administration has the worst civil
rights record of any in recent history. The
extension of the voting rights act was passed
only after efforts by Reagan to block it had
failed. The New York Times noted in January
1982, ‘‘Mr. Reagan’s voting rights stance is late
and equivocal, bordering on obstructionist.”’

RETIREES

Upon taking office Reagan launched a frontal
assault on Social Security and Medicare.
Although many of Reagan’s proposed cuts were
blocked by Democrats in the House of
Representatives, he succeeded in cutting $18
billion in Social Security benefits over a five
year period.

Many of the Reagan cuts in social service
programs and state aid damaged programs that
benefit the elderly.

EDUCATION

Children also bore the brunt of the Reagan
cuts. Aid to public schools is down by 30 percent,
forcing layoffs and program cuts.

Reagan also supports tuition tax credits for
parents who send their children to private
school. This plan would create a segregated edu-
cation system with poor and working class chil-
dren in public school and the rich in private
schools. Congress has blocked this plan so far,
but it is clear Reagan would continue to push for
it in a second term.

School lunches also came under attack from
Reagan’s Department of Agriculture. Although
this program provides the best meal of the day
for millions of poor and working class

CARTOON COMMENT by staff artist
Ralph Distin from The Public Sector

issue of March 25, 1983,

Page 14 e

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

WN THE MONEY TRAIL--*

‘HOPPIN’ DO!

schoolchildren, Reagan sought desperately aN
cut it. The Department went so far as to rewrite
the school lunch rules so that catsup could be
counted as a vegetable.

LABOR

Reagan’s labor secretary has boasted that the
Department of Labor has taken much deeper
budget cuts than most other government
programs. Those cuts have damaged the
government’s ability to protect the health and
safety of American workers and enforce the
labor laws.

Reagan has also appointed anti-unionists to
head the National Labor Relations Board,
making the board a tool of union-busters instead
of an impartial referee in labor/management
relations as it was intended to be.

DEFICIT

Despite all of these cuts in services, Reagan’s
wild military spending spree has created the
largest federal budget deficits in history. While
candidate Reagan promised to balance the
federal budget, President Reagan has delivered
a deficit of more than $200 billion, more than
three times as large as the worst deficit during
the Carter Administration. These unprecedented
cenclts are one reason interest rates remain too

igh.

Many of Reagan’s most extreme proposals
have been blocked in Congress by Democrats
and Republicans alike. But it is clear that in a
second term without having to worry about re-
election Reagan would push hard for more
giveaways for the rich and cuts- in public
services.

ALBANY—Beginning Feb. 6, Capital Region members in the downtown and
uptown areas of Albany will be able to spend their Monday or Thursday lunch
hours learning about various occupational health and safety issues.

Region IV OSHA Representative Angela DeVito is developing an ‘‘Occupa-
tional Health and Safety Lunchtime Forum” program which will be sponsored
by the region’s new Occupational Health and Safety Committee. For now, the
experimental program will be limited to the uptown and downtown CSEA
locals, but if successful, may spread into other locations.

“Our leaders and members want to know more about health and safety
issues,” DeVito explained. ‘However, a strict regimenof programs on
weekends or evening training sessions simply fails to provide information to all
interested parties.”

The forum’s current offering lists 18 occupational health and safety issues.
The interested CSEA local or a group of locals in one common area can select a

topic for either a Monday (downtown) or Thursday (uptown) date. DeVito will
coordinate the scheduling of a speaker on the selected topic. The local will have
to coordinate the use of lecture room facilities and the advertising of the hour-
long presentations.

“‘We want to see locals working together on this concept,’’ DeVito reports. “I
wish to see several downtown or uptown locals cooperating in developing a
forum series to avoid conflict or having to deny a request because all of the
available dates have already been taken. The cooperative effort will not only
maximize our ability to reach a larger audience of members, but will also pro-
vide for an opportunity for locals to meet and share experiences.”

The program will run from February through May. Topics range from ‘The
Public Employees Safety and Health Act,” “Filing a Hazard Complaint” and
“Job Stress” to ‘‘Medical Screening: A New Form of Discrimination” and
“Pregnancy and Work.’”’

Agreement
reached in
Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM-A 30-month contract has been reached
between the CSEA City of Amsterdam Unit and the ad-
ministration after months of heated negotiations. The
final agreement was achieved with the aid of two PERB
appointed mediators.

The contract’s complex compensation formula calls
for a $500 across-the-board salary increase retroactive
for the first six months of this year. A 7 percent increase
covers the period from July to June 1984, when an 8 per-
cent salary increase comes due. The contract will expire
in June 1985.

Negotiations for a contract covering the city
employees began in late 1982 and were permeated with
bitterness due to the legislative imposition of the workers
1982 agreement by the City Council. PERB appointed
mediators Paul Curry and Anthony Zumbolo to the sen-
sitive talks in June.

“The main hang-up to an agreement was the city’s
demand that the workers pay all of the costs of health
insurance increases the city was experiencing,” Joseph
Bakerian, CSEA field representative, explained. “We
negotiated a compromise which guarantees that our cur-
rent members will never pay more than 10 percent of the
total insurance costs no matter what the city’s health in-
surance experience is.””

The employees in the city hall have retained their
30-hour workweek while 40-hour maintenance and
custodial employees will receive an additional $500 equi-
ty increase plus all other salary increases.

Michael Chiara, former unit president and a member
of the bargaining team, described the members’ reaction
to the contract as being ‘“‘basically satisfied with the
results of a negotiated contract.” Members Agnes Rodd,
Ed Rusik and Ernestine Krawczyk aided in the
negotiations.

DMNA appeals representation ruling

Mohawk Valley

ALBANY — ‘“‘The Division of Military and Naval Af-
fairs is waging a battle of endurance with us, but CSEA is
not going to give up,” vowed CSEA President William L.
McGowan in response to DMNA’s latest appeal in the
union representation case.

In late October, a state Supreme Court decision mov-
ed 650 civilian employees of DMNA closer to union
representation. The court upheld CSEA’s position that
DMNA employees were classified as public employees

within the scope of the Taylor Law, subject to PERB
jurisdiction, and thus entitled to union representation.

DMNA has now appealed the ruling to the Appellate
Division.

“We’ve been struggling with DMNA for years, and
we're going to keep struggling as long as it takes to win,”
McGowan pledged. ‘‘We’ll keep going to court as long as
necessary in order to give these workers their right to
union representation.”

library workers
vote for CSEA

SCHENECTADY — The
Mohawk Valley Library
Association employees have
voted overwhelmingly to join

CSEA OFFICERS from Utica-area DOT locals recently took part in the signing of an Employee Assistance Pro-
gram charter at the State Office Building in Utica. On hand for the occasion were, left to right, Chuck Whitney,
DOT Local 505 president; Frank Zammiello Jr., Barge Canal, Local 502 president; Richard Simberg, regional
director, NYSDOT: Tom Schmidt, PEF representative; and Donald Poulin, PEF advisory board to EAP.

EAP signing

.

an

CSEA.

In two separate elections
supervised by the State Labor
Board, the workers selected
CSEA as their bargaining
representative by votes of 13-1 in
the librarian and support staff
unit and 7-0 in the technical staff
unit.

The MVLA employees, who
work in the Schenectady County
Library, were working side by
side with Schenectady County
public employees who are
represented by CSEA in the
public sector. When the issue
of joining a union to better their
economic and working condi-
tions came up, the MVLA
employees quickly sought out
CSEA.

“We are very happy to
welcome these library
employees into the house of
labor and we'll certainly seek to
serve their contractual needs as
professionally as possible,”
John D. Corcoran Jr., Capital
Region director, said.

The organizational campaign
was handled by CSEA Organizer
Michael Sheldon.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 15

ALL TOGETHER — PULL{-Strong tins
strain to maneuver a channel buoy to derrick
cable before hoisting aboard a barge. Similar
crews along the state waterways are in the
final phase of closing the canal for the winter _

season.

The State Barge Canal system is closed for the season, buttoned up tight against the winter weather, But,
thanks to a season-long ‘Save The Canal’ campaign by CSEA and passage of the Transportation Bond
Issue in November, many of the seasonal employees of the canal system will be working this winter
season instead of facing layoffs as originally threatened. The Barge Canal winds 524 miles through CSEA
Regions IV, V and Vi. Here are three stories about life on the Barge Canal today.

By Charles McGeary
CSEA Communications Associate
SYRACUSE — Sixteen seasonal barge canal
employees in an area stretching across CSEA’s

An uneasy reprieve
in western New York

By Ron Wofford
CSEA Communications Associate

LOCKPORT — As winter closes in on the State
Barge Canal, structure operators in CSEA DOT
Local 524 have a reprieve from threatened
layoffs.

It’s an uneasy reprieve, however, with many
workers being shifted to unfamiliar locations,
job slots and shifts, according to Local 524
President Frank Langdon. ‘“‘We’ve got guys
driving wing plows, on cindering, salting and
other snow and ice control jobs, who should be
working on lift bridge maintenance and repair
for the next boating season,” said Langdon. “I’m
sure the neglect of this work we would normally
be doing will come back to haunt us next year.”

Langdon said ‘‘one consolation” is that only
two seasonal employees have been laid off for
the winter, but even they “should have been kept
for the needed winter work.”

In the Rochester area, Dale Hatch, a chief lock
operator and member of Local 504, reports three
seasonal workers laid off, reducing the winter
staffing to a bare minimum.

Langdon said many veteran shore-based DOT
employees had to make “unhappy” choices of
relocating to highway work after years in
machine shop and related titles. ‘Morale is not
too high and I’m sure productivity will suffer
because of unfamiliarity with their new job
duties,” he predicted. “‘We won’t know until next
spring how badly this will affect the already poor
conditions of the canal, but you can bet it won’t
be good.”

wouldn't make sense to let good men go’

entire Central Region V have begun the
transition from regular canal system duties to
winter employment as laborers with the New
York State DOT highway crews.

According to CSEA Presidents Frank
Zammiello and Ed Canavan of Locals 502 and
503, the employees have already made the switch
to “on call” laborer duty with state highway
crews and garages until recalled for canal duty
next April.

Zammiello reports that of the 96 barge canal
employees represented by Local 502, 11 seasonal
employees are now working where needed from
Utica and Herkimer DOT garages.

“The channel buoys have been brought in, but
we still have some boats and a dredge out in
the system,’ Zammeillo said. ‘We hope state
management is wise enough to keep those
seasonals busy through the winter. There is no
substitute for experience, and it wouldn’t make
sense to let good men go,” he added.

Ed Canavan’s Local 503 represents 191 canal

employees. “At last count,” Canavan said, “five
of the 25 or 30 seasonal canal employees have
been transferred to winter duties with the D.O.T.
highway crews. It is my understanding they will
also be used for highway and garage duty during
the winter months where needed. The impor-
tant thing, of course, is they are still on board
and taking paychecks home. Hopefully they will
rejoin regular canal employees when the system
opens in the spring. For the rest of us it will be
the usual winter maintenance routine of break-
ing down equipment, making repairs, cleaning
and reassembly before opening day,” Canavan
said.
Zammiello and Canavan indicated they, along
with Collective Bargaining Specialist John
Naughter, will monitor the activities of those
transferred seasonal employees.

Page 16

“THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Threat to jobs is
stilled for awhile

By Daniel X. Campbell
CSEA Communications Associate

WATERFORD — When the 1983 operating
season of the State Barge Canal system came to
a quiet, cold close on Dec. 5, the system itself had
come a long way from its opening in May when
the future looked as dark as the canal’s murky
waters.

Then, the locks and canals were steadily
deteriorating, cutbacks in the Department of
Transportation’s Waterways Division personnel
threatened to cut the operating hours of the canal
and its internal winter maintenance schedule,
and the state’s proposed Executive Budget
called for abolishing 164 fulltime maintenance
jobs and converting those positions to
“seasonal” employment.

CSEA was already involved in a massive
statewide campaign to stop the unnecessary
layoff of 8,000 state employees when it launched
a “Save the Barge Canal” campaign.

As the canal season entered the summer
months, CSEA already had the number of
cutbacks reduced from 164 to Jess than half that
number, and was forging ahead to save the
remaining jobs.

As the November winds changed to December
snows, $50 million had been earmarked to
improve the canal system. The money is coming
in part from the $1.25 billion ‘Rebuild New
York” bond issue the voters approved Nov. 8.

“The threat to our members’ jobs has been
stilled for now. Not exactly in the way we want it.
But our members are working, they are being
transitioned back to permanent positions and
will be back on the canal in early spring for
maintenance and opening work,” Joan Tobin,
DOT Board representative and coordinator of
the union’s tri-region campaign, says.

ee aan,

It's thing that t of us take fe ited.
No matter what the 122002 te Siveys been tke that, Public

5 employees are always there.
weather, you ll get Highway maintenance people aren't the only
bli | h k kend: id
there because i coceoace
public employees 2s scone. Std cong ne won hs
are worki ng. must be done no matter what.

How many times have you set out to visit the
relatives for the holidays with snow in the
forecast? Did you ever worry about the roads

and we're very proud of the work our people
do, especially at times when they could be
with their own families.

being plowed? Probably not. Because you When you're enjoying the holidays with your
know public employees are on the job no family, remember that public employees are
matter what. out there working for you.

It's gotten tougher. With staff cutbacks at both
the state and local levels, sometimes it’s a real
stretch of personnel and work hours.

The roads will be plowed. . .but it will take
longer. The state, county and municipal

employees who take care of the highways The Civil Service Employees Association
and byways of this state take a lot of pride in Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
doing their job well. William L. McGowan, President

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. WHERE WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT THEM?

We'te the Civil Service Employees Association,

This holiday tribute to public employees, sponsored by CSEA, appears in the current issue of Empire State Report magazine. me

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 17

illic dence FEET iat ers. E
‘Can't stop the rain’

Stormy weather precipitates latest spate of g

problems for Dutchess DSS workers waiting
to switch offices 6

6

POUGHKEEPSIE — “Raindrops Keep Fall-
ing On My Head” is the not-so-amusing theme of
Dutchess County Department of Social Services
employees since a recent rainstorm.
To add insult to injury, the workers, who were
promised in August by the Dutchess County
Legislature that they would be moved from their
present location in an old department store in the
downtown area, have now been informed that the
relocation plans have been further delayed.
Legislators voted to move the department to
another building ending what DSS employees
said was a six-year battle with an unresponsive
landlord who would not rectify unsatisfactory
working conditions. Meanwhile, employees have
withstood such problems as no heat in the winter,
no ventilation in the summer, frozen pipes,
floods, overcrowded hallways and offices, and
now, leaky and crumbling ceilings.
But lawmakers now claim that they are
dissatisfied with the “legal language of the ] SN, Ny See
lease” and have asked the county attorney to Social W i ae a
rework some of the wording of the pes thee. Dailecn
document, further delaying the plans. ; Crapser tries to keep
Mary Rich, president of the county a 7 dry in her office
unit, said she hopes that legislators a 7 7 — here buckets have
will approve the lease during their : " been ceranged to
meeting at the end of the month and Gatch the ane
will urge CSEA members to contact 4
their legislators to ask them to ap-
prove the lease.

6

Employees have withstood
such problems as no heat
in the winter, no ventila-
tion in the summer, frozen
pipes, floods, overcrowd-
ed hallways and offices,
and, now, leaky and
crumbling ceilings.

6

HARD HAT AREA — That’s
what CSEA officers are calling
this room in the Dutchess Coun-
ty DSS building. Mary Rich,
president of the unit, has asked
that no one be allowed to work in
this area until the ceiling is
repaired properly. Because
damage has worsened since the
recent rainstorm, she fears that
more of the plaster will fall and
injure workers.

A SORE SIGHT FOR EYES — Water leaks in the

building have caused plaster to crumble from the
walls as well as the ceilings.

RASTA aL pica semen

, THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983 Page 19
ty REG Veen puta 4 anes,
NATION’S FASTEST
GROWING INDUSTRY |

Growth gives rise to concern

CSEA a leader
in field with
60,000 people
in direct care

Health care is the fastest growing industry in
the country — 10 percent of the Gross National
Product.

But coupled with the growth is a rising concern
among health care workers themselves about
the quality of the care they deliver as well as the
quality of their working lives. Polls reveal that
more and more, health care workers believe
organizing is the answer.

CSEA, which represents approximately 60,000
people involved in direct patient care, is a leader
in the field. In fact, way back in 1931 the union
drafted the first legislative measure to abolish
the then 72-hour work week for institutional
employees.

Through the years issues have changed but
CSEA has been constant. Recently, for example,

the union put together a report on ‘‘A Return to
Tragedy — The Effects of Mental Hygiene Staff
Reductions.” (see page 1 story)

CSEA was also a key part of a ‘Save Our
Hospital Committee” which this fall successfully
prevented the merger of the Greene County
Hospital and Nursing Home, thus saving 418 jobs
and guaranteeing continued quality medical
care for county residents there.

The union, then, has a unique record of service
to people in health related work. And, it is no sur-
prise that many private sector workers are look-
ing to CSEA as a way to gain respect and dignity
as well as a better working environment.

Perhaps it is best summed up by a nurse who
recently said, ‘It’s good to have a union to back
you up and to fight your battles.”

There is a rapidly expanding trend toward organizing among employees
of health care facilities in both the public and private sectors. The Fern-
« cliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, shown above, is typical of a facility
where workers are joining together to improve their lives and their
workplaces. CSEA offers the employees the services of a professional

FERNCLIFF NURSING HOME
Where workers are joining together

staff, legal assistance, and a successful political action program to lobby
for their specific needs. CSEA offers a wide variety of other services such
as education and training programs, health and safety protection in the
workplace, Employee Assistance Programs, research services and
budget analysis, low-cost insurance programs, communication services.

“CSEA is made up of people who

ss

wom

|

recognize the importance of joining
a union.

“History proves that decent
wages, safe working conditions,
fringe benefits and retirement

“It's good to have a union

pension had to be won by men 49 back you up and to fight
and women with the courage, the your battles, With SEA we
‘ strength, and the perseverance to can concentrate on our jobs

form labor unions.

“The 1980s demand no less. But
now, working people must also de-
fend their standard of living, their
quality of life. SOLIDARITY is the
spirit for the 1980s.

“Listen, then, to CSEA members
themselves. Hear how CSEA works
for us...”

—CSEA President

while the union takes care

of ovr employment
problems."

—Svusan Dayton

NURSE

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, December 16, 1983

Page 20