The Work Force, 2005 October

Volume 8 No. 10 a ¥ i t October 2005

Heartfelt response

Photo by Rachel Langert

See stories on Pages 3, 4, 10 and 11

The Special Supplement, 2005 Statewide Officers’ Reports, is enclosed
Teton

CSEA Division of Criminal Justice Local member
Deborah Govel, a criminal justice program aide in
Albany, demonstrates the Operation SAFE CHILD
program to Gov. George Pataki as he stops by the
division’s new booth at the New York State Fair.
SAFE CHILD scans fingerprints and puts photos of
children onto ID cards as part of a new initiative to
help locate missing children and promote
awareness of child safety. For more about the
program, visit: www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us

Month

Canal pact reached

ALBANY — CSEA and the New York State
Canal Corp. have reached a tentative
agreement on a new five-year contract
through June 30, 2008, for more than 500
workers who maintain and operate New
York’s canal system.

The agreement includes wage increases
totaling between 13 percent and 14.5
percent depending on salary grade. It also

by the CSEA membership, which will be
scheduled during the month of October and
must then be approved by the Canal Board
at its Nov. 14, 2005 meeting. Salary
increases would then be paid in the Nov. 17,
2005 pay period.

CSEA will conduct informational contract
ratification meetings throughout the state
Oct. 3 to 6.

CSEA, NYPIRG urging
budget reform amendment

ALBANY — CSEA is urging New York state voters
to support a state constitutional amendment
proposal that would reform the state’s budget
process.

The amendment that will appear on November’s
ballot moves the start of the state’s fiscal year
from April 1 to May 1 and will provide a
contingency budget at the previous year’s
spending levels if a new budget is not approved by
May 1. The measure also funds school districts on
a two-year cycle instead of every year, allowing
schools to do more long-term budget planning.

The amendment assures the state will able to
pay workers without emergency spending bills and
meet contractual obligations with CSEA.

The Business Council of New York State, along
with Gov. George Pataki, oppose the amendment,
incorrectly saying that it will lead to more
spending and higher taxes.

The New York State Public Interest Research
Group, the League of Women of Voters of New York
State and Common Cause/NY are among the other
groups supporting the amendment.

Page 2 THE WORKFORCE October 2005

maintains dental, vision and health
insurance benefits for current employees.
“This agreement was a long time coming
and I commend all of the CSEA team
members for their hard work and
perseverance,” CSEA President Danny
Donohue said. “We also commend the Canal
Corporation team for their efforts in
meeting the needs of our members on the

issues they said were important.”
The agreement is subject to ratification

Mount Vernon Library
controversy continues

MOUNT VERNON — CSEA is
pursuing all legal avenues
to return 33 laid-off Mount
Vernon Public Library
workers to their jobs after
weeks of controversy.

The state Department of
Labor ruled the building is
safe for the workers to
return. Library officials
earlier ordered a closure
due to asbestos in the
building. The closure is the
latest of many challenges
workers have faced in
recent years.

CSEA has fought for
renovations to the library
housed in a 100-year-old
building plagued with a
leaky roof and mold.
Asbestos was discovered in
August by workers
replacing the library roof,
prompting some workers to
wear masks and gloves at
work.

The layoffs came after
the library’s Board of
Trustees chose to close the
library amid safety
concerns. The closure
lasted nearly a week.

Meanwhile, the
Westchester Library System
has temporarily named
Yonkers Riverfront Library

the system’s central library,
a designation held by the
Mount Vernon Public
Library since the 1960s.

“Management has
criticized our members for
their hesitancy to return to
work at the library building,
but we have legitimate
concerns for the safety and
welfare of our workers and
patrons,” said Mount
Vernon Public Library Unit
President Gary Newman.

Library officials initially
opted to keep the library
temporarily closed. One
obstacle is cost: the library
is independent, but

The tentative agreement is the result of
26 months of difficult negotiations, which
ultimately required the assistance of a
third-party mediator to obtain. The canal
employees had been working without a
contract since June 30, 2003, when their
previous four-year agreement expired. The
two parties had been meeting in
negotiations since May 2003.

— Ed Molitor

depends largely on funding
from the city.

Library workers have
been called in to work
several times since the
closure. The first time the
entire staff was called in,
many workers declined to
enter the building, citing
their rights under the
Taylor Law not to work ina
facility suspected to be
dangerous.

Some compromises have
been made to get
employees working in
limited parts of the
building.

— Jessica Stone

MEW YOR

KS)
LEADING UNION

sa SE F.C

meet with members.

The meetings will be held in the region office at 40 Fulton Street, 22nd floor,

Manhattan,

Donohue will meet wit union members from 1 pm, to 7 pam, Please call the Metropolitan Region office at (212)

406-2156 for an appointment and directions.

Bey
LER
ALeitl
CSEA President Danny Donohue

to meet Metropolitan Region

union members on Nov. 3
CSEA President Danny Donohue wil visit the CSEA Metropolitan Region Nov. 3 fo

Katrina’s aftermath

Flood of con

Te: gut-wrenching devastation
caused by Hurricane Katrina
may require the largest
mobilization and disaster response
in U.S. history. CSEA members are
already responding both on and off
the job.

Many CSEA members, such as
those who work for the State
Emergency Management office
(SEMO) are involved in helping
coordinate important aspects of the
recovery efforts (See story, Page
10). Other CSEA members are rising
to the occasion and helping to raise
funding and support relief activities.

“CSEA members’ generosity and
desire to help in a crisis is always
inspiring,” said CSEA President
Danny Donohue.

Every bit of help can make a
difference.

CSEA has already made a
contribution to the American Red
Cross and is supporting the AFSCME
Fallen Heroes Fund, which can be
accessed via CSEA’s web site at
www.csealocall1000.org. CSEA is

CSEA President Danny Donohu
Syracuse University’s football home opener to note the importance of
doing all that we can to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Donohue
then presented a “kick-off” check for $5,000 to the Red Cross for relief
efforts. Pictured with Donohue are Red Cross Onondaga-Oswego chapter
board Chair John Murad and Syracuse University Athletic Director Dr.
Daryl Gross.

encouraging its members to
contribute to known and legitimate
relief agencies and to make

cern, kindness

= mB

contributions by check whenever
possible.

Disaster
volunteers
needed

The Red Cross has a
desperate need for trained
disaster volunteers. In
New York, public
employees who are Red
Cross certified can receive
paid time off to respond to
the disaster. Classes are
forming now across the
state. You can find the
chapter closest to you by
visiting www.redcross.org
or by linking from the
CSEA web site at
www.csealocal1000.org.

Co-workers help family with outpouring of support

FREEPORT — The storm really hit
home for some members in the
village.

Tara Sims, an account clerk in the
village’s water department, watched
and waited anxiously to see where

Katrina would hit. Most of her
family on her mother’s side lived in
the Ninth Ward — which was under
many feet of water.

Eleven of her family were
evacuated to safety, some to Baton

Red Cross

OF NORTHEASTERN NY

 —i
Donations 7 »
for

Donations for
Hurricane Relief

b
Cs)

making donations.

Lending a helping hand

EA Village of Chatham Unit member Kelly Corbett staffs a Red Cross
booth at the Columbia County fair. CSEA assisted the fund-raising
efforts by staffing the booth and printing fliers with information about

Rouge, La., but mostly to Texas. Her
five cousins and her 85-year-old
great-aunt are missing.

“It’s been very stressful, looking
for them and trying to find out if
they're OK. No one knows if they left
and made it to a shelter somewhere,
or if they are even still alive,” she
said. “The ones who did leave are
struggling so hard to make it every
day,” said Sims.

In the immediate aftermath of
Katrina, her family took refuge like
many others at the Superdome,
taking only the clothes on their
backs because they expected to
come home right away. Their homes
were completely flooded out in one
of New Orleans’ hardest hit areas.

Sims’ family in New York pulled
together what they could afford and
sent it down, but knew more help
would be needed.

Sims’ co-worker and friend,
Louphenia Jones, suggested she
write a note telling of her family’s
plight. Sims gave the letter to Jones,
who sent it around and posted it. In
just a few days, Sims’ co-workers at
the village, from all different

October 2005

departments, had raised about
$2,000 to help.

A couple of days later, the money
was wired to Sims’ family. The
cousins in Texas were able to use
the donation to get a decent
apartment, and their mom is
working in the first part-time job she
could get. At least now they have
some hope, even though they have
no idea when — or if — they will
ever be able to return to New
Orleans, Sims said.

“We just want to thank everybody
so much for their generosity. My
cousin said she didn’t know what
they would have done without all of
our help. And all I can say is, Thank
you!” she said. Her union brothers
and sisters are also collecting
clothing for the family.

“It’s extremely gratifying to work
with a group of people that can
come together, and reach into their
pockets to help someone in need
like this — without strings, and
without asking a lot of questions,”
said CSEA Freeport Village Unit
President Pete Reinke.

— Rachel Langert

THE WORK FORCE Page 3
ISSN 1522-1091

Official publication of
CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
143 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12210-2303
Danny Donohue, President

STEPHEN A. MADARASZ
Communications Director & Publisher

STANLEY HORNAK
Deputy Director of Communications
LOU HMIELESKI
Executive Editor
JANICE MARRA
Associate Editor
CATHLEEN FEBRAIO
Graphic Production Specialist

JANICE M. KUCSKAR
Graphic Production Specialist

THE WORK FORCE

Lessons of Katrina should not
be lost on New York

he overwhelming response of CSEA members to

the devastation of Hurricane Katrina once again
shows your true heart. It also validates so much of what
CSEA believes about the value and importance of a well-
trained work force that’s treated with fairness and
respect, in both the public and private sector.

BETH McINTYRE.
Communications Assistant

Nobody wants unnecessary and excessive
government. We have government for the primary
purpose of serving, protecting and anticipating the
needs of people. That means a lot of things like building and
maintaining roads, water, sewage and power systems, ensuring public

i safety and health and making sure we have the means to do all of these
CSEA, Attn: Membership Department, ‘a A *
143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210. things under normal circumstances. It also means being prepared for the

CSEA on-line: The CSEA website worst.
can be accessed at www.csealocal1000.org

The Work Force (USPS 0445-010) is
published monthly by The CSEA Publication Office:
143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210.
Periodical Mail Postage paid at Post Office,
Albany, New York 12288.

Postmaster: Send address changes to:

Headaee This doesn’t come cheap. All of us want an experienced, trained and
Send any comments; complaints; suggestions or Kieas to properly equipped work force responding in a crisis. We want to know that
Publisher, The Work Force, 143 Washington Avenue, ‘3 .
Albany, NY 12210-2803. smart and able people are on the job and know in advance what must be
done in an emergency.

COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATES

RACHEL LANGERT a telana Region That means hiring people with the skills and knowledge to do the job
DAVID GALARZA Maenien Region and making sure they have the help they need. It also means providing
(212) 406-2156 decent benefits and paying them fairly to keep them on the job. That’s what
JESSICA STONE Southern Region CSEA .
(845) 831-1000 stands for as a labor union.
‘THERESE ASSALIAN Capital Region
518) 785-4400
MARK M. KOTZIN eeu Region Still, here in New York, you and the public services you provide
LYNN MILLER Welcr hea continue to be under attack. For example, a self-appointed business group
(716) 691-6555 in Erie County is recommending what amounts to dismantling the county
ED. MOUTOR, Headquarters government. While the elected officials of Erie County have been recklessly

518) 257-1272
o®) irresponsible in handling the county’s finances and operations, tearing
The Publications Committee apart and auctioning off the county government would be far worse.
LONG ISLAND REGION Jane D'Amico
METROPOLITAN REGION Abraham Benjamin Whether in Erie County or elsewhere, we can only hope that the
SOUTHERN REGION Robert Lorenc 1 f Hurri Katri ill be | ble and ibl
CAPITAL REGION Helen Fischedick lessons of Hurricane Katrina will not be lost on reasonable and responsible

CENTRAL REGION Bruce Damalt people.
WESTERN REGION Mary Jo Tubbs

B08 COMMUN Ic,
» 2 SEB

Et

NC

SUERNATIONA
Zeetoossy S

7 +AFLCIOICLE *

Page 4 THE WORK FORCE October 2005:
Van Duyn workers gear up
for fight to save nursing home

SYRACUSE — Public
nursing home residents
across the state are
fighting along with CSEA
members to secure
updated Medicaid
reimbursement rates
that will help keep their
homes alive.

At Van Duyn Home &
Hospital in Syracuse,
Onondaga County’s
nursing home, residents
are working with CSEA to
fight for sufficient
reimbursement rates. At
a recent forum that CSEA
organized to allow Van
Duyn workers to meet
with their county
lawmakers, home

county urging the public
to “Keep Van Duyn
Caring” and “Don’t Cut
Our Safety Net.” Workers
are also distributing
posters and fliers to urge
the state to change its
funding system for
public nursing homes. A
recent CSEA event
generated hundreds of
letters to county and
state elected officials to
point out funding
challenges at public
nursing homes and urge
action.

“We're getting out
there and letting people
in our community know
that we're facing a big

CSEA member Marlene Neal, a worker at
Onondaga County's Van Duyn Home & Hospital,
takes the time to sign letters to her local and
stateelected officials pushing for Medicaid funding
reform for public nursing homes, part of the
union's campaign to keep the nursing home from

continue supporting
CSEA in this fight. Pirro
also praised the web site
workers recently
launched to discuss the
Van Duyn campaign. Visit
that web site at
www.keepvanduyncaring

.com.

— Mark M. Kotzin

Residents’ problem
Council and if they
President value the being privatized or sold.
Bob care we
McLaughlin provide at . .
announced Van Duyn, Duyn Unit President
he is ready we're going Barbara Taylor.
to fight. to need Onondaga County
CSEA is changes in supported CSEA in its
pressuring the funding fight and officials have
the state by system to said closing or selling
keeping the allow us to Van Duyn would be a last
issue public. Central Region keep resort. County Executive
Van Duyn President James Moore operating as Nicholas Pirro, at a
workers are Yecently speaks about —q public recent CSEA meeting at
distributing CSEA’s campaign to nursing Van Duyn, praised the
lawn signs Save Van Duyn Home & home,” said Union for its efforts and
across the Hospital. CSEA Van said the county would

Pataki vetoes retiree health insurance coverage bill

ALBANY — Gov. George E. Pataki
once again vetoed legislation
introduced by CSEA that would
have prohibited public employers
from reducing retiree health
insurance benefits unless a
corresponding reduction is
negotiated for current employees.
CSEA introduced the bill (S.5758
— Farley/A.3216B - Abbate) to
protect retirees against unilateral
cuts to their health insurance
coverage by their former

employers. School district retirees
are protected under current law
and some employers are bound
by contract language. However,
most public employers may
reduce or eliminate retiree
benefits at will.

“This legislation is about
fairness and decency for those
who have dedicated their lives to
public service,” said CSEA
President Danny Donohue. “CSEA
will continue to fight to protect

what they have worked so hard
for against being taken away.”
Pataki claims the bill would
strip employers of their ability to
effectively manage their benefit
programs, adding there is no
evidence that public employers
systematically reduce retiree
benefits. The governor has
consistently vetoed similar
legislation in years past.

— Ed Molitor

Represents 60,000 Workers in
LEAL CALE
SELNVICES

“We’re going to
need changes in
the funding
system to allow
us to keep
operating as a
public nursing
home.”

CSER Voices

“Ty like belonging to CSEA
because of the benefits and
especially appreciate the
contract protections in place for
CSEA members. 99

— Vern Duesler, assistant
foreman, Hudson River/Black
River Regulating District and
24-year CSEA member.

October 2005 THE WORKFORCE Page 5
CSEs

NE 1
LEADING UNION’
Represents 35,000 Workers in
COLLECTIONS i
WAVUENEORCENIEN

“The building
was disgusting.
We knew right
away there
were
problems.”

CSER Voices

66 (SEA is very helpful.

Everyone has been
helpful and they have
answered my questions
and led me in the right
direction. The union also
provides job protection
and that protection is very
important. 99

— Shawn Carroll,
grounds worker, Western
New York Developmental

Disabilities Services
Office and one-year
CSEA member

Page 6 THE WORKFORCE October 2005

Probation officers refuse dumpy office

SALAMANCA — CSEA played a
major role in the recent closure of
an unsafe and unsanitary
probation office in Cattaraugus
County.

The office, tucked between a
trash dump and a sewage
treatment plant, was shuttered at
the insistence of CSEA,
Cattaraugus County Local
President Clara Ramadhan said.

Probation officers began
reporting to the Salamanca office
in early July, and safety issues
quickly came to light. The office —
often staffed by a single officer —
had two unregulated entry points,
no buzzer system and no panic
alarm. Probation officers at the
office had no way to know when a
client had entered the building,
leading to concern.

“There is no security at the
building,” Ramadhan said. “You
don’t know if someone is coming in
if you are already with someone.”

The lack of a sidewalk would
also force staff to walk along an
access road, which could be
especially dangerous in winter,
Ramadhan said.

CSEA conducted an occupational
safety and health inspection, which
revealed the office did not meet
local building code standards. “The
building was disgusting,”
Ramadhan said. “We knew right
away there were problems.”

Following the inspection, some
probation officers reported
unusual illnesses while at work.
Workers who never had asthma or
who haven't had an asthma attack
in many years reported breathing
difficulties.

Those complaints resulted in
further action by CSEA. Ramadhan,
along with Cattaraugus County
Unit President Cheryl Smith, joined
the county’s occupational safety
and health committee on a tour of
the facility. County officials said
they would make repairs, but CSEA
insisted union members be
removed from the building
immediately. County officials
agreed and closed the office the
same day.

For now, the probation officers
are reporting to work in nearby
Olean. The county has not yet
decided if it will renovate the

closed facility to bring it into code,
or if an alternative office space will
be leased.

About 200 people on probation
report to officers in Salamanca.

— Lynn Miller

CSEA Cattaraugus County Local
President Clara Ramadhan is one
of the many probation officers
who had concerns about a
satellite probation office at a
refuse transfer station in
Salamanca. Here she stands by a
road sign listing the probation
department just beneath “refuse.”

Fall skills for success courses offered

This fall the New York State &
CSEA Partnership for Education
and Training (Partnership) will
offer Skills for Success training
courses to CSEA-represented New
York state employees across the
state. Course offerings are
designed to help you prepare for
the challenges and demands of
current and future jobs.

The Skills for Success training
courses are scheduled Oct. 18
through Dec. 14 and available at no
cost to you or your agency.

You are eligible to participate in
courses if you are a member of the
Administrative Services Unit
(ASU), Institutional Services Unit
(ISU), Operational Services Unit
(OSU) or the Division of Military
and Naval Affairs (DMNA)
bargaining units. For clerical and
secretarial courses, employees in

traineeships or serving a
probationary period in an ASU
transition title supported by the
Partnership are given preference.

Reimbursement for your travel,
lodging, meals, and parking
expenses is at the discretion of
your agency. Courses are held
during the day at convenient
training sites near your work site
or home.

Choose from 19 courses in the
following program areas:

¢ Adult education basics

* Clerical and secretarial

© Operations and maintenance

¢ Personal computer

© Work and life

Please work with your
supervisor to select courses most
suitable for your work and
personal goals. You will need your
supervisor's approval to attend a

course. You may take any of the
courses offered, not just courses
that typically reflect the work you
do.

There are no application
deadlines for courses, but apply
soon because classes can fill
quickly. Please apply early.

The Skills for Success course
catalog contains course
descriptions, training locations and
an application form. The catalog
and application forms are available
from your CSEA local president
and agency personnel/training
office, or can be downloaded from
www.nyscseapartnership.org. You
can also request a catalog by
calling (518) 486-7814 or for areas
outside the Capital Region call
(800) 254-4332, or e-mail at
learning@nyscseapartnership.org.

An honest weight for consumer
protection :

BUFFALO — When CSEA
members spend their
hard-earned money at
local supermarkets,
pharmacies and gas
stations, they expect the
scales and gas pumps to
be accurate.

Workers in the Erie
County Department of
Weights and Measures
work to protect the public
and fulfill that expectation.
Through unannounced
visits and inspections,
they ensure the equipment
consumers use is working
properly.

“You like your bathroom
scale to be as accurate as
possible because you like
to know how much you
weigh,” CSEA member and
Deputy County Sealer
Stephen James said. “We
make sure supermarket
scales are as accurate as
possible so people don’t
get ripped off.”

Recently, James visited
a construction site to
check the accuracy of a
large truck scale. James
monitored the equipment
to ensure the amount of
weight on the scale
matched the number on

the display.

That same day, James
also inspected a pharmacy
scale at a supermarket,
where James used
tweezers to pick up tiny
weights — just grams each
— to make sure the
druggists’ scale read
correctly. At the
pharmacy, he said, it’s not
an issue of protecting
people’s wallets; it’s an
issue of protecting their
health.

In the supermarket’s
parking lot that contains
gas pumps, James
approached the attendant
for an unannounced
inspection.

“The Department of
Agriculture and Markets
allows me to do a random
inspection any time the
store is open for
business,” James said.
“They can refuse, but then
they have to face the
consequences.”

James also visits
supermarkets to check
scales and cash register
scanners. He also weighs
meat packages to verify
the printed weight. James
looks for instances in

Stephen James, a deputy county sealer for the Erie
County Department of Weights and Measures, inspects a
gas station pump in the parking lot of a downtown

Buffalo supermarket.

which the scales may have
been altered or in which a
store employee may have
forgotten to remove his or
her thumb from the scale
when weighing a product.

“It’s our job to take
packages off the shelves
and check them,” James
said. “We are trying to
protect people from being
overcharged.”

James notes the system
is not perfect as the
Agriculture and Markets
Law allows for a small
degree of variation. The
goal is to make the
difference between
“actual” and what the
scale reads so small that it
does not have a major
impact on either the

consumers or profits.

“Our goal is really to get
it to the point where the
difference is not profitable
for the store,” he said.

Weights and Measures
workers also check timing
devices in paid parking
lots and ramps, dipsticks
in tanks, and linear
devices in stores such as
those that measure chain
link fencing. Department
workers also check
taxicab meters.

“There is so much out
there,” James said. “When
I started this job, | was
just astounded. There are
thousands of things we
do.”

— Lynn Miller

Schenectady County drug program pays off

SCHENECTADY — A CSEA-negotiated

alternative drug purchase program in
Schenectady County is being credited
with helping to improve the county’s

bottom line.

The program, the first of its kind in
local government in New York state,
has been in effect for less than one
year, but is already having a financial
impact. Recent news coverage of a
proposed 1 percent tax decrease for
county taxpayers attributes a
projected savings of $1.5 million for
2005 to an optional Canadian drug
purchase program and to a domestic
mail-order drug program.

County employees enrolled in a
Blue Cross Matrix plan are eligible to
use either program for drug
purchases, but a plan now in the

works could see the drug portion of
the county’s three additional HMOs
carved out and integrated into the
county’s drug plan providing the same
benefit to covered employees and
their families.

“This will allow more people to take
advantage of the savings,” said Joanne
DeSarbo, Schenectady County local
president. “We're really excited about
having the HMOs come on board.”

Members in Schenectady County
save money by having reduced co-
payments for domestic mail order and
no co-payment for Canadian
purchases. Those savings motivate
employees whose drug purchases
save the county money over
traditional domestic pharmacy
purchases. “It’s truly a win-win for

everyone,” DeSarbo said.

Though the plan has only been in
effect since December, member use
rates are soaring. Since December,
the domestic mail order program rose
from a 1 percent member usage to 25
percent.

“Those are phenomenal usage
rates,” said Laura Balogh, director of
CSEA’s Health Benefits department.

Other local governments continue
to follow in Schenectady County’s
footsteps. Auburn, in Cayuga County,
is set to begin an alternative drug
purchase plan Oct. 1.

— Therese Assalian

LEADING U
Represents 50,000 ae in
SOCIAL SELWICES end
ADIUNISTUSTIVE
SELWVLCES

“We are
trying to
protect
people from
being
overcharged.”

CSER Voices

66" The member benefits at

CSEA are great. There
are so many extras available
to you. 99

— Mary Shufelt,
administrative assistant,
Hudson River/Black River
Regulating District and
seven-year member

October 2005 THE WORKFORCE Page 7
WASVE Wales:
IVFAINEE NAN
IKERASTRUCTULL

MENT

“These guys
spent endless
hours here
putting these
buildings
together and
saved county
taxpayers
millions.”

CSER Voices

| like being part of CSEA
because it helps
employees in stressful
situations. The union also
protects our jobs and
benefits. 99

— Marian Terrell,
developmental aide trainee
at Western New York
Developmental Disabilities
Services Office and
one-year CSEA member.

Page 8 THE WORKFORCE October 2005

CSEA workers save Delaware County

millions, tu

WALTON — There's a quiet
revolution starting to
churn up the trash — and
the trash processing
business — amid the
rolling hills of this rural
Delaware County town,
and it’s promising to turn
trash into treasure.

As this article went to
press, Delaware County
was placing the final
touches on this brand-new,
state-of-the-
art, $21
million co-
composting
facility, a
project
that’s been
in the
works for
J years and

wouldn’t
have come
about if it weren’t for the
dedication and hard work
of many CSEA members.

Co-composting is a very
modern, high-tech version
of a very old, low-tech
process. It involves taking
municipal solid waste,
mixing it with biosolids
(sewage sludge) and
churning it in a rotating
“bioreactor” for three days
to accelerate the
decomposition of organic
matter. Non-organic matter
is then sorted out, and the
rest gets cured for 58 days
into compost, which is
then refined and stored,
ready to be packaged and
sold.

The process means that
about 70 to 75 percent of

_

ee

leases

Delaware County Department

rning tras

ce

Wh.

SERINE LP
of Public Works

employees Ryan Boice, left, and Jerry Ford, right,
work on landscaping outside pipes that carry air from
the compost facility and filter it through the pile of

cedar chips behind them.

all trash taken in can be
recycled, a much higher
rate than any other
municipal solid waste
operation.

In the late 1990s,
Delaware County Local
President George Lawson
and his members fought
hard to support the
construction of a co-
composting plant,
recognizing it would
extend the life and prevent
privatization of the county
landfill operated by CSEA
members.

CSEA formed a local
coalition, established a
web site and began talking
about all the benefits of
co-composting. Lawson
traveled to Quebec to tour
a similar facility, and to
Washington, D.C., to lobby
for federal funding.

Eventually, the community
got on board, and in 1998 a
contractor was hired to
design and build a new
facility.

It’s taken more than
three years, 100,000 yards
of earth-moving, 8,000
yards of concrete forming,
and untold hours of
manpower to build this
new three-acre processing
building — the largest of
its kind in the world.
Lawson said about 90
percent of the
construction, including the
site preparation, concrete
work, machine installation,
electrical work, plastering
and painting, was all done
by CSEA members working
for the county’s
Department of Public
Works.

Not only did the

h into treasure

members do a high quality
job, but doing most of the
work in-house saved the
county about $3 million,
Lawson said.

“These guys spent
endless hours here putting
these buildings together
and saved county
taxpayers millions,”
Lawson said. “I’m
extremely happy this has
finally become a reality
and people will now see
the dedication of Delaware
County employees to move
forward and build a state-
of-the-art facility.”

“The county employees
really did a terrific job out
of this,” said Acting Plant
Supervisor Mike McCann,
a CSEA member in the
department, who did much
of the excavation work
himself. “Beyond
expectations,” Lawson
said.

CSEA member Dan
Sanford, a civil engineer
for the department, who
had a large role in
coordinating the county
workers’ efforts, agreed,
pointing to the quality of
workmanship at the
facility.

“I think we're all proud.
You can tell by the quality
of the workmanship. The
county workers did a top-
notch job,” he said.

— Mark M. Kotzin

CSEA supports state Transportation Bond Act

CSEA is supporting a $2.9 billion
Transportation Bond Act that was
agreed to in the state budget earlier
this year. In order to take effect
voters must approve the bond act as
a statewide referendum on the
general election to be held Nov. 8,

2005.

The money will be divided
between upstate bridge, road and
highway projects and downstate
mass transit projects. The governor
and legislature have agreed to the
specific projects and the agreement
contains labor protections.

The bond act provides much
needed repairs and maintenance for
the state's infrastructure, creates
jobs and provides revenue for the
state Department of Transportation
as well as many county and local
highway departments.

‘Green cleaning’ law to protect
school workers

ALBANY — Gov. George
Pataki recently signed
CSEA-backed legislation
requiring New York state
schools to use
environmentally friendly
cleaning products, a move
that protects thousands of
children and school staff,
including CSEA members,
from exposure to toxic and
poisonous cleaners.

CSEA represents about
55,000 education support
workers, including
maintenance employees
who use cleaning
substances every day. The
union fought for the law’s
passage along with the
Healthy Schools Network,
a national not-for-profit
environmental health
organization CSEA
regularly works with to
improve working
conditions for members
and students’ learning
environments.

“This new law gives
greater environmental
protections to our
members employed in

School employees fight fo

COPIAGUE — The CSEA
Custodial and Grounds
Unit in the Copiague
School District represents
28 custodians, four
maintenance workers, and
three groundskeepers who
have been working
without a contract for
more than two years.

The key sticking point is
that management wants to
seriously erode their
seniority rights, but the
members are standing
firm.

The district had refused
to talk about any other
contractual issues, until
the seniority clause was
changed.

school districts and to the
children attending these
schools,” CSEA President
Danny Donohue said.
“They now can do their
jobs and learn without
exposure to any
potentially harmful
chemicals.”

The law will take effect
Sept. 1, 2006, allowing
districts one year to use
any existing cleaning
supplies and plan to buy
new cleaners that meet the
new requirements.

The state Office of
General Services, already
required to buy
environmentally friendly
cleaning products for state
agencies under an
executive order Pataki
signed in January, will
work with school districts
and other state agencies to
help districts develop
guidelines on buying and
using environmentally
friendly cleaners.

Environmentally friendly
cleaners cost about the
same price as chemical-

As a direct result of a
protest on the day of State
Education Commissioner
Richard P. Mills’ visit, the
superintendent extended
an invitation to Region
President Nick LaMorte,
Long Island region staff
and several members of
the unit’s executive board,
to sit down and talk about
the impasse. At press
time, a date was being
scheduled.

— Rachel Langert

Watkins Glen School District employee and CSEA
member Tom Harbot cleans the school cafeteria in
preparation for the school year. Harbot is one of
thousands of CSEA members who will be helped by
the state’s new law mandating the use of
environmental cleaning products in school
buildings.

based cleaners and
perform just as well as
traditional cleaning
products. The
environmentally friendly
cleaners are biodegradable
and contain low toxicity,
low volatile organic
compound content and
reduced packaging.

Many chemical-based
cleaners found in schools,
offices and homes contain

Te

r fair contract

more than 50 harmful
substances associated
with numerous health
issues including irritation
and respiratory problems.
The U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health
Administration recently
estimated that poor indoor
air quality affects 30
million to 70 million office
workers.

CSEA Long Island Region staff demonstrate near the
Copiague School District grounds to urge district
officials to give school custodians, maintenance
workers and groundskeepers a fair contract. The
demonstration coincided with a visit from state
Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills. District
workers were busy preparing the school for Mills’ visit.

Represents 53,000 Workers in
ERUCATLON SUEEQKT
SERVICES

“This new law
gives greater
environmental
protections to
our members
employed in
school districts
and to the
children
attending these
schools.”

CSER Voices

“Ww mess with Social
Security when the
system has worked all these
years? I don’t worry for

myself, but I worry about my
daughter. 99

— Butch Brockman, 16-year
CSEA member, masonry and
plaster worker and local
shop steward, Western New
York Developmental
Disabilities Services Office

October 2005 THE WORK FORCE Page 9
We respond to Katrina in different ways

SEMO workers

coordinate relief

ALBANY — In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, CSEA
members working in the State Emergency
Management Office are doing their part to assist in
recovery efforts.

Members are busy at work in operations, the
communications center and in the geographic
information system office. SEMO employees are
working right now to support New York state's
combined efforts with incident management
assistance teams and the Emergency Management
Assistance Compact, a form of mutual aid between
states, as they heed the calls for help in the Gulf
Coast.

Incident management assistance teams are made
up of employees of various state agencies. They
can be deployed inside or outside of New York
state as needed for disaster response. The state
may also activate the teams for planned events
such as last year’s Republican National Convention
in New York City. Teams are now in the Gulf Coast
assisting in response and recovery efforts.

Dan O’Brien of SEMO’s geographic information
systems office points to a map projecting storm
surge heights and population impact for various
locations on Long Island.

The task of coordinating New York's response
and recovery efforts through the Emergency
Management Assistance Compact are skillfully
handled by operations personnel at SEMO.

Their control center acts as a clearinghouse for
requests originating from emergency management
offices in counties impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

Ss ae
From left, EMAC operations employees Ken Bergmann, Stacey Dunn and Brian Head work the phones
in the coordination center following Hurricane Katrina.

Examples of requests are for a specific quantity
of items or personnel such as specialty vehicles,
buses, generators, firefighters, drivers, mobile
command vehicles and building inspectors, just to
name a few. Once a call comes in, operations
personnel broadcast the request to New York
counties. SEMO operations staff then respond to
the compact’s national coordination center when
requests are filled.

Constant presence

State Emergency Management Office
communications technicians staff the State
Emergency Communications Center 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. They are the people who
receive the first call from any local government in
New York looking for assistance.

They then direct the call or pass the request on
to the appropriate agency. They monitor 12
separate pieces of equipment including those from
weather services, the Department of
Transportation and the Department of Homeland
Security.

They also activate searches and other
notifications systems and even spread the word
about grid reductions for power shortages when
needed.

SEMO’s Geographic Information System office
works to assemble maps.

These are not just ordinary maps, but “maps
plus,” as Dan O’Brien describes them.

Data can be imported into the system’s database
and layered to provide multiple levels of
information about a specific location. Mapping
assistance of this type is an invaluable resource in
recovery and response efforts.

O'Brien's office provides support to incident
management assistance teams through mapping
assistance.

— Therese Assalian

THE WORK FORCE

Page 10 October 2005:

106th Guard member
deployed to help

WESTHAMPTON — Among those reporting for duty in the
Gulf Coast is CSEA member Tom Payton, an airport firefighter
at Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton.

Commuting between the Herbert Field Air Force Base in
Florida and New Orleans, he is
working as a radio operator on
an HC130 combat search and
rescue plane with his Air
National Guard unit.

“We're basically the big gas
station in the sky,” Payton said.
“We were called up to do
refueling for the search and
rescue missions, as well as
anything else they need.
Whether we do air drops, take
people to hospitals or transport
them to other states, we're
basically prepared to do
whatever we can to help them.”

Payton, a 40-year-old father of
four, said refueling helicopters in
mid-air can be dangerous. “That's where our training comes
in. It’s an important mission, and we train all the time for
times like this.”

“Our prayers and support go out to all the people in the
affected areas, as well as to our men and women in uniform
who are down there to help,” said George Kalamaras,
president of the CSEA Long Island State Employees Local,
which includes Gabreski employees.

“They have such a long, tough job ahead of them down
South, but I know that our people can and will do everything
possible to help out,” said Long Island Region President Nick
LaMorte. “CSEA members are caring, compassionate people
and they really come through in tough times.”

— Rachel Langert

Tragedy’s odyssey
ends happily

ALBANY — The days following Hurricane Katrina were particularly
restless for a Capital Region family trying to reconnect with their
daughter in New Orleans.

Denise Heiserman, a CSEA member employed at the University at
Albany, spent days racing through airports trying to find her
daughter Gretchen, a New Orleans area graduate student who was
forced to evacuate the city with her fiance, Mark, just weeks after
starting school in the Big Easy.

Gretchen's landlord, who decided to evacuate at the last minute,
dropped the couple off at the Superdome. After a few harrowing
days there, the couple waited 21 hours in line to board a bus to
Houston.

Gretchen was not in frequent contact with her family at this point.
Her relatives believed she was heading toward Houston, so
Heiserman and Gretchen's grandfather boarded a plane to that city.

Meanwhile, Gretchen and her fiance's bus was diverted to Dallas
and then to Tyler, Texas, 85 miles away. The bus then returned to
Dallas at the request of the passengers.

Heiserman and her dad Al, a University at Albany retiree,
connected with Mark's mom, who flew in from England. Together,
they scrambled for a flight to Dallas, where, after more starts and
stops and no shortage of serendipity, the group finally united.
Gretchen is now home in Guilderland with her family.

Helping a friend

Co-worker Gail Redick spearheaded collection efforts. “(Denise) is
just awesome,” Redick said. “It just broke my heart.”

Redick recently presented a check to the family and is still
collecting donations, which will help replace necessities that
Gretchen lost during the hurricane as well as offset the sudden
travel costs for Heiserman and her family.

“We were on seven planes in two days,” Heiserman said. She said
she would do it again if necessary. “You do anything you can in a
situation like that.”

Colleagues in various departments also helped with collection
efforts, including Human Resources, where Heiserman works.

“Denise is a very special lady,” said Jennifer Watson, who helped
coordinate fund-raising efforts in the physical plant. “Whatever we
gave her was never enough to repay her for what she's given us.”

Heiserman is grateful for the outpouring support. “I can't believe
all of this, between the calls and e-mails,” she said. “I'm speechless.”

Heiserman said the money is already being put to use for
necessities for her daughter. She said the support from co-workers
is really making a difference. “It's been a blessing,” she said.

— Therese Assalian

October 2005 Page 11

Worker’s death points to
astounding safety lapses

COMMACK — In response to the
death on the job ofa
maintenance worker in the Miller
Place School District, CSEA is
urging district officials to
institute policies and procedures
to better protect employees.

“We were deeply saddened by
the death of our
brother, and
former CSEA
officer, Michael
Sallee, and our
hearts go out to i
his family,” CSEA
Long Island
Region President
Nick LaMorte
said. “The fact
remains that the
death of Michael Sallee may have
been preventable, and the
employer did not do all it should
have to ensure his and other
members’ safety on the job.”

On Aug. 28, Sallee, 37, was
working on the wiring in the
ceiling of Miller Place High
School when he was apparently
electrocuted and died.

Sallee, a 15-year district
employee, had started as a
custodian and was most recently
a Maintenance Mechanic 4. He

Sallee

was not a licensed electrician,
although he had completed
training in electrical work on his
own time.

CSEA Occupational Safety and
Health Specialist Komilla John
and an investigator from the
state Public Employees Safety
and Health Bureau interviewed
witnesses and reviewed the
scene, only to find a chilling
resolution to the probe.

“There were no policies,
procedures or safeguards in
place to insure that this kind of
accident would not occur,” John
said. “Any employer who
requires electrical work of their
employee had to provide training
that specifically addresses the
work that is required. There are
supposed to be specific policies
and procedures in place to
ensure the safety of workers
before any electrical work is
done.”

The district also failed to
provide the workers with
sufficient safety equipment,
something that could have
prevented Sallee’s death.

“The workers didn’t have
safety goggles, proper work
gloves or insulated tools to use,”

John said. “They didn’t have
updated wiring diagrams
available before work began, and
that could have saved Mike’s
life.”

One witness told investigators
the last thing he remembers
Sallee saying was that the ceiling
wires they were working on were
jumbled, and it was unclear
which wires were which.

Sallee’s death is not the first
time a district employee was
injured because of the district’s
failure to provide proper
training. The district only made
minimal efforts to provide
training for the maintenance and
custodial workers at CSEA’s
insistence, when a food service
worker was shocked in a Miller
Place kitchen last year.

“That 10-hour training was
only on rudimentary safety
procedures, not about the
specific electrical work these
custodial and maintenance
workers were expected to
perform,” John said.

LaMorte said he hopes PESH
will make Miller Place do the
right thing by its employees.
“The district must fix these
problems and make sure that

CSEA slams work site security veto

ALBANY — Gov. George E.
Pataki’s veto of legislation to
prevent workplace violence
ignores very real security risks in
New York work sites and sends a
bad message to workers and the
public across the state.

“We're deeply troubled and
disappointed by the governor’s
veto,” CSEA President Danny
Donohue said. “He had an
opportunity to lead the nation in
protecting the safety and
security of workers and the
public alike and prove he’s as
committed to preventing
violence in the workplace as he
says in his veto message.”

The bill (S. 5773), which the
governor vetoed citing technical

Page 12 THE WORK FORCE October 2005

flaws, would have required
public employers with more than
20 employees to assess risk and
develop a plan of action to
prevent potential workplace
violence. The bill would have
also established a complaint
procedure for workers to call
attention to the potential for
violence.

The bill was vital to protect
workers and the public, Donohue
said.

“Whether we’re working with
violent offenders on parole or
probation, angry and frustrated
social services clients or
unpredictable individuals in
open public buildings, public
employees are in harm’s way

every day,” Donohue said. “If our
members aren’t secure in public
work sites, then neither is the
public.”

CSEA has been pressing for
work site security protections for
more than a decade. In 1994, the
union proposed a work site
security standard, similar to the
bill the governor recently vetoed,
following the 1992 murder of four
Schuyler County Social Services
workers. The state Department
of Labor dismissed the CSEA
proposal based on what the
union called a “questionable”
cost analysis and the union has
been pursuing a legislative
remedy ever since.

“We've spent 10 years trying

CSEA Labor Relations Specialist
Jim Wall investigates the
accident that took a CSEA
member’s life at Miller Place
High School.

this kind of terrible incident
never happens again,” he said.
“It is so unfortunate sometimes it
takes an incident like this to
make us acutely aware of the
importance of safe procedures.”

— Rachel Langert

SEN OR SE
LEADING) UNION,
265,000 Members Strong
SAFETY and
TEALIT

to convince the governor of the
need for these measures and he’s
had plenty of opportunity to
work with us to develop
something he could stand behind
instead of tossing it out whole
cloth,” Donohue said.

With workplace violence now
one of the leading causes of
death on the job in the United
States and the leading cause of
workplace fatalities for women,
Donohue said the union will
continue to fight until every job
site across the state becomes a
safer place to work.

— Ed Molitor

Retiree’s charges fight for a better life

LACKAWANNA — For almost 25
years, Frank Balsano worked as
a mechanic for the Western
New York Developmental
Disabilities Services Office.

Today, the CSEA retiree
works to keep young people on
the right path.

Balsano, a retiree activist in
CSEA’s Western Region, is one
of three trainers involved with
a youth boxing
program designed
to help teens

“School is the number one
thing,” Balsano said. “They
have to do well in school.”

In fact, acceptable grades are
a prerequisite for the program.
Organizers hope that once the
participants develop a love for
the sport, they will want to
work hard in school so they
can remain in the program.

The boxing program is in
need of sponsors to
help it exist, Balsano
said. Organizers pay
for many aspects of

develop dedication 7
and discipline. “ADIN the program
“We want to pane ant) themselves.
keep the kids off FA Waly, iE TERNe oy d “It’s hard for us to
the street,” E F we ene keep the program

SELGHE OLS
Balsano said. “Our BEMENES

goal is to help

them with any

problems they have. We try to
help them solve them.”

The boxers — the youngest
is age 8 — meet ata
Lackawanna gym almost every
evening to work out and spar.
Some joined the program at the
direction of their parents, who
sought a way to keep the child
out of trouble. Others came at
the urging of a friend. In any
case, participation is not a
right; it is a privilege.

going with some of

the money coming

from our own
pockets,” he said. “Every little
bit helps.”

Program participants also
box in exhibitions designed to
showcase their talents. Money
raised at the shows goes right
back into the program. The
next show will be held Nov. 12,
at Michael’s Banquet Facility on
Southwestern Boulevard in
Hamburg.

“Every penny we get from the
shows helps us go to the

Union member needs

ELMIRA — CSEA member
Doug Duncan, a general
mechanic at the Elmira
Psychiatric Center is having a
long recovery and CSEA is
reaching out to his fellow
union members for help.

A little over a year ago,
Duncan suffered a serious
spinal injury at home, and
since then has been trying to
recover and return to work.
Unfortunately, the surgical
treatment needed, a total
lumbar disc replacement, is
still considered “experimental”
and he’s currently appealing a
denial of coverage from his
health insurance provider.

leave donations

In the meantime, Elmira
Psychiatric Center Local
President Rose MacBlane
reports Duncan’s co-workers
at the facility have generously
donated time to allow him to
continue his health insurance,
but those donations are about
to run out.

MacBlane is asking any
union brothers and sisters
working for New York state
who wish to donate leave time
to Duncan speak to their
agency’s personnel
department to fill out the
appropriate paperwork.

CSEA Retiree Frank Balsano works out a young boxer on a
heavy bag in a Lackawanna gym. The former Western New York
Developmental Disabilities Services Office worker is one of
three trainers in a boxing program aimed at helping young
people stay out of trouble and improve their lives.

Golden Gloves in Syracuse in
May,” Balsano said. “We pay for
the kids’ lodging, equipment
and food while we are there.
The Golden Gloves is the
biggest competition we do.”
The program seems to be
working, Balsano said. The gym
has been full every night this
summer and more youths are
expected to participate through
winter. Two members of the
group — a man and a woman —
are positioned to join the
professional boxing circuit. The
man has fewer than a dozen
amateur matches to fight
before he can go pro. The
woman has been taking a brief
break from boxing to spend
time with her new baby.
Balsano began training
youths to box in the 1980s after
someone he knew asked for his
help. He worked with the owner
of a gym to train young people
throughout that decade, then,

he decided to take a break.
Balsano returned to boxing a
few years ago after a friend’s
son expressed interest in the
sport. After much
consideration, Balsano agreed
to help him train. His return to
the ring led him to the
Lackawanna program.

Although Balsano retired
from his position with Western
New York Developmental
Disabilities Services Office, he
can still be found at just about
every facility and CSEA Western
Region event.

He regularly helps with
sound equipment at region
meetings and events,
supervises the grill at picnics
and barbecues, among other
activities.

— Lynn Miller

October 2005 THE WORKFORCE Page 13
45 years ago...

The year 1960 was an important benchmark for CSEA
as the year the association celebrated its 50th
anniversary. More than 600 guests attended the Golden
Anniversary dinner, including then-Gov. Nelson A.
Rockefeller, the keynote speaker.

In his speech, Rockefeller announced great
improvements to the state retirement system. First
mentioned was a program the legislature approved that
would give already retired employees vested rights and
increased supplemental pensions. Rockefeller then
revealed legislation that would reduce employee
contributions to the retirement system.

Also during the event, CSEA President Joseph F Feily
honored Executive Director Joseph Lochner for his 28
years of service at the association, naming him “Mr. Civil
Service Employees Association.” The association also
paid tribute to former CSEA President John F Powers for
his past service as an employee and later president of the
association.

Page 14 THE WORKFORCE October 2005

~ ess and Pleasure Mingle!
BIPESEN's 50th Anniversary:

KYER

pawerS and Lochner Honored

This 1960 article from the
Civil Service Leader, then
CSEA’s official publication,
discussed the association’s
50th anniversary celebration
at which the union honored
then-CSEA Executive
Director Joseph Lochner and
former CSEA President John
F. Powers. The annual
business meeting was
followed by a celebratory
dinner, dance and show. Ina
show of times past, the
evening’s “handsome”
souvenir for attendees was a
commemorative ashtray.

Also in 1960 ...

2 John F Kennedy is elected President of the United
States, narrowly defeating then Vice President Richard

Nixon.

2 Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is released and becomes

the top grossing film of the year.

3 Echo I, the first communications satellite, and Tiros

|, the first weather satellite, are launched.

2k An American U-2 spy plane is shot down over the

Soviet Union.

2 Ben-Hur wins 10 Academy awards, including Best

Picture.

3 To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is published.

+ British rock group The Quarry Men formed The

Beatles in Germany.

CSEs

NEW YORK'S

CSEA celebrates Labor Day

CSEA members across the Ne | 7
state recently marched in Labor t
Day parades in New York City,
Albany, Ogdensburg, Syracuse,
Rochester and Buffalo, just to
name a few.

On this page are photos from
Labor Day parades from across
the state.

Long Island Region "members carried the CSEA banner proudly in the New .
York City Labor Day Parade. From left to right are Oyster Bay Local Ist Vice Western Region ae
President Bobby Rauff, SUNY Stony Brook Local members Maryann Phelps President Flo Tripi
and Carol Low, Brookhaven White Collar Unit President Meg Shutka, A. discusses CSEA’s fights
Holly Patterson Unit President Les Eason, Nassau County Local member for working families
Valerie Ciaramella, Long Island State Employees Local member Nora Jane during a news x
Adkins, Nassau County Local members Rudy Bruce and Nancy Ianson, Long conference during the

Island Developmental Center member Richard McLaren, Suffolk Retirees Rochester Labor Day
= Local member Al Luppo, Nassau Retirees Local President Dominic arade.
Moira Skalski from the Erie Ciaramella, and Luppo's wife Barbara.

County Local prepares signs and
passes out flags to be used in the
Buffalo Labor Day Parade.
(Photo by John Normile)

CSEA
members
get pumped
| for the
Syracuse
Labor Day
Parade at
the New
York State
Fairgrounds
in Syracuse.

CSEA members marching in the
Rochester Labor Day parade
wave to the crowd of spectators.

Southern Region President Diane Hewitt, Metropolitan Region President
George Boncoraglio, New York City Democratic mayoral candidate
Fernando Ferrer, Long Island Region President Nicholas LaMorte and
CSEA President Danny Donohue lead the union’s contingent in the New
York City Labor Day Parade.

Capital Region CSEA
members marched in
the recent Capital
District Labor Parade
in Albany, joining
union members from
more than 90 area
unions. Left,
members from the
state Taxation and
Finance Local march
with the CSEA
contingent.

VOICE members use their voices at the Syracuse
Labor Day Parade.

October 2005 THE WORK FORCE Page 15

More money for CSEA state employees — plan now to
apply for the Dependent Care Advantage Account and save

Don’t miss out on the open
enrollment period for the Dependent
Care Advantage Account. Apply now
for the 2006 plan year.

If you have to pay for child care,
elder care or disabled dependent
care to be able to work, enrolling in
the DCAAccount is a way for CSEA-
represented state employees to keep
more money in your pocket. Each
year, your family may set aside up to
$5,000 from your paycheck tax free
to pay for those expenses.

The enrollment period runs from
Sept. 26 to Nov. 10. The process
makes applying for enrollment quick,
easy and secure. Just log onto
www.flexspend.state.ny.us. On the
site, you will find program
information, a helpful tax calculator
to help you identify your potential
savings, the online application and
instructions and forms you will need
once you are enrolled in the
program.

Completing the application form is
easy. You simply provide basic
information and the amount you
wish to set aside in your account
and hit the ‘submit’ button. Last
year, it took employees an average of
less than three minutes to complete

the application process online.

Not all employees have Internet
access. You can call the New York
State Flex Spending Account hotline
at (800) 358-7202, then press ‘1’ to
speak with a customer service
representative, who will complete
the application for you. Paper
enrollment is not an option.

If you decide to apply by
telephone, you must sign and return
a notification form that authorizes
the state to take bi-weekly
deductions from your paycheck for
the DCAAccount.

If you do not return this form,
your application cannot be
processed and you won't be
enrolled. A postage-paid envelope
will be mailed to you with the
notification form for your
convenience. This extra step is
necessary only for employees who
apply by telephone rather than
online.

There are two important changes
for the 2006 plan year. First, the
employer contribution rates for 2006
have increased. The employer
contribution will provide up to $700
for state employees who enroll in the
DCAAccount. The new 2006

employee benefit
that helps state
employees pay
for health-related expenses with tax-
free dollars. The benefit includes
medical, hospital, laboratory,
prescription drug, dental, vision and
hearing expenses that are not
reimbursed by insurance or other
benefit plans.

Before participating in the
account program, you should
carefully consider what your eligible
expenses might be. Reviewing your
expenses from previous years can
help. Once you have estimated the
amount of your expenses, you may
then determine how much to
contribute to your health care
spending account. Under federal
law, any money that you put into

Planning for 2006 health care expenses?
Consider the health care spending account

The Health
Care Spending Health A)
Account LW
(HCSAccount) is a Bene its =a
negotiated Department

Protecting Your

your HCSAccount must
be used for expenses
incurred during the plan
year in which it was
contributed. For the 2006
plan year, the maximum
annual contribution
allowed by the program
is $3,000 and the minimum annual
contribution is $150.

The Health Care Spending
Account open enrollment period for
the 2006 plan year is from Sept. 26
to Nov. 10. The program's plan year
covers from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2006.

If you would like to know more
about the Health Care Spending
Account program or would like an
enrollment kit sent to you, you may
contact the program’s
administrator, Fringe Benefits
Management Company, at 1-800-358-
7202 or enroll online at
www.flexspend.state.ny.us.

Page 16 THE WORK FORCE

Employer Contribution rates are
outlined in the box on this page.

The second change for this year is
that there will be four employee
information meetings about the
program this fall to be held in Albany
and Manhattan.

Please note: you must register to
attend the Flex Spending Advantage
Account information sessions and
have a valid New York State ID to be
admitted to the building and/or
meeting room. If you have questions
about the DCAAccount or would like

more information about the program,
log on to the web site at
www.flexspend.state.ny.us, or call
the hotline at (800) 358-7202, then
press ‘2.’

The deadline to apply is Nov. 10 at
midnight. No applications will be
accepted after that unless your
family experiences an eligible change
in status event. Don’t miss this once-
a-year open enrollment opportunity!

Employer contribution rates for 2006 Dependent Care
Advantage Account
Employee’s annualized salary Employer contribution
Over $70,000 $200
$60,001-$70,000 $300
$50,001-$60,000 $400
$40,001-$50,000 $500
$30,001-$40,000 $600
Up to $30,000 $700

Health insurance choices for 2006

Once again, it’s that time of year
to start thinking about your health
insurance options.

The NYSHIP option transfer
period will be held after the 2006
health insurance premiums are
approved. During the option transfer
period, CSEA-represented state
enrollees will have the ability to
change their health insurance plan
for the 2006 plan year. Members will
be able to choose from the Empire
Plan or one of the NYSHIP-approved
health maintenance organizations
(HMOs) in their area.

Enrollees will receive from the
Department of Civil Service a copy
of “Choosing Your Health Plan.”
Members should review each of the
options carefully to determine which
health insurance plan will best meet
their needs and the needs of their
family. “Choosing Your Health Plan”
also includes web site information
on resources (such as the state
Insurance Department and
Department of Health) that measure
the quality of HMOs.

Please watch for additional
information in The Work Force as the
option transfer period draws nearer.
The Joint Committee on Health
Benefits will publish additional
information on health insurance
premiums for the 2006 plan year in
an effort to assist you in making the
most informed choices for you and
your families’ health care needs in
2006.

Your Insurance Service Team
at JLT Services Corporation is now.

PEARL:CARROLL

& ASSOCIATES

1-800-697-2732

Same people, same great service
and now with in-state ownership!

urance.com for
ble programs.

Visit http://www.cseait
more information on ar

October 2005
How the new Medicare prescription drug benefits

Information for
NYSHIP

Health
Benefits “qe NYSHIP prescription drug
Department benefits will be affected

your ability to use your

will affect you

Information for other
local government &

* Your employer provided
prescription drug plan is being
terminated, or;

(your NYSHIP coverage may
be reduced).

It is recommended that most NYSHIP
enrollees should not enroll in Medicare
Part D. Only those persons eligible for

* Your employer has advised you
that your current prescription drug
plan is not equal to the Standard
Medicare Part D prescription drug

private sector
employees

enrollees

The New York State Health Insurance

Program provides health benefits and Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, Medicare

prescription drug coverage to state
employees and retirees. Prescription
drug coverage is provided through the
Empire Plan or a NYSHIP health
maintenance organization.

If you or a dependent is currently
eligible for Medicare coverage or if you
will become eligible for Medicare in the
near future, you should be receiving
information about new Medicare
prescription drug benefits that will soon
be available.

Starting Jan. 1, 2006, Medicare will
begin providing prescription drug
benefits to those who enroll in Medicare
Part D.

NYSHIP enrollees or covered
dependents eligible for Medicare in 2006
will continue to be able to receive the
full prescription drug benefits under the
health option in which you are
presently enrolled, either in the Empire
Plan or a NYSHIP HMO.

* There will be no change in NYSHIP
drug benefits because you are eligible
for Medicare Part D.

* You will not be required to enroll in

Medicare Part D.
* The state will not reimburse your

Medicare Part D premium if you choose

to enroll; and
If you enroll in Medicare Part D,

the Medicare Part D Low Income
Subsidy should consider enrolling.
Individuals with very low incomes
and limited assets are eligible for
enhanced prescription drug benefits

under Medicare Part D at a reduced or
no cost. If you qualify for this extra help
from Medicare, your out-of-pocket cost

for prescription drug benefits may be
much lower through Medicare than
under NYSHIP.

If you have questions about
eligibility for the low income subsidy,
call Social Security Administration at
(800) 772-1213 or visit the
administration’s web site at
www.socialsecurity.gov.

The New York State Department of

Civil Service will be sending additional
information about how Medicare Part D

will affect your NYSHIP benefits. This
will include whether the current

benefits you receive under NYSHIP are

at least as good as the coverage that
you would receive under a Medicare
Part D prescription drug plan. Be sure
to read all of your NYSHIP materials
carefully when they arrive.

If you have questions about your
Medicare benefits, call Medicare at
(800) MEDICARE (1-800. 4227) or
visit www.medicare.gov.

will offer a prescription drug plan
(Medicare Part D) to all Medicare
eligible individuals. You will receive
information from Medicare advising
you of the new prescription drug
plan.

Your employer is required to
notify you of your current
prescription drug plan and how it
compares to the Standard Medicare
Part D prescription drug plan. This
information will be sent to you by
Noy. 15. Generally, your employer
provided prescription drug plan is
better than the Standard Medicare
Part D prescription drug plan.

However, if your employer's
prescription drug plan is not equal
to the Standard Medicare Part D
prescription drug plan, your
employer must advise you of your
options. If you choose to enroll in
the Standard Medicare Part D
prescription drug plan, you must do
so before May 15, 2006 to avoid a

penalty.
It is recommended that you do

* You are not eligible for a
prescription drug plan, or;

not enroll in Medicare Part D unless:

plan; or

© You are eligible for the
Medicare Part D Limited Income
subsidy (For more information, call
the Social Security Administration at
(800) 772-1213.)

Please note that if you terminate
your employer provided
prescription drug plan, you may not
be eligible to re-enroll later. In some
cases, terminating your employer-
sponsored prescription drug plan
may also require terminating your
employer-sponsored health plan.
Make sure you understand exactly
what your options are and know
your cost for the Standard Medicare
Part D prescription drug plan before
making any changes.

Be sure to read all of the
materials carefully when they arrive.
If you have questions about your
Medicare benefits, call Medicare at
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or
visit www.medicare.gov. Specific
questions regarding employer-
sponsored prescription drug
programs should be directed to
your employer.

What’s In It For You?

Do you know the
difference between
CSEA Member Benefits
and the CSEA Employee
Benefit Fund’s benefits?

It can get quite confusing with all
the acronyms (EBF, HBD, etc.) and the
different benefits that CSEA members
have available.

What is the difference between the
CSEA Member Benefits Department
and the CSEA Employee Benefit Fund?
All CSEA members are eligible to
participate in any CSEA sponsored
benefit as a privilege of membership
with the exception of agency shop fee
payers who, because they are not
members, are ineligible for benefits
offered through the Member Benefits
Department.

CSEA EBF participation
must be negotiated through
the collective bargaining
process. State CSEA
members are eligible for
EBF dental, vision,
prescription drug co-pay
reimbursement, and Workplace
Security Items as a result of contract
negotiations between CSEA and the
Governor’s Office of Employee
Relations. Local government units
negotiate fund benefits and can create
different benefit packages to add to
their list of contract proposals when
the contract expires. To participate in
our excellent benefit programs,
remember to add the fund to your wish
lists early. Don’t miss out!

Let’s take a look at the plan basics.
For examples, we'll use the HEARING
AID and VISION BENEFITS.

AFSCME Local 1000, AFL-CIO
EMPLOYEE
BENEFIT FUND

CSEA EBF HEARING AID
BENEFIT — EBF’s Hearing
Aid Benefit provides an
allowance of $450 per ear
toward the cost of a hearing
aid once every three
calendar years. The member submits a
completed claim form with the paid
bill and a copy of the doctor’s
prescription for the hearing aid to the
Benefit Fund. The member is
reimbursed up to the maximum
allowed. The Plan does not cover
repairs to hearing aids or replacement
batteries.

CSEA EBF VISION PLANS — All CSEA
EBF VISION PLANS are available on
either a 12 or 24 month vision benefit
basis. When eligible members and their
dependents use one of the Funds many
participating providers, an eye exam
and one pair of glasses or a starter

supply of contact lenses is covered
with no out of pocket cost provided
the member/dependent(s) stay within
the designated Plan lens and frame bar.
If you choose to see an out-of-network
provider, you will be reimbursed
according to your plan fee schedule.
The Frame bar (depending on the plan
negotiated) covers a large variety of
styles and colors. The Lens bar (based
on the plan negotiated) covers many
lens types including contact lenses and
prescription sunglasses. Riders are
available which allows the unit to
tailor a program to their needs!

For more information about benefits
available through the Employee Benefit
Fund, please call 1-800-323-2732 and
press 4 for the Marketing Department.

n Ever Better Future

October 2005 THE WORKFORCE Page 17

As part of the CSEA 100 history project, CSEA
has been interviewing individuals who have
played a role in our history over the decades.
The interviews will be used as part of a book
and video documentary project being
prepared for CSEA’s 100th anniversary. The
interviews are also being archived at the
CSEA archives at the Grenander Special
Collections at the University at Albany. As we
celebrate CSEA’s 95th anniversary, we are
devoting the Leading Edge to some brief
excerpts from a few individuals who have
offered their perspective for this project.

seg Jack Rice, CSEA Counsel 1962-
1972

“| think the people who are
leading CSEA can look back at
the history of it and say that doing
things that are right pays off and
results in victory. That's an
interesting word, victory, and it's
interesting in the context of labor
unions. There aren't that many things that you can
do within the framework of the law for a large
constituency that you can really categorize as a
victory or defeat. Unionization is one of those
things.”

Rita Wallace, Retiree/longtime
activist

“You're dealing with ...a diverse
work population and younger
people have entirely different
needs. They want money in-hand.
They want spendable money and
they're not interested in benefits.
They don't realize until their
children are ten ... and hit with an
orthodontia bill that having dental insurance is very
important. But as they go on in their years of service
they suddenly come to realize ... what they didn’t
want at age 20, at age 50 becomes an absolute
necessity.”

Page 18 THE WORK FORCE

October 2005

Marty Langer, Retiree/longtime activist/ former
CSEA staff member

“Listen to your membership. Don't rule from the top.
Go down to your
grassroots. Remember
who you are... My
strength at a local level
was directly proportional
to the strength of this
organization at a

+ statewide level.”

Ramona Gallagher, Longtime activist/former CSEA
staff member

“| started in CSEA around 1969
or ‘70 in the New York State
Department of Labor. Initially, |
had not become involved in the
union, but, there came a time
when | felt the department was
running roughshod over its own
tules, actually. | got angry and |
finally said ‘enough is enough”.

Robert Lattimer, Former Western Region President
(deceased)

“We came in touch with a group ... of people who
wanted to change things and they were very helpful
and very instrumental in changing the organization
... we were finding out that Mental Health and
Mental Retardation had a tremendous nucleus of
people and local government, untapped resources.
There was a tremendous amount
of talent in this organization and
there always has been. It’s just a
matter of being able to help them,
work with them to get to the front

H. Carl McCall, former state
comptroller and gubernatorial
candidate

“CSEA's endorsement was very important and

played a big role. They were early in endorsing me
in ‘94 and in ‘98. The thing about CSEA is, since it's
a statewide union, it's really important to have them
with you because it means in every community
where you go when
you're running, you've
got CSEA people in
those communities, in
every city, town, village
there are CSEA people.
There are very few
unions that have that
kind of reach. When
CSEA supports you they really go all out for you.
They have the field operation. They have the
workers. They have the skill to really help a
campaign to be effective.”

Mary E. Sullivan, CSEA Executive Vice President

“A big thing that helped me growing up in CSEA is
there were so many people that were willing to
share what they knew because they knew that one
day they wouldn't be there. They needed to leave
their experiences, their knowledge to somebody so
the tradition and the history and the progress of
CSEA would continue. If we don’t pass on the
experiences we as leaders have, if the mentoring
doesn’t come from those who are already there,
what is the union going to be when we've left?
That's our obligation as leaders.
That is our legacy.”

Proudly Sponsored by CSEA
and now available from Syracuse University Press

Makes a
great gift

for all New Yorkers
and New Yorkers

at heart.

To order, call:

1-800-365-8929

all ‘

ENCYCLOPEDIA of

NEW YORK
eee TATED

wey
CMG

Special Price
for CSEA Members:

N :

Laura-Eoe

or visit WWW. Syracuse UniversityPress.syr.edu

“Regular price: Cloth $95.00 0-8156-0808-x. Price doos not include shipping and tax. When ordering, please mention code CSEAOt.

Break in membership affects eligibility for
union office, voting privileges

A break in union membership
status can have long-term future
implications. Your membership
status affects your eligibility with
respect to:

¢ seeking or holding union
office;

* signing nominating petitions
for potential candidates;

* voting in union elections,
and;

* voting on collective
bargaining contracts.

Only members “in good
standing” can participate in
these activities. To be in “good
standing,” your dues cannot be
delinquent.

If you go on unpaid leave or
for any other reason have a
break in your employment
status, your dues will not
continue to be paid through
payroll deductions. You must
make arrangements to pay your
dues directly to CSEA to
continue your membership
status. If you are either laid off or
placed on leave without pay

status due to becoming disabled
by accident, illness, maternity or
paternity, you may be eligible for
dues-free membership status for
a period not to exceed one year.
If you are called up for active
military duty you may also apply
for dues-free status.

Note, however, you must
continue to pay dues to run for
office. Dues-free or gratuitous
membership allows members to
continue their insurance
coverage while out of work. It
does not protect your right to
run for or hold office. This does
not apply to members who are
on leave due to being called up
for military duty. Members on
active military duty, upon return,
are considered to have had
continuous membership status
for all CSEA election purposes.

Please notify the CSEA
Membership Records
Department at 1-800-342-4146,
Ext. 1327, of any change in your
status and what arrangements
you are making to continue your
membership in CSEA.

PEOPLE PERSON —
The PEOPLE
recruiter of the

105 degrees is
unacceptable ...
TENTATIVE
AGREEMENT — CSEA

month of August is EV S

Patricia Metzger of LEADING) UNION recently reached a

the New York State 265,000 Members Strong tentative agreement
x

Department of
Taxation and Finance
Local in the
Metropolitan Region.
She recruited 26 new PEOPLE
members. PEOPLE is CSEA and
AFSCME’s political action
program. It is responsible for
raising money and collecting
voluntary contributions from the
membership so CSEA can
effectively promote our interests
at the state and federal level ...
HOT KITCHEN — CSEA is working
with management at Wyoming
County Community Hospital to
correct a heat problem in the
facility's kitchen. Throughout the
warmest part of the summer,
temperatures and humidity in the
kitchen rose to potentially unsafe
levels, resulting in an inspection
by the CSEA Occupational Safety
and Health Department. Workers
in the kitchen say they know it
may be a bit warm due to the
ovens and other equipment, but

A special collection

CSE
TODAY

with Fulton County.
The 486-member unit
will vote on the four-
year deal in early
October ... WESTCHESTER
CONTRACT FIGHTS END — CSEA
recently resolved two of the
toughest contract fights in
Westchester County. The Lakeland
School District Unit and the Town
of Mount Pleasant blue and white-
collar units both reached
agreements after negotiating for
more than two years. Health
insurance was the sticking point
in both fights ... STATE FAIR
WRAP — CSEA recently staffed its
15th annual booth at the 12-day
New York State Fair in Syracuse.
Union members volunteering at
the booth greeted thousands of
members and other guests during
the fair. President Danny Donohue
also greeted hundreds of
members when he visited the
booth on Labor Day weekend.

‘lan pst

CSEA opens its archives at the University at Albany. From left,

University at Albany President Kermit Hall, CSEA President Danny
Donohue, University at Albany Local President David Harrison, and
Brian Keough, head of the university's M.E. Grenander Department
of Special Collections and Archives, mark the formal opening of
CSEA's archives at the university. Grenander's state of the art
facility is housing and preserving important documents,
publications and other materials from CSEA's history for future use
and research. To download a timeline of CSEA's illustrious history
visit www.csealocal1000.org. The site also contains a link to the
University at Albany's online photo collection, including CSEA’s

historic photographs.

October 2005

THE WORK FORCE Page 19
Skillful health care;

road repairs where you

need them; safe and orderly

school bus rides; calm, professional
responses to your 9-1-1 calls.

Your CSEA Work Force
does all this and more!

Precise college course registrations; aides
teaching the developmentally disabled;
probation security and monitoring; caring
service for people with mental illness.

Your CSEA Work Force
makes it happen!

Every day of every year, the 265,000 members of CSEA
make these and so many other vital services work for you.

Caring... Capable...
Doing the jobs RIGHT!

Union

CSEss

New York’s

Leading Union

Local 1000 AFSCME, AFL-CIO
Danny Donohue, President
www.csealocal1000.org

2005 Officers Reports to the delegates
to the 95th Annual Delegates Meeting

your loss.”

I tis our union, our future.

The theme of our Annual Delegates
Meeting is an appropriate call to arms as we
celebrate our 95th anniversary year.

The challenges we face are enormous and
our success will surely depend on how each
of us responds. Certainly we can take
encouragement from the lessons of our
history and the tremendous record of success
against stiff opposition. We can also look to a
lengthy list of accomplishments from the past
year where we have fought the good fight to
secure our rights and benefits in contract
campaigns, worked hard to protect funding
for public services and tried to hold our
ground on numerous issues and policy
debates such as attempts to undermine the
public employee pension system and Social
Security. None of it has been easy.

But this is no time to rest on our
achievements. From Mineola to Massena,
from Oswego to Jamaica, from Sydney to
Jamestown, from Valhalla to Peru, there is
hard work to be done if we are to maintain
what we have achieved and seek a brighter
future. We need individual effort but we must
also have collective action.

We need to fight back aggressively against
the forces that would erode our hard-fought
gains and seek to destroy us.

At a time when there is unfortunate
confusion and disagreement on the direction
of the American labor movement, CSEA
remains focused on what is most important:

¢ Representation — negotiating and
enforcing the best possible contracts that
protect our members in every way;

¢ Political Action — Strengthening our
ability to elect and hold accountable elected

Suppleme

to THE WORK FORCE

officials who will work in the best interest of
working people;

© Organizing — helping unorganized
workers gain a voice in their worksites and
preventing our rights and benefits from being
undercut by cheap non-union labor.

These priorities are all linked. Our ability to
continue to negotiate good contracts depends
on whom we elect to office at every level and
those we help organize to maintain our clout
at the bargaining table.

Each of us has a stake in the outcome of all
of CSEA’s battles.

When we fight for the future of public
health care, we are fighting not only for our
members and the services they deliver, we
are fighting for access to quality, affordable
health care in communities across the state.
Public health care facilities are not only
providers of last resort, they also help
provide healthy competition to other
operators who stand to gain if our operations
go down.

That means you and other members of the
community would see less access to medical
care, a run down on the quality of care and
higher medical costs.

In places like Erie County we are already
seeing attempts to go this route — driven by
business interests, which stand to gain at
your expense. We must not allow this to
happen!

It is a familiar theme: Big business interests
continue to pound away at your “overly
generous” contracts and pension benefits in a
clear attempt to undermine what you have
gained. They want cheaper government but
do not be fooled, because in many cases they
would also like lucrative contracts to deliver

October 2005

DANNY DONOHUE, CSEA STATEWIDE PRESIDENT

“It is a familiar theme: Big business interests continue to pound away at your “overly
generous” contracts and pension benefits in a clear attempt to undermine what you have
gained. They want cheaper government but do not be fooled, because in many cases
they would also like lucrative contracts to deliver those same services at their profit and

those same services at their profit and your
loss.

Haven’t we had enough of ethically
challenged businesses telling us to do as they
say, not as they do?

New Yorkers can take pride in their public
services and the people who deliver them
because of who you are and what you do. We
are not going to allow anyone to undermine
that.

CSEA is committed to helping unorganized
workers become part of our union —
especially workers in businesses and
organizations that benefit from public funding
or contracts. These workers want to do a
good job but they often do not have the help,
resources or support they need. They receive
substandard wages and often have
inadequate benefits. Because they fall under
private sector labor law, which shamelessly
favors employers, they are often subject to
harassment and intimidation when they try
forming a union.

This must end.

Supporting these workers is the right thing
to do. They deserve fairness and respect
along with decent wages, benefits and
working conditions. The services they deliver
and the people they serve deserve better
than uneven quality and high turnover. The
public deserves better than to see their tax
dollars go to opportunistic operators making
their profit on the backs of their employees.
And you as a CSEA member deserve better
than misguided contracting out that
undercuts your labor.

We will have to fight these battles on many
fronts and your activism is essential.

Perhaps no battle will be more important in

continued on page 8

Page 1
Page 2

union is its inclusiveness. Just as
important as the many benefits and
services CSEA provides are the many
opportunities it offers members to
participate. Because of CSEA’s unique
democratic structure each and every one
of us has an opportunity — and I believe
a responsibility — to get involved.

It was my wise mouth that got me
started in CSEA.

After graduation, I got a job as a social
worker for Herkimer County. I had been
there about a year and had absolutely no
interest in or contact with the union
whatsoever, other than dues coming out
of my paycheck. One day, the woman
who was president of the union at the
time came around asking if anyone was
interested in running for office because
they were about to hold unit elections.
Well, being the smart-mouth person that
Iam, I said “sure, why not?” When she
asked which position I wanted to run for
I said “President,” never thinking
anything would come of it. But, a few
months later, there I was, President of
the Herkimer County Employees Unit.

Remember, all I knew about CSEA at
the time was that I had joined the union
when I was first employed and that CSEA
negotiated my contract and protected
my rights as a worker. I had never
bargained a contract, never handled a
grievance and never been involved in
any of the union’s activities. | had no
training, no experience and now I was
the president of the Herkimer County
unit about to go into negotiations for a
new contract. To make matters worse,
across the table, representing the county
was my old high school guidance
counselor!

Luckily, because a few more
experienced members were kind enough
to coach me through it, everything
worked out. We got our contract and it
has been one wonderful experience after
another, working with my brothers and

O ne of the greatest things about our

Supplement

opportunity was there, and | took i

to THE WORK FORCE

sisters to make CSEA a better union. I
have had amazing opportunities,
including the chance to study labor
relations at Cornell and Harvard, and the
privilege to have served as a Local
President, a Region officer, the CSEA
Statewide Treasurer and currently as
your Executive Vice President.

The first point of my story is this: I did
not get involved in CSEA because
someone had done anything to me. The
union had not saved me from some
harsh punishment by my employer. An
opportunity was there, and I took it. And
I think every member should consider
doing the same thing.

You do not have to start off as the
president to be an activist. Unlike many
unions, CSEA’s open, democratic
structure makes it easy for members to
get involved. You can start off with
something as simple as offering to keep
the union bulletin board at your work
place up to date. You can sign up for a
committee that may interest you like
your political action, health and safety or
the membership committee. Or you can
step up and offer to form a new one like
a newsletter committee for instance.

You can help by putting a face on the
union through community involvement.
Many CSEA locals and units sponsor or
take part in a wide range of community
projects such as food drives to feed the
hungry, toy collections to bring smiles to
children during the holidays and events
like the Race for the Cure, Making Strides
Against Cancer Walk and March of Dimes
Walkathon to raise funds for research in
the fight against disease. Sadly, the
devastation left recently by Hurricane
Katrina will provide us all a community
outreach project for many years to come.

One of the most important ways you
can get involved is through political
action. In CSEA, politics means
participation, not simply handing money
to candidates. You can be part of the
political program in a variety of ways.

October 2005

MARY E. SULLIVAN, CSEA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

“| did not get involved in CSEA because someone had done anything to me. The
union had not saved me from some harsh punishment by my employer. An

. And I think every member should consider
doing the same thing. ... The more involved you are in your union, the more
rewarding your membership will be and the stronger we will be as a union.”

You can take an active role in selecting
the candidates that CSEA endorses. You
can volunteer to contribute and/or raise
money for our PEOPLE program. You can
work on a phone bank or hand out
leaflets door-to-door on behalf of our
endorsed candidates. You can also help
make a difference by lobbying lawmakers
for legislation that is beneficial to
working people and letting them know
that you oppose legislation that may be
harmful to us.

The more involved you are in your
union, the more rewarding your
membership will be and the stronger we
will be as a union.

With local and unit elections recently
completed, new and re-elected officers
are looking for members to work with
them on the various challenges that they
face every day. I urge you to take the
time to meet them and find out what you
can do to help make our union stronger. I
also urge the newly elected officers to
reach out to their members and ask for
their help.

And this leads me to the final point of
my story: Although I began my career as
a union activist by seizing an
opportunity, | would not have progressed
very far had it not been for the guidance,
advice and, of course, constructive
criticism over the years from many CSEA
leaders and staff. They believed, as I do,
that those in leadership positions have a
responsibility to help develop the future
leaders of CSEA by creating
opportunities for our members to learn
about CSEA and the labor movement, to
participate in the union’s activities and
to have a voice in the direction that our
union takes in the years to come.

Brothers and sisters, the union
belongs to every member so we all have
a responsibility to ensure that CSEA
continues to be a force for working
people for at least another 95 years. 7

BARBARA REEVES
STATEWIDE SECRETARY

“Any tax on benefits translates into
another burden for working families
already being squeezed by out-of-
control health care and prescription
costs.”

alk about passing the buck. It appears health insurance
problems are about to get worse with a proposed tax on health
benefits.

The Bush administration views the tax as a way to raise revenue
without jeopardizing its $1.2 trillion tax cut plan for upper-bracket
Americans. For the rest of us, it’s another example of passing the
buck to millions of workers and their families.

There are already too many people without sufficient health
insurance in the U.S.A. Any tax on benefits translates into another
burden for working families already being squeezed by out-of-
control health care and prescription costs.

American health care is unique among advanced countries in its
heavy reliance on the private sector. It’s also uniquely inefficient. We
spend far more per person on health care than any other country,
yet many Americans lack health insurance and don’t even receive
essential care.

One study estimates more than 45 million working Americans
are uninsured while the overall health care system has become a
huge bureaucracy trying to pass the buck.

America is ruled by conservatives with a privatization fixation.
They believe that more privatization, not less, is always the answer.
And their faith persists even when the evidence is undeniable that
our health care system is broke.

In 2005, estimated average premium increases for employer-
sponsored insurance ranged from 8 percent to 10 percent. While
that’s down from an average 12 percent jump in 2004, the costs are
still rising much faster than inflation.

Ironically, corporate America should be lobbying for some form
of national health coverage because our economy is being strangled
by its health care costs.

Even worse, the Bush administration believes health insurance
is too comprehensive and encourages people to consume too much
health care. This is where the new tax comes in.

The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is said to
be examining a plan that would allow employers to provide tax-
exempt health coverage up to a certain dollar limit. Benefits that
exceeded the limit would be treated as taxable income. And, make
no mistake about it, that money will be coming out of our pockets.

It’s said to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Keep your eyes
open and yours ears alert because we may soon be facing another
assault on union-negotiated benefits.

Never forget: A strong union is our best defense! 7

Supplement to THE WORK FORCE

}) MAUREEN S. MALONE
STATEWIDE TREASURER

“As we shop for back-to-school
clothes and look forward to holiday

. shopping, we all must continue to
look for the union label and buy
American made goods.”

D uring the course of each year, the one time I am able to
correspond with all of you is convention time. For the past 11
years something in the national news has sparked my interest or
had an effect on what I chose to write about. This year is no
different. Issues that in my mind relate directly to each other have
provided the basis for this article.

The first item that caught my attention in early July was
something we can all relate to. The headline read “Shanghai, Beijing
raise minimum monthly wages.” While reading the article, it hit me
what was so great about being a member of CSEA and the union
movement. See if you agree.

China has raised minimum monthly wages in its capital Beijing
and commercial hub Shanghai by an average of 45 yuan ($5), the
official Xinhua News Agency reported. No wonder goods made in
China are so cheap. Shanghai’s minimum monthly wage rose from
635 yuan ($77) to 690 yuan ($83). In Beijing the minimum rose from
545 yuan ($66) to 580 yuan ($70). Beijing also raised monthly
pensions to an average of 120 yuan ($15).

This is the reason | continue to live in New York state, work for
New York State and happily belong to CSEA. We truly do try to
negotiate the best contracts with the best benefits. Can you just
imagine having a monthly wage of $83?

As we shop for back-to-school clothes and look forward to
holiday shopping, we all must continue to look for the union label
and buy American made goods. Several years ago the U.S. Congress
passed NAFTA — North American Free Trade Agreement. The
rhetoric at the time was that opening the borders of the United
States to goods from North American countries, and sending U.S.
made goods to those countries, would result in more demand for
American goods and an industrial rebirth. As many of us know, the
result has been just the opposite with a loss of over 1 million
American industrial jobs. Now, by two votes, the same cast of
characters in the U.S. Congress passed CAFTA — Central American
Free Trade Agreement — even though NAFTA is a failed trade
proposition for working people. These trade agreements do not, and
will not, produce middle-class jobs with decent wages for
Americans.

We need to stick together to protect our way of life. Open borders
for trade do not result in good paying industrial jobs for American
workers. What they do produce is more American companies
building plants in Mexico, Central America and Third World
countries, auto plants closing, and the last American made
silverware company in Sherrill (New York) ceasing production in
favor of imported goods.

In many of our cities, towns and villages, shops are closing and
local jobs are being lost. Small town shop owners are being put out
of business by the Wal-Marts and super centers that buy cheap
goods in great volume to increase their profit margins. In my
hometown, Price Chopper recently bought out TOPS Supermarket.

Continued on Page 8

October 2005 Page 3
Nick LaMorTE
Lone IsLAND
REGION
PRESIDENT

G reetings Brothers
and Sisters,

This has been a year
of action and
achievement in the Long
Island Region. One of
the first things we did
was renew our
commitment to fighting
the good fight. By that I
mean, the fight for
justice and respect. After all, we just cannot
afford to give up.

The anti-union, anti-working class attitudes
that are so prevalent today will no doubt fuel
more and more anti-worker legislation in the
months to come. So it will be up to every one
of us to stay alert, communicate with one
another and support each other’s struggles.

Remember that even though you have a
contract today that protects you from certain
managerial abuses, everyone's contractual
rights are revisited every few years during
negotiations. Just as labor protections against
overwork, lack of pay, health and safety were
implemented years ago, they can also be taken
away. So it is up to each and every one of us to
make sure that the gains that so many have
fought for are not erased.

In numerous places, CSEA staff and officers
were able to gain ground for our members at
the bargaining table. In places like the Miller
Place School District, the towns of Hempstead
and Oyster Bay, new collective bargaining
agreements were reached.

lam also proud to report that CSEA activists
from all over Long Island supported the
contract struggles of their brother and sister
members in two particularly difficult situations
— and those struggles bore fruit — in the
Nassau Health Care Corporation and in the
Town of Southold units. After more than two
years without a contract, fair and equitable
agreements were finally reached for both
bargaining units. In both cases, CSEA hit the
streets, lobbied intensely, held protests, and
got the message out through use of the news
media to rally support for their cause. These
fights were long and hard, but we dug in our
heels, resisted management pressure to fold
and the result was two very critical victories.
Still, neither would have been possible without
the support of the membership. While CSEA
has a duty of fair representation, to defend its
members’ rights without regard to race, creed
or religion, each member also has a duty to
CSEA.

continued on page 6

Page 4

lement to THE WORK FORCE

GEORGE
BOoNCORAGLIO
METROPOLITAN

é REGION PRESIDENT

= G reetings Brothers
and Sisters,
We ended last year

with some great news.
After months of battling
for a union and a
contract at their
workplace, our brothers
and sisters at QSAC
(Quality Services for the
Autism Community)

were finally successful in obtaining both and

they deserve a lot of credit and praise for their

efforts.

Their contract and their union are the
products of long days and nights, some frigid
and others sweltering, where workers engaged
themselves in planning meetings, rallies, home
visits, lobbying elected officials and press
conferences.

Why did they do it? Because they knew that
the dignity and rights they deserved were
intricately involved in preserving and
improving the quality care they wanted to
provide for their consumers.

Building on this successful campaign, we are
once again working with some 1,200 employees
at Lifespire who recently held a press
conference with local elected officials to let
everyone know about this New York City based
agency’s union busting tactics, poor working
conditions and quality of care issues.

Lifespire workers provide services to the
developmentally disabled in all five boroughs
of New York City. And, just like QSAC, the
agency receives over 90 percent of its funding
from the state of New York. They do the same
work as our members but are not entitled to
the same salary, safety, job protections and
other benefits that our members enjoy.

We have established an extremely efficient
process for unionization through the card
check/neutrality agreement and we are more
than hopeful that by the time you read this
message that management at Lifespire will
agree to allow employees to choose if they
want a union free of employer harassment and
intimidation.

Earlier this year, after working tirelessly to
force the state to make numerous health and
safety improvements at the Lower Manhattan
building they were forced to move into, CSEA
members also pitched in to help fellow workers
from other unions to demand the same
improvements.

In the labor movement we often say an
injury to one is an injury to all, which is why

continued on page 6

Octob 2005

Diane HEWITT
SOUTHERN REGION
PRESIDENT

G reetings from the
Southern Region! The
past year has been a
busy one for this
Region, as our workers
have encountered many
uphill battles. I’m proud
~* to report many of our
issues have been
resolved in our favor.

Congratulations to all
our newly elected officers, which include many
seasoned CSEA veterans as well as some eager
newcomers. Thank you to those officers who
concluded their terms at the end of June. Your
service is appreciated.

This year’s convention theme, “Our Union,
Our Future”, very much applies to activity in
the Southern Region. We have continued our
push to organize with great success, while
showing solidarity in our struggles.

Late last year, over 100 private sector food
service workers working at Westchester
Medical Center successfully organized with
CSEA. Low pay, chaotic working conditions and
respect from management were real issues for
these men and women. They saw that the
hospital’s laundry and housekeeping workers
benefited from their private sector CSEA Local,
so Crothall Local President, Robert Freckleton,
worked with CSEA’s Organizing and
Communications departments to organize
these workers. They are now negotiating their
first contract.

For those of you who remember the tough
fight the SUNY Purchase food service workers
faced in organizing with CSEA, we have good
news. Their local now has its first contract, and
it includes a livable wage, fair sick time and
binding arbitration, among other things.
Congratulations!

Across the river, village workers in Suffern
are in the process of organizing with CSEA. For
years, these employees felt no need for a union
because they were working in a family
environment. Due to political changes, that is
no more. The Village of Suffern employees
should be commended for standing up for their
rights and demanding fair treatment from
management.

On the contract side, there are successes to
report. The Rockland County Unit recently
ratified a two-year contract that includes wage
increases, PEOPLE direct deductions and
better dental benefits. Our Southern
Westchester BOCES Unit, negotiating its first
contract, emerged victorious after a bitter two

continued on page 7
KATHY GARRISON
CapiTaL REGION
PRESIDENT

G reetings Brothers
and Sisters:

It has been a busy
year in the Capital
Region, a year that has
been marked by
change, growth, action
and purpose. We have
had our share of
victories and we have
suffered losses too.

Last year was dominated by a hard-fought
battle in Montgomery County. Last fall the
Board of Supervisors there made the mistake
of approving the sale of the county home,
Montgomery Meadows. That sale is still in
transition.

The vulnerability of other public nursing
homes in the Capital Region also spurred us to
action. I wanted to find a way to engage Capital
Region members and activists on the issue of
public healthcare. To that end, the Capital
Region Nursing Home Task Force was formed
this past spring. Currently, CSEA members are
at work in public nursing homes in
Schenectady, Saratoga, Warren, Essex, Clinton,
Fulton and Montgomery counties. As I write
this, there is no active discussion of sales in
any of these other counties, but I felt it was
important to be prepared should it happen
again. The task force has had five meetings and
is working to promote the mission and value of
public nursing facilities. Activities stem from a
two-prong approach that recognizes the need
to educate and inform both internally, among
our own members and externally, throughout
the community. Activities so far have included
building a presence at community events, the
creation of an informational brochure to be
used at various events, and print and radio ads
surrounding National Nursing Home Week. This
is in addition to political action activities.
Interest in the task force continues to grow and
our most recent meeting included a
presentation from CSEA’s OSH Department on
the considerable savings associated with a
zero-lift policy. I want to recognize the hard
work and dedication of all the activists
involved in this task force.

We have also had to fight to demonstrate
why we are New York’s leading union. In the
spring an organization with a shady history
and even shadier motivations tried to
undermine us in the Warrensburg School
District and caused CSEA members no end of
aggravation. We fought back and turned them

continued on page 6

Jim Moore
CENTRAL REGION
PRESIDENT

F orty years ago this
coming October 101
was faced with
making a decision on
taking one of two jobs
that were being
offered to me. My
parents had finally
provided me with the,
“It’s time to get a job
Jimmy — good luck.”
One position was a management job with
General Electric. The other was with the
State of New York working as an attendant at
the then-Utica State Hospital. | have never
been unhappy that I accepted the latter.
Within a week after joining the staff at the
hospital, | was asked to sign a union card to
become a member of CSEA. I did, and it was
the beginning of a career that has provided
thousands of fine moments as well as
several frustrating ones.

As many of you know, I have announced
my intention not to seek re-election to my
job as President of the greatest region in our
union. That decision was best for me and for
the union. It was not made hastily nor
without an awareness of the activities that
would take place within the region, as
leaders examine their opportunities to vie
for the opening and activists begin to “look
over” potential candidates. I am pleased that
no negative effects to the region have taken
place as a result of the announcement. That
is a tribute to the 1,700 officers and leaders
as well as a quality staff that service our
membership.

Before looking at the current state of the
labor movement, | think it worthwhile to
reflect on some of the highlights of the past.
Personally, winning the right to designate a
union to bargain for me and my fellow
employees was probably the most important
development. It gave me, as a union officer
(a local president) the right to sit equal with
management at not only the bargaining
table, but back home at the Psychiatric
Center where the director, prior to
recognition, had the habit of meeting with
me in the hallway as opposed to his office.

Our first state-wide negotiated contracts,
of which | am proud to say I was party to,
gave us grievance and disciplinary language
that for the first time allowed us to protect
our members from inappropriate

continued on page 7

FLo TRIPI
WESTERN REGION
6 PRESIDENT

B rothers and Sisters
in CSEA:

It is hard to believe
that another year has
passed. I do not know

, where the time goes
‘ but it certainly moves
quickly. On behalf of
the Region Officers,
region 6 staff and the
Region 6 CSEA
leadership, we welcome all the CSEA delegates
to CSEA’s Western Region. We are happy that
this year’s Annual Delegates Meeting is in
Buffalo. This is a beautiful part of New York
state and we hope that you will take advantage
of all this area has to offer. We pledge to do
everything possible to make your stay both
pleasant and productive.

Our year in Region 6 again has been a
banner year. Our activities continue to be
successful thanks to the hard work and
dedication of our Region Committees.
Congratulations to those who served on
Election Committees. We in the Western Region
welcome all our newly elected officers into our
CSEA family. Our election process is complete,
with a record number of elections held and
very few problems.

With all our success, we have had our share
of troubles. Erie County is just beginning to
stabilize after a year of budget deficits and
layoffs. We in the Region 6 office, along with
the Erie County Unit and Local officers, have
done everything possible to make sense of a
difficult situation. Of course, our first priority
has been to get our members back to work.
Again, we have had some success and will not
rest until all our members are back to work. We
look to next year’s budget process with much
anticipation and concern.

We have fought attempts to privatize and
sell off public hospitals in many localities. We
continue to fight contract battles to protect
and retain the benefits that our locals and units
have fought so hard to obtain. I know this is
preaching to the choir, as many of you in CSEA
have experienced much of the same. These are
tough times for us not only as union members
but also as working people.

By now, many of you have heard of the
division in the House Of Labor. I, along with
other CSEA members, attended the recent AFL-
CIO convention where two major unions, SEIU
and the Teamsters, decided to leave the AFL-
CIO and form a coalition called “Change to

continued on page 7

Supplement to THE WORK FORCE October 2005 Page 5
If you want your union to be strong for
you when you need it, you should work to
make the union strong for others. Two long-
time activists exemplified that philosophy.
Nat Zummo — who was an LRS and then
served as Vice President for the Retirees’
Local — passed away this year. Cathy
Pipitone, who served this region for many
years, first through her local, then as
secretary of the region and member of the
Women’s Committee, also passed on. Their
dedication and participation will be missed.

We did have great participation in this
year’s Lobby Day. Through the lobbying
sessions, the influence of our State PALs and
our PAC Department, we were able to beat
back threats like proposed funding cuts and
tax increases to our public hospitals, like
NUMC and University Hospital at Stony
Brook, and our nursing homes like A. Holly
Patterson Extended Care Facility. We were
even able to stop the governor’s plan to sell
off state hospitals, like Stony Brook, and
restore funding to our libraries.

Long Island even hosted the first joint
Region 1 and 2 State PAL training, where
activists acquired the knowledge and skills
they need to help us achieve positive change
for working families. | know we left armed
with a renewed sense of purpose and
commitment. It certainly was a worthy
investment of time and resources that can
only benefit us all in the long run.

ING ISLAND REGION PRESIDENT coi

ied from page 4

Through it all, members in participating
locals saw their efforts, struggles and
concerns reflected in the pages of the Long
Island Reporter. Since its inception in
October, the monthly insert into the CSEA
paper has enhanced communication around
the region every month.

In addition to the news highlights, like new
contracts, the progress of contract
campaigns, grievances, and election results,
members have also seen profiles of
themselves at work. Average ordinary
members in the Village of Hempstead, SUNY
Stony Brook, the Long Island State Veterans
Home, Brookhaven Highway, Smithtown Fire
District, DOT, Hempstead Library, Suffolk
Cooperative Library and Pilgrim Psychiatric
Center, all saw their faces, and their
struggles and their work, depicted with pride
and dignity.

Through the pages of the Long Island
Reporter, they came to better understand
one central truth:

We are one.

We are one union.

And now with the election of new officers
and the re-election of veterans, we know that
as long as we continue to communicate
effectively, to pull together, and work
together for the betterment of our members,
we can continue to achieve one great thing
after another! 4

METROPOLITAN REGION PRESIDENT
continued from page 4

we will always fight to protect the safety and
wellbeing of all workers. It is something we are
entitled to and we will not rest until these
improvements are made.

Scores of CSEA members participated in a large
noontime rally to support their brothers and
sisters at 90 Church Street, adjacent to the World
Trade Center site. The building was heavily
contaminated with lead, asbestos, mercury, dioxin,
mold and other dangerous poisons during the
attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. It took
nearly three years for the building to be
decontaminated and opened.

Workers will be directly exposed to toxic diesel
fumes from trucks and construction equipment,
harmful particulates from the demolition of
contaminated buildings and extremely high levels
of noise through the buildings old, leaky windows.
Currently only four of the 15 floors in the building
have double windows to shield workers from
contaminated air and noise.

Our CSEA representative at the Department of
Health, Marie Rogers, said it best: “It’s great that
we all came together from different unions to form
this coalition. We can get so much accomplished
by working together.”

Finally, | would be remiss if I did not express my
outrage with the governor’s decision to close the
city’s only Department of Labor Telephone Call
Center.

The state claims that a $10 million reduction in

continued on page 7

SOUTHERN REGION PRESIDENT continued from page 4 CAPITAL REGION PRESIDENT continued from page 5

years of negotiations. In Orange County, the
Monroe-Woodbury School District Unit and
Port Jervis School District Unit both won
tough contract fights. In our locals, the New
York State Bridge Authority Local and the
private sector Crothall Local both ratified
new contracts.

Nevertheless, challenges remain. In
Westchester County, both the Mount
Pleasant Blue and White Collar Units and the
Lakeland School District Unit are facing
protracted contract fights. Affordable health
insurance is the sticking point, in both
instances. The Town of Stony Point Unit, in
Rockland County, recently staged
informational pickets to let the townspeople
know that all town workers deserve fair
compensation. Our Ulster County Unit is in
the beginning stages of what looks to be a
real challenge with the county facing a huge
budget shortfall and talk of cuts imminent.
Our Sullivan County Sheriff's Department
Unit has been fighting for a just contract and
recently filed for impasse. The Westchester
Medical Center Unit has also begun
negotiations. The hospital’s grim financial
situation means that our members there will

Page 6

Supplement to THE WORK FORCE

have to be creative in negotiating a contract
that is fair to employees while keeping in
mind the hospital’s fiscal issues.

Speaking of Westchester Medical Center,
this regional facility has been the focus of a
large majority of our efforts this year. Not
only were CSEA members facing the
privatization of roughly 90 jobs at the
medical center, we acknowledged we had the
ability to play a strong role in securing some
of the financial backing so desperately
needed to save this world class facility.

The members of this unit have truly
proven themselves. Their grassroots efforts,
with the help of our Field and Member
Services Department and region staff, saved
the Patient Accounts and Information
Systems departments from outsourcing. Our
members participated in a “Walk for
Fairness” around the hospital campus, to
demonstrate their solidarity; they regularly
attended County Board of Legislators
meetings to bring attention to the issue; and,
most importantly, they used their knowledge
gained from doing their jobs to show the
hospital Board of Trustees and the Board of

continued on page 8

October 2005

away decisively. As a result we launched a
campaign in Rensselaer County to bring back the
900+ county employees previously represented by
CSEA. With the solid involvement of staff and
activist members we have found considerable
interest among the employees in rejoining CSEA.
That campaign is ongoing.

Of course, we do not always have control of the
battles we must engage in. I fear this may be true
of the recent developments with the AFL-CIO. I had
the opportunity to attend the convention in
Chicago. There was a wealth of collective emotion
surrounding the decision by SEIU and others to
step outside of the umbrella of the AFL-CIO.
Betrayal, anger, concern and uncertainty over
what the future might hold were undeniable
feelings among attendees in the wake of this
momentous decision. My thoughts turned
immediately to the Capital Region and how
unnecessary these distractions are. We should all
be focused on working together and better
meeting the challenges faced by working people.

The Social Security issue is one of extreme
importance to members in the Capital Region.
There have been a number of events and activities
over the last few months surrounding this current

continued on page 8
CENTRAL REGION PRESIDENT continued from page 5 WESTERN REGION PRESIDENT
continued from page 5

management harassment. Salary increases,
good health coverage and so many benefits
now taken for granted by new employees
were hard earned and took many years to
finalize.

There was no pension system as we know
it to exist now. Every year we, as well as
other public employee workers, would go to
the State Legislature with our hat in our hand
to convince them to extend the existing
pension system for another year. CSEA was
instrumental in securing a permanent pension
plan for not only our state division members,
but also our members who worked for the
local governments throughout the state.

Throughout the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and '90s,
CSEA was involved in issues that went
beyond our contract agreements. The Martin
Luther King rally in Washington was a
tremendous affair as was the rally on the
anniversary. Our ongoing fight for equal pay
for equal work is still a battle that we must
give attention to. No union worker should be
paid below the poverty level. We are still
dealing with the ill effects of the dumping of
thousands of mentally ill individuals and will
be until all of the folks are in our state
prisons and local jails. Public officials at all
levels of government should be ashamed of
their inability to deal with this issue in a
humane manner. CSEA can be proud of our
efforts on behalf of not only our members but
for those needing care. Our battle continues.

The creation of our internal legal
department was a good thing and I am very,
very proud of the role | played in this saga of
our history. It was overdue and not
accomplished without great personal
sacrifice to many enlightened leaders. Our
department is considered one of the greatest
legal union divisions in the country.

METROPOLITAN REGION PRESIDENT
continued from page 6

federal funding and real estate costs are
forcing them to close the call center and move
workers that are willing to telephone call
centers upstate in Endicott and Troy. Yet the
state has still not been able to explain why
workers are being moved out so soon since
the lease for the call center does not expire
until January 2007.

I must question the Governor’s decision to
move over 300 jobs from Lower Manhattan at
a time when the state and city are trying to
lure and retain jobs near the World Trade
Center area.

The Manhattan call center handles
numerous telephone queries about
unemployment claims. The center also
provides critical services to non-English
speaking members of the public, primarily

Supplement to THE WORK FORCE

Former President William McGowan
bringing CSEA into the house of labor was a
good thing. There will always be a need for
unions as there will always be employers that
do not treat their employees fairly or with
respect.

I must credit former President Joseph
McDermott for setting up region offices
throughout the state, therefore bringing to
each of our members a professional work
force and allowing each region to establish
itself as a hub for the locals and units to seek
assistance. President Danny Donohue has
continued encouraging independence, and I
feel it has resulted in a stronger union that
has seen its members become more involved
in their communities and also painted a more
respected image for our members.

We recently went through what most
unions would acknowledge as the most
democratic election process in the country.
There were those who won elections and
there were some who lost. It is better to win;
it hurts to lose.

To all of those who participated in the
process, as candidates, as election committee
members, to our loyal staff who helped
provide assistance and, most importantly, to
the members who took the time to vote, I
thank you.

I have had a wonderful career as a union
activist spanning almost four decades. I
acknowledge the tremendous support I have
had from my family. | applaud and thank the
backing of most of the region officers I have
served with, and I pledge to continue until I
leave to be the watchdog on behalf of our
members. 7

Spanish speakers. We have had many press
conferences, demonstrations at City Hall and
been involved in other measures to prevent
this senseless move and I would like to
encourage all of our members to place a call
to their elected officials to make a complaint
on behalf of their brothers and sisters as well.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all the
new and re-elected officers, the members have
placed you in a leadership role within our
union and | am confidant that you will serve
them all zealously and proudly. And once
again, I would like to thank all the Region 2
members and our activists for allowing me to
serve you for another year and I look forward
to an even more productive, a bigger, stronger
and mightier union in the years to come. 0

October 2005

Win.” Other unions are considering joining them
and announcements that they will leave the AFL-
CIO are probably forthcoming. Although the
convention was filled with the business of
approving Constitutional amendments and
resolutions to strengthen our position as the
House of Labor, clearly it is not a good time for
labor. We have spent many years working with
our brothers and sisters in the labor movement.
While we did not always agree, we settled our
problems internally and managed always to
support each other. We at the local level have
worked shoulder to shoulder with our labor union
brothers and sisters walking picket lines, in
organizing campaigns and living wage campaigns,
with labor religion coalitions, on economic and
social justice issues, in Labor Day parades and
Workers’ Memorial Day ceremonies, and so on....
Now, because of the egos of the two men who are
leaders in SEIU and the Teamsters, labor’s house
will be divided.

Brothers and sisters, there are some of you
who say good riddance to the unions that have
left the AFL-CIO, but if the truth be known, this is
not good for us or for the House of Labor. We in
the AFL-CIO have battles to fight. Those battles
deal with our very existence as workers in this
country. We should be worried about the makeup
of the Supreme Court, the continuation of
workers’ rights, the right to join a labor union,
OSHA protections, collective bargaining, overtime
paid at time-and-one-half, the preservation of
Social Security as we know it, keeping American
jobs in this country, not sending them to China
and India — just to name a few. We must fight the
administration in Washington D.C., not each other.

I have worked within the AFL-CIO for many
years, first with the Rochester Labor Council and
now with the Buffalo Labor Council. I have found
the relationship to be interactive and very
positive. A few years ago CSEA delegates made
the commitment to fully participate in the various
AFL-CIO councils and Area Labor Federations.
CSEA delegates recognized that we, CSEA, must
be involved in decisions affecting the direction
that labor will take. We must have a say in what
happens to us as working people. We must have
input as to who will lead us politically. Most of all
we must organize the unorganized, strengthening
our position at the bargaining table. That is our
mission. That is our cause! That message must get
out to all members of CSEA and other unions. It is
important that everyone know what we in the
House of Labor must do. Our futures depend on
that.

I believe firmly in CSEA and the role we play in
the House of Labor. I leave you with this quote by
President John F. Kennedy.

“The American Labor Movement has consistently
demonstrated its devotion to the public interest.

It is, and has been, good for all America.”

Need I say more! 0

Page 7
CSEA STATEWIDE PRESIDENT continued from page 1 CSEA STATEWIDE TREASURER
continued from page 3

the year ahead than electing a
new governor who will value
working people and work for
responsible and progressive
public policies. We certainly do
not expect that we will agree on
every issue with any candidate,
but let me be clear that no
candidate should assume
CSEA’s support. We will make a
decision about who best earns
CSEA’s support in the course of
the year. Then we will fight like
hell to get that candidate
elected and follow up on what
needs to be done once in office.
We must keep looking to the
future of our union and work in
the best interest of our
members for today and

SOUTHERN REGION PRESIDENT
continued from page 6

Legislators why they should
remain in these jobs. | hope
hospital officials will continue to
look to our workers for solutions
to help the Hospital in its crisis.
No one knows Westchester
Medical Center better than the
men and women who keep the
hospital running.

Another example of the power
of a good labor/management
relationship occurred at
Ellenville Regional Hospital. The
tiny rural facility sprang back
from bankruptcy this year, with
help from CSEA being part of the
solution. CSEA leadership there,
along with our Political Action
Department, worked with
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill to
find grant money to fill a pension
shortfall left by previous
management. That cooperation
saved a retirement fund that
workers in this Ulster County
hospital depend on.

This year, like the last few
years, come with news of the
closing of Middletown
Psychiatric Center. This year,
acknowledging that changes at
the facility were inevitable, CSEA
used a different approach.
Negotiating with the state, we
are the only union to guarantee
local jobs for each and every
member employed at
Middletown Psych. Some will be

Page 8 Supplement

tomorrow. We have many new
local and unit officers as a
result of last spring’s elections. I
congratulate and say thank you
now. You already have much to
do and will need to focus your
efforts. The strength of CSEA is
in our size and experience —- we
are more effective when we
work together and you should
not hesitate to seek the help
you need.

It is also important to
acknowledge that this fall will
see the first graduation of our
LEAD (Labor Education and
Development) program which
has been working to better
prepare CSEA leaders. The first
group of participants deserves

working in community
residences, transitional units,
clinics and treatment programs
that will soon be established.
Others will transfer to other
state facilities or Rockland
Psychiatric Center, if they
choose.

Other negotiated transfers
occurred in Dutchess County.
Licensed practical nurses
working at Downstate
Correctional Facility were
transferred to Fishkill
Correctional Facility due to their
title being eliminated at
Downstate.

On a happy note, members of
the Southern Region were proud
to have one of their own as the
winner of this year’s Mission
Achievement Award for the
Private Sector. Crothall Local
President Robert Freckleton,
works well not only with his own
members, but has also reached
out to organize the non-
unionized employees at
Westchester Medical Center.

our praise and respect for their
dedication and outstanding
effort through a rigorous
program. We look forward to
continued accomplishment from
all of them and look forward to
the next group entering this
program, which is essential to
our future.

Each of us should be
enormously proud to be a part
of CSEA. Each of us has a role in
keeping our union a vital force
for working people. This is the
time to renew our commitment
to the hard work that lies
ahead.

Remember — It is our union,
our future. 4

At the same time, it is my sad
duty to report the recent deaths
of two members. Denis Keenan,
of the City of Poughkeepsie
Department of Public Works, was
killed this past January as he
unloaded salt from the back of a
DPW truck. Due to a missing
safeguard from the truck’s
machinery, Keenan was
strangled. Village of Ossining
DPW employee John Rodrigues,
on the job only couple months,
died in July after falling off the
back of a village sanitation truck.

Finally, I would like to thank
Irena Kobbe for all her years of
dedication to CSEA, both in
Putnam County and statewide. A
longtime Putnam County Local
President, Rena retired early this
year after decades working for
the county. Proof of her hard
work and dedication came via a
retirement party held in her
honor. Needless to say, the room
was packed. We miss you Rena,
but hope you enjoy retired life in
Florida. 4

THE WORK FORCE

October 2005

All TOPS employees will be losing
their jobs at the end of September
and will not be rehired because they
are union. It is a very sad
commentary on the values of
corporate America.

The lesson here is simple: Support
the union to keep our share of the
American dream. Look for the union
label, and buy items made in the
USA.

We must stick together or it may
be too late for those who come after
us.

Being union, buying union,
supporting union is necessary for
today and essential for tomorrow. 4

CAPITAL REGION PRESIDENT
continued from page 6

administration’s misguided attempts
to privatize Social Security. CSEA
members in the Capital Region have
attended a number of forums run by
US Rep. John Sweeney. The Capital
District Area Labor Federation held a
rally outside of Schwab’s Albany
offices in late March. The rally was
part of an AFL-CIO coordinated day of
action and our message that day was
clear, “don’t pick our pockets to line
yours!”

The 3rd Annual Capital Region
Spring Conference was held in March.
Attendance records were set and
conference attendees enjoyed a range
of workshops from education, to
health and safety to wellness. In July, I
hosted an installation ceremony for
new and newly re-elected officers.
That too was well attended and the
spirit of optimism and solidarity was
evident. And, in late August we held
our annual meeting at Kutsher’s in
Monticello. Special thanks to all
committee members for their hard
work and the valuable role they play
throughout the year with these
important and educational events. 1
YOUR UNION
NEWSLETTER

Our union is changing and I'd like to believe for the
better. With each day come new challenges to our local.
With nearly 7,000 county employees and 3,000 health
care corporation workers, CSEA Nassau Local 830 faces
many daily obstacles and it will be our goal to confront
them with you.

Now that we have completed our first two months in
Office, | can report back to you that we have been fairly
successful in implementing the first of many of our
initiatives which will make our union stronger and more
efficient. | am proud to announce to our membership that
we have begun our ‘COMMUNITY OUTREACH
PROGRAM.’

As of this writing, we have had two quarter-page
messages written in the weekly newspaper The Long
Island Press. With each week, we will highlight another
area or group of CSEA workers to educate the public in
what our members do. Our union is diverse as we
represent workers in hundreds of civil service titles.

Because we are so large in number, it is easy for the
public to forget how very important our services are to
everyday life here in Nassau County. For instance, we
received a great response from members and the public
when we illustrated that our 911 communication operators
and fire communicators answered more than 800,000
calls in 2004. (That's right, it's 800,000!)

Our ambulance medical technicians (AMTs) responded
to more than 55,000 emergency calls last year. This was
done by only 123 AMTs. Our members always get the job
done as these two examples illustrate, despite the fact
that we are severely understaffed in many agencies. |
urge all our members to get your free copy of The Long
Island Press each Thursday at a convenient location.

As we approach Election Day, many of our members
are asking us about our political endorsements for this
year. These endorsements are important and they require
a great deal of work and effort on our part.

The candidates have all been interviewed by me and
our entire political action committee, and we are still going
through the tough process of deciding which candidates
are best for CSEA. | hope to be able to deliver our

m CSEA Local 830 Preside

endorsements to you in the next Express before Election
Day.

Our endorsements should serve as a recommendation
to you as to which candidates your union leadership
believes will be most favorable in labor related issues. As
a Nassau County resident and county worker, you
probably have your own idea of which candidates you
would like to vote for. You may take our recommendation
or not, but it is imperative that every one of our members
get out and VOTE!

This is an important time of year when you can make
your voices heard, so don’t throw it away by staying
home. Exercise your right to vote and be a part of our
great system.

CSEA labor relations in Nassau County seem to be
strained at best. As | write this article, | look forward to
vastly improving the way we do business with the county.
If needed, we will step up the fight and dig in for the long
battle which may lie ahead. | am hoping to establish a
better working relationship with management.

For our union to be able to declare an end to our
ongoing labor battle, many important infractions on the
county side would have to be halted. One of the most
frustrating practices is the use of subcontractors to
perform our members’ job duties.

This practice has grown by leaps and bounds over the
past few years. We will soon begin our hard-hitting
campaign against the use of private contractors who take
our jobs and yet do not perform the duties nearly as well
as our CSEA members.

Another area of deep concern is the county's new use
of non-union staff. In fairness to the county
administration, they have entered into meetings with us
regarding these very serious issues. Our first such
meeting resulted in some positive discussion and |
believe that our continued vigilance will help us to see
some light at the end of the tunnel.

| have recently taken steps to help our members who
work in the public benefit corporation (‘PBC’). Most
importantly, | believe we have opened up dialogue at the
medical center for future promotions of personnel.

p Ss A
EXPRESS

CSEA Nassau County Local Members’
Diversity Represents Workers in Many Titles

( | cannot urge our members
enough to continue to help our
fellow Americans who have
been ravaged by the
devastating natural disaster of
HurricaneKatrina.

Last month we entered into an agreement to have 65
Nurses promoted from Registered Nurse 1 to Registered
Nurse 2. We are now staying on top of this issue by
helping the administration to effectuate a schedule of
promotions. We will closely monitor these promotions and
we hope that all 65 members will be promoted by year's
end.

We also toured the A. Holly Patterson Health Care
facility and spoke with many of our members. | learned a
great deal about what our members in that center must
deal with on a daily basis. | am extremely proud of our
health care professionals and | feel very lucky to
represent them.

Our health care professionals within the entire PBC
system work extremely hard. A quick look at our clinics in
Nassau County will show you how adept our members
have become at working in adverse conditions.
Regardless of the understaffing and immediate
surroundings which, in some cases are substandard, our
members always provide their patients with excellent
medical care in a friendly and professional way.

| am once again asking for friends to attend our
installation dinner on Oct. 22. | am hopeful that we can
show unity and solidarity at this important event.

| cannot urge our members enough to continue to help
our fellow Americans who have been ravaged by the
devastating natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

| have made several inquiries into the possibility of

Please see Message continued on Page 7
2 EXPRESS

The
Work Force
a

Nassau County Local 830

LAFYEE SS

October 2005 + Vol. 10 No. 10

‘A Monthly Publication of CSEA Nassau County Local 830,
JERRY LARRICHIUTA, President

Tony Panzarella, Editor
(616) 571-2919 Ext. #13

www. csealocal830.org

CSEA Long Island Region Communications Associate Rachel
Langer (631) 462-0030

NASSAU LOCAL 830
Executive Officers:

JERRY LARICCHIUTA, President

DIANE RUSS, Executive Vice President
RON GURRIERI, 1st Vice President
ROBERT CAULDWELL, 2nd Vice President
DEBRA IMPERATORE, 3rd Vice President
SCOTT MULHOLLAND, 4th Vice President
TIM CARTER, Sth Vice President

EARL STROUGHTON, 6th Vice President
DEBBIE O'CONNELL, 7th Vice President
BARBARA LANG, 8th Vice President
ROBERT McLAUGHLIN, 9th Vice President
JOHN ALOISIO, 10th Vice President
PETER KIERNAN, {1th Vice President
MATHEW WEYER, Secretary

BETH LUTTINGER, Treasurer

Unit Presidents/Executive Board:
CHUCK ALBERS, Fire & Rescue Services
JOHN ALOISIO Il, Treasurer's Office

ROB ARCIELLO, Deputy Sheriffs

STANLEY BERGMAN, Comptroller's Office

LISA SINAGRA-TURPAK, Public Safely
ROBERT CAMPO, Public Works Department
RAY CANNELLA, Civil Service Commission

TIM CARTER, Health Department

ROBERT CAULDWELL, Social Services
STEPHEN COHEN, Medical Examiner's Office
CAROL CONTI, County Clerk

CAROL CROSTON, Nassau Community College
VIVIAN CROWLEY, General Services
KENNETH DASH, SR., Board of Elections
MARY DELMARE, Crossing Guards

LES EASON, A. Holly Patterson

ROBERT GILIBERTI, Senior Citizens Affairs
SUSAN GRAHAM, County/District Attorney
NANCY IANSON, Drug & Alcohol

DEBRA IMPERATORE, Police Civilian

RON KAHL, AMTS

JERRY LARICCHIUTA, Sheriffs Support

PILAR MILLER-LEWIS, Assessment Department
JOHN RINALDO, Parks, Recreation & Museums
MARLA ROWE, Probation Department

DIANE RUSS, Consumer Affairs

EARL STROUGHTON, Nassau University Medical Center
JOSEPH WHITTAKER, Fire Marshal's Office

We welcome reader suggestions: Please address your :

comments to Tony Panzarella, Editor, Nassau County
"—] EXPRESS at CSEA Nassau Co. Local 830, 400 County
Seat Dr., Mineola, NY 11501-4137.

Graduation for CSEA
Members at A. Holly
Patterson Extended
Care Facility

Five CSEA-represented employees at the A.
Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility were
honored recently upon graduation from the
Vocational Education and Extension Board of
Nassau County Licensed Practical Nurse
school. On hand to congratulate them was A.
Holly Patterson Senior Vice President Larry
Slatky, third from right. From left, are Robert
Harris, Patricia Makin, Nicole Lorde-Matthews,
Slatky, Carol Wallace and Sarah Tonon. Facility
staff members received tuition reimbursement
through a grant from the Nursing Home Quality
Improvement Demonstration Program.

(CSEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

DISCRIMINATION LAW: Introduction

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles appearing regularly to provide valuable information
regarding important areas of protection available through the CSEA Legal Assistance Program (LAP). The
Legal Assistance Program covers employment and labor issues involving disciplinaries, contract
grievances and arbitrations, court litigation and agency proceedings. Get more information about legal
services in the LAP by calling CSEA Headquarters at 1-800-342-4146, extension 1443, or by visiting
www.csealocal1000.org, and clicking on the legal programs and services menu item.

This article provides an overview of the various laws that
provide protection against discrimination in the workplace.
In future articles, some of these specific laws will be dealt
with in more detail.

Federal, state and local civil rights laws, as well as some
collective bargaining agreements, prohibit employers from
discriminating against employees in the terms and
conditions of their employment. In other words, employers
cannot fire, discipline, or treat employees or groups of
employees differently regarding compensation and benefits
when the reason for that differing treatment is an
employee's membership in one of the groups protected
under the law.

In addition, employers are prohibited from discriminating
against employees based on various protected activities
and conduct by employees, including: a) union activism or
support; b) opposition to unlawful discriminatory practices;
c) complaints to federal or state authorities about health and
safety problems; and d) participation in certain political or
leisure activities.

Under federal law, it is unlawful for an employer or a
labor union to discriminate based on a member's race,
color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or disability or
to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to
reasonably accommodate disabled employees in certain
circumstances.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
prohibits public employers from retaliating against
employees for speaking out on issues of public concern
and/or for engaging in partisan political activity while off-

duty.

New York's anti-discrimination laws provide broader
protections against employment discrimination. Under New
York state law, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate
against an employee or a member based on race, sex,
color, national origin, religion, disability, marital status,
age, genetic predisposition, sexual orientation, military
record, arrest record or prior criminal accusation.

As a labor union, CSEA is committed to fighting all forms
of illegal discrimination. CSEA officials and activists must
continue to be vigilant in the fight against such
discrimination. Locals and units should consider sponsoring
training for members regarding discrimination issues.

With the exception of charges relating to retaliation for
union activity, before CSEA will consider commencing court
litigation or administrative claims regarding alleged
discrimination, the CSEA Labor Relations Specialist must
file a request for Legal Assistance. To assist CSEA,
members and activists interested in having CSEA represent
them in a discrimination case may be requested to fill out a
Discrimination Questionnaire.

All requests for Legal Assistance are reviewed by the
CSEA Legal Department and, where appropriate, by the
CSEA Standing Legal Committee, before any proposed
litigation is approved. If Legal Assistance is approved,
CSEA will provide representation and pay the costs of the
litigation.

CSEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

Consumer Affairs Employees

EXPRESS 3

CSEA Members Protect the Public From Scams and Frauds

With the price of gasoline and home heating oil at
record levels, the community needs someone to
ensure consumers get the gas and oil they pay for.

That “someone” is likely to be a CSEA member
employed at the Nassau County Department of
Consumer Affairs.

When you get a fill-up at the service station, you
can be certain Consumer Affairs inspectors have
already ensured the station calibrated the pumps
correctly and have an accurate octane rating.
Department inspectors also do similar checks with
home heating oil delivery trucks and the fuel terminals
where the trucks are filled.

“Our operation is more proactive than reactive,” said
Glenn Powell, assistant consumer affairs director in
charge of weights and measures. While other aspects
of the Consumer Affairs department are geared more
toward handling consumer complaints, Powell's office
focuses more on inspections, a year-round, ongoing
process. The weights and measures division also
responds to complaints.

Although some gas station operators may cringe
when they see the department's testing truck pulling
up, most welcome the chance to prove that they are
honest, Assistant Director Richard Russ said.

“Some bad apples out there give everyone a bad
name,” he said. “By doing what we do, we level the
playing field for everybody.”

Overall, the compliance rate is pretty good, Russ
and Powell said. In many instances when inspectors

detect a problem, the cause is more likely due to faulty
equipment rather than intent to defraud.

Powell said there were 578 gas stations in Nassau
County at the end of 2004 and each is inspected at
least once a year. Fifteen years ago, about 10 percent
of the gas stations were found to be in violation each
year. That number has now dropped to about 2
percent.

Consumer fraud can mean big fines for the
perpetrators and possible revocation of the permits and
licenses needed to do business in Nassau County.
Russ said fines often range as high as $10,000 per
incident.

Overall, there are seven Weights & Measures
inspectors who inspect gas and oil along with other
types of consumer scales. For example, they check
butcher and deli scales, as well as hardware stores for
such things as rope and wire measuring.

At grocery stores and supermarkets they make sure
that the weights and measures on packaged foods are
accurate and that dates are not expired. They even
check the scanners at the check-out counters for
accuracy.

Powell said his office must oversee a total of 3,011
businesses accounting for 17,882 measuring devices.
Although he acknowledges the enormous amount of
ground his staff must cover, he is satisfied with the job
they are doing.

“They are experienced people and they get the job
done efficiently and effectively,” he said.

Consumer Affairs, however, does much more than
regulate weights and measures.

The office, under Commissioner Roger Bogsted,
regulates through licensing such areas as the home
improvement industry in Nassau County, which garners
the most industry complaints each year. They advocate
for consumers in disputes in which a resident believes
he or she has been the victim of consumer fraud or
other unscrupulous business activity. In such cases,
the department often works with the district attorney's
staff on criminal matters and with the county attorney's
staff on civil matters.

“Consumer Affairs employees are highly skilled
workers who perform an extremely important service
for the people of Nassau County,” Nassau CSEA
President Jerry Laricchiuta said. “They are to be
commended for the outstanding work they do, often in
the face of very trying circumstances.”

The department publishes information pamphlets to
help consumers make decisions about purchases and
warn them of various scams and frauds, such as
identity theft.

For more information on the Office of Consumer
Affairs or to file a consumer complaint, call the
department at (516) 571-2600 weekdays during
business hours, or they can visit the Consumer Affairs
office at 200 County Seat Drive in Mineola. You can
also visit the county’s consumer affairs department
web site at http://(www.co.nassau.ny.us/consumer/
consume.htm

Left, standing in front of the Consumer Affairs mobile
test van are Inspector Il Jill Navarra, Inspector Il Tom
Delsignore, Inspector Paul Knuerr, Inspector Al
Prestinari, Bill Salvemini and Yuri Hein of the office
staff, Inspector Tony Cangelosi and Assistant
Director Richard Russ.

Bottom left, Consumer Affairs Director Glenn Powell,
seated, goes over statistical information with
Assistant Director Richard Russ.

Bottom right, Consumer Affairs staff stand in front of
a truck equipped with devices used to determine if
gas pumps are correctly calibrated and the octane
level is correct. They are, from left, Assistant Director
Richard Russ, Inspector Il Tom Delsignore, Inspector
Paul Knuerr and Director Glenn Powell.
4 Express

How to Complete a Voter
Registration Application

Filling out the voter registration application must
be taken very seriously. The Board of Elections
can reject any improperly completed applications,
preventing you from voting.

New York state recently simplified its voter
registration applications. Although they are now
much easier to complete, note the following
points for proper registration:

1. Type of application: Check the appropriate
box. If you've never voted before, check “New
Registration and Enrollment.”

2. Citizenship: This section MUST be
completed. If you are a U.S. citizen either by
birth or naturalization, check “YES.” You cannot legally register and
vote if you are not a U.S. citizen.

3. Name: Fill your name in completely, listing in order your last
name, first name and middle initial.

4. Home address: Enter your complete home address.

5. Mailing Address: Complete this section ONLY if your mailing
address is different than your home address.

6. Date of birth: Fill in completely — month, day, year of birth.

7. Descriptive information: Circle, as appropriate.

To register to vote in New York state you must:

*be aU.S. citizen;

+ be at least 18 years old by Dec. 31 of the year in which you
file this form. You must be 18 years old by the date of the
general, primary or other election in which you want to vote;
* live at your present address at least 30 days before an
election;

* not be in jail or on parole for a felony conviction;

* not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

ate A

=

Defensive Driving Courses Scheduled for Fall 2005

CSEA's defensive driving course, which saves participants money on
their automobile insurance, will return this fall.

Two six-hour courses will be offered in three-hour segments, and two
courses will be offered as full six-hour classes that will run straight
through on each of two Saturdays. The following is the fall schedule:

Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 17 & 18, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. each night

Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 15 & 16, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. each night

Saturday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (half hour lunch break — bring your
own)

Saturday, Dec. 10, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (half hour lunch break—bring
your own)

Early registration is advised because space is limited and classes will
be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

When the program is completed, participants are eligible for an
immediate 10 percent discount on their auto liability and collision

(CSEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

Oct. 7 Is Voter Registration Deadline;
You Can’t Vote Unless You’re Registered

In order to vote, you must be registered. The last day to postmark a voter registration
application this year is Friday, Oct. 7. It must be received by the Board of Elections no
later than Oct. 14. If you call the CSEA Nassau Local Office in Mineola at (516) 571-
2919, we will be happy to get an application to you. You can also have a registration
form sent to your home by calling the New York state Board of Elections Voter
Registration hotline at (800) FOR-VOTE. The call is free.

Interesting Facts
About Election Day

Our way of life in the United States has changed significantly
over the course of our history, but many remnants of our early
traditions and customs still linger.

Election Day, for instance, was set up based on the realities
of life in early America. Here's why Election Day falls when it
does:

November was selected because the harvest work was done.
Tuesday was selected because many people had to travel
the day before to reach the polling place. Since most people did
not travel on Sunday for religious reasons, Monday was not

considered a good day for voting.

Early Americans did not want Election Day to fall on Nov. 1
because that day is All Saints Day.

Early leaders did not want Election Day to fall on the first of
any month because many shopkeepers balanced their financial
books for the preceding month that day.

insurance for a three-year period on all vehicles for which they are the T NAME

(SEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

Shop Steward Training
Offered by CSEA

Nassau Local members who would like to become
more involved in their union should consider signing up
for upcoming shop steward training workshops
sponsored by the CSEA Long Island Region.

The union's Education and Training Department will
present the program.

The workshops are designed to train officers,
stewards, grievance representatives and other activists
in communicating, organizing and leading employees in
the workplace, with the ultimate goal of building and
strengthening the union. Registration is a must. Light
meals will be served at each session.

The workshops will be held at the following dates and
locations:

* Saturday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. — Levittown
Memorial Education Center cafeteria, 150 Abby Lane,
Levittown

+ Wednesday & Thursday, Oct. 5 & 6 - Long Island
Region Office, 3 Garet Place, Commack. Attendance is
required at both sessions.

* Tuesday & Wednesday, Feb. 7 & 8, 2006 - Town of
Hempstead Local office, 1580 Merrick Road, Suite 212,
Merrick. Attendance is required at both sessions.

Because the class size is strictly limited, prior
registration is required. Call the Long Island Region
office at (631) 462-0030.

Questions regarding the workshops should be
directed to the CSEA Education & Training Department
at the union's headquarters at (800) 342-4146, ext. 1363.

principal operator. Drivers with moving violations will receive a four-point J

reduction on their driving record. WORK PHONE
The location for all sessions is the CSEA Nassau Local office at 400

County Seat Drive, Mineola, in the basement of the south wing. Family HOME FHONE,

and friends of CSEA members are also welcome to participate, but no DEPARTMENT

children are allowed in the class.
The new, reduced cost is $20 per person for CSEA members and $25
for non-members. For more information, call Judy at (516) 571-2919, ext.

19. To register, fill out the form at right and return with your check Sept. 27,28 _
(payable to CSEA Local 830) to: CSEA Nassau Local 830, 400 County Nov. 5
Seat Drive, Mineola, N.Y. 11501, ATTN: Judy. "

# MEMBERS,

INDICATE SESSION YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND:

AMOUNT ENCLOSED.

Oct. 17, 18__
Dec. 10.
# NON-MEMBERS.

Nov. 15, 16

ExPRESS 5

Scholarship Forms Now Available

Plan Ahead: Get Your Tickets Now
for Martin Luther King Luncheon

It's never too early to assure yourself a spot at CSEA's annual Martin Luther King ceremony
luncheon.

The Unity Committee, which sponsors the program, has announced that tickets are now on sale for
the 2006 event, which will be held on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2006, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Coral
House in Baldwin. The price is $30 per person ($20 for children 12 and under).

The luncheon will include entertainment, raffles and door prizes. Guest speakers will be Hempstead
Village Mayor Wayne Hall and the Rev. William Watson.

Nominating forms are also now available for the annual college scholarships presented at the
luncheon each year. This year, the Unity Committee will award four $500 scholarships.

The Unity Committee's Scholarship Subcommittee is now accepting nominees for its annual
scholarships. Verification must be submitted that the student is a graduating high school senior or an
enrolled college student in good standing. The student must maintain a cumulative average of 3.0 (B)
or better and must be the child or under the guardianship of an active CSEA Local 830 member.
Financial need is also a factor. The award may be renewed at the discretion of the Unity Committee.

It must be shown that the student has active personal involvement in the advancement of the
principles of human rights within the community.

For more information on the luncheon or scholarships or to buy tickets, contact Juanita McKinnies at
(516) 378-2790 or (516) 353-0459. Reservation forms are available at the CSEA Nassau Local office at
400 County Seat Drive, Mineola.

Ticket Sales Start Oct. 3

CSEA Holiday Party Set for Dec. 14

CSEA‘s very popular annual holiday party will be held this year Wednesday, Dec. 14 from 7 p.m. to
midnight at the Coral House in Baldwin.

“This is our biggest event of the year and tickets usually sell out quickly,” Nassau Local President
Jerry Laricchiuta said. “| would advise our members to get their tickets early so they don’t get shut
out.”

The ticket price will once again be $25 per person for bargaining unit members and $45 per person
for guests. “Once again, we've held the line on the ticket price in order to keep the party affordable for
all our members,” Laricchiuta said

Ticket sales will start Monday, Oct. 3 and will continue through Monday, Nov. 21 or until sold out,
whichever comes first.

Social Committee Chair Susan Cohen said partygoers will have a chance this year to choose, on a
first-come, first-served basis, any of the three rooms reserved for the event. Two adjoining rooms will
feature music and dancing. A third room has been reserved for members who prefer quiet
conversation, and, if they wish, may join their colleagues on the dance floor in the main room.

“All rooms will include a cocktail hour, open bar, full sit-down dinner and, of course, raffles and
prizes,” Cohen said. Once again, members will be asked to bring an unwrapped toy for the U.S.
Marines' “Toys for Tots” program.

For more information, call Cohen at (516) 571-2919, Ext. 20. The Coral House is located on Milburn
Avenue in Baldwin, just north of Merrick Road.
EXPRESS

CSEs

LOCAL 830

Installation Dinner

Thursday, October 20, 2005
Westbury Manor

Jericho Turnpike, Westbury

7 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Join us for the formal installation of newly-elected
Local 830 President

JERRY LARICCHIUTA

and his slate of officers

Tickets: $65 per person
For more information contact:
Sue Cohen — 571-2919, ext. 20
Stephen Cohen — 571-2919, ext. 21

Reservations will not be accepted without payment in full! Reservations will be taken on a
first-come, first-served basis. No reservations will be taken over the phone. Make checks
payable to “CSEA Local 830.” No refunds will be given. Reservation deadline is Oct. 3, 2005.

Please complete and return the coupon below with each dinner payment to:
CSEA Local 830, 400 County Seat Drive, Mineola, NY 11501, Attn. Social Committee.

HOME PHONE,

WORK PHONE,

CHECK AMOUNT.

CSEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

Set for Oct. 20
Tickets Still Available
For Installation Dinner

Some tickets are still available for members and
friends who would like to attend the Installation
Dinner Dance at which CSEA Nassau Local 830
President Jerry Laricchiuta and his victorious slate
of officers will be officially sworn in. The date is
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, starting 7 p.m. at the
Westbury Manor on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury.
Laricchiuta and all the newly elected Local 830
Officers will take the formal oath of office at the
dinner.

“| hope we can generate a good turnout at this
affair. It's important to show unity and solidarity as
the largest public union in Nassau County,” said
Laricchiuta.

The ticket price for the event is $65 per person.
The price includes a full-course dinner, open bar
and dancing to the tunes of DJ-Joey. Social
Committee Chair Susan Cohen reminds members
that tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served
basis and that reservations will not be accepted
without payment in full.

Reservation forms can be obtained at rthe
CSEA local office in Mineola or by calling either
Susan Cohen at 571-2919, ext. 20, or Stephen
Cohen at 571-2919, ext. 21. Checks should be
made payable to “CSEA Local 830” and sent to
CSEA Nassau Local 830, 400 County Seat Drive,
Mineola, N.Y. 11501, Attn. Social Committee.

CSEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

ume & LOCALIN99, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

t

ExPReESS 1

Nassau County Local Members
March in Labor Day Parade

Long Island Region members carried the CSEA banner proudly in
the New York City Labor Day Parade. From left to right are Oyster
Bay Local Executive Vice President Bobby Rauff, SUNY Stony
Brook Local members Maryann Phelps and Carol Low,
Brookhaven White Collar Unit President Meg Shutka, A. Holly
Patterson Unit President Les Eason, Nassau County Local
member Valerie Ciaramella, Long Island State Employees Local
member Nora Jane Adkins, Nassau County Local members Rudy
Bruce and Nancy lanson, Long Island Developmental Center
member Richard McLaren, Suffolk Retirees Local member Al
Luppo, Nassau Retirees Local President Dominic Ciaramella, and
Luppo’s wife Barbara.

Message continued from Page 1

On Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005
Long Island Region President Nick
La
is being honored for

Italian American Political Action Committ
(IAMPAC).

At the Huntington Townhouse
124 East Jericho Turnpike
Huntington Station, NY 11747

Cocktails are at 6
Dinner and reception are at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $125.00

There, wilaotbaaiounel.

Italian American PAC
clo Vincent James Management
attn: Robert Fonti
31 East 32nd Street, 12th floor
New York, NY 10016

Excellence in the Field of Labor by th

| am once again asking for friends to attend
our installation dinner on Oct. 22. | am hopeful
that we can show unity and solidarity at this
important event.

| cannot urge our members enough to
continue to help our fellow Americans who have
been ravaged by the devastating natural
disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

| have made several inquiries into the
possibility of sending CSEA volunteers to the
affected areas to help relieve the suffering so
many Katrina victims are now facing. However,
there are many legal issues as well as strategic
problems we would need to overcome. In the
meantime, we began our fund-raising efforts at
the Nassau University Medical Center on Sept.
7 with huge success. In just one day, our
members raised nearly $3,000 for Katrina
victims by setting up a table in front of the
cafeteria. This is a great deal of money from
some truly fantastic people.

Please keep it up and call our local for a flier
announcing when our next fund-raising dates
will take place.

| hope you all had a great summer. Now, we
enter into the fall and political season. Let's stay
healthy and | look forward to presenting my
next report to you in November's issue of the
Express.

Yours in unionism,
Jerry Laricchiuta
Nassau County Local President

8 ExPRESS

(CSEA NASSAU COUNTY LOCAL 830 UNION MEMBER NEWS

A Message From Long Island Region President Nick LaMorte

Greetings brothers and sisters,

It's time once again for the
annual Making Strides Against
Breast Cancer walk at Jones
Beach State Park! This year,
the walk is being held Oct. 16,
at 8 a.m. The Long Island
Region Women’s Committee has been hard at work
making all the arrangements for this worthwhile
event.

We always need people to help us with the
fund-raising. If you sign up for the walk, you go out
and get some sponsors who will pledge money to
have you walk the 5K course. It's a great way to do
something positive for so many of our our sisters,

“Making Strides” Cancer Walk
Sponsor Information

What: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K
Walk

Where: Jones Beach State Park
When: Sunday, Oct. 16
Time: registration & start 8 a.m. (rolling start)

Purpose: To raise money for breast cancer
research, programs and facilities

Sponsorship Packets: Get packets through work
site “team captains” or at the CSEA Nassau Local
office, 400 County Seat Drive, Mineola.

Returning Packets with Pledge Money:
Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Nassau
University Medical Center CSEA Office, Room
B216; Thursdays, Oct. 6 and Oct. 13 from 10 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. at the CSEA Nassau Local Office,
400 County Seat Drive in Mineola.

Commemorative T-shirts: While supplies last,
participants returning sponsorship packets over a
certain pledge level (to be announced), will
receive specially designed T-shirts on a first-
come, first-served basis. Shirts will NOT be
distributed on the day of the walk.

More Information: Call the Nassau Local Office
at (516) 571-2919, Ext. 15

mothers, friends, wives and daughters who are
fighting, or may one day fight, this terrible disease.

On Long Island, the breast cancer rate is even
higher than that of the national average. The
disease often robs us of the people we love the
most by cutting them down in the prime of life. It
doesn't just affect the women we love — men can
get breast cancer too.

If you want to help out at a fun and worthwhile
event, speak to someone on the women’s
committee or call the Long Island Region office for
the forms and information. The money raised at the
Making Strides walk will help fund research for
better, more effective breast cancer treatment and
ultimately a cure. The walk also helps raise money
for educational and disease support programs.

Oct. 16 at Jones Beach

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness
month, it may be a good time to get a mammogram,
especially if you've been putting it off. After all, if we
don’t take care of ourselves, how are we going to
keep fighting for others?

In solidarity,

Nal

Still Time to Sign up for
“Making Strides” Cancer Walk

There’s still time for CSEA members to sign up
for the Oct. 16 5K “Making Strides Against Breast
Cancer Walk” at Jones Beach.

Last year’s CSEA team raised more than
$20,000 for this important cause. The CSEA Long
Island Region has been designated once again a
flagship sponsor of the event.

The walk starts and ends at Parking Field #5,
proceeding along the Jones Beach boardwalk and
circling back to the starting point. Registration and a
“tolling” start will take place continuously from 8
a.m. to 11 a.m. at the CSEA tent.

Women’s Committee Co-Chairs Diane Russ and
Debbie O'Connell said an estimated 2,000 Long
Island women will be diagnosed with breast cancer
this year. Money raised through the walk will
support scientific research into causes of breast
cancer and related important programs and facilities
for people across the country affected by the
disease, including Long Island residents.

CSEA members, family and friends who wish to
participate or who desire additional information can
call the local office at (516) 571-2919. Sponsorship
packets are available through unit representatives
or at the Local 830 office in Mineola.

All members of the CSEA
team who submit a completed
sponsor sheet with pledges
totaling at least $50 will
receive a specially designed,
commemorative long-sleeve T-
shirt containing both the event
and CSEA logos. T-shirts will
be distributed while supplies
last on a first-come, first
served basis when pledges are returned at the
following dates and locations:

+ Wednesday, Oct. 5 — Nassau University
Medical Center CSEA Office — Room B216, 9 a.m.
-2p.m.

+ Thursdays, Oct. 6 & 13— CSEA Nassau Local
Office, 400 County Seat Drive, Mineola, 10 a.m. -—
5:30 p.m. each day.

T-shirts will not be distributed on the day of the
walk.
CSEi= Long Island Region ”

Zz Oct

Ong Island Reporter

The Suffolk Local’s Executive Board shows its
support of Marc Alessi in the 1st Assembly District
election. From left to right are President Bill
Walsh, Dave Clark, Jim McDowell, Bill Parente,
Matt Hattorff, Meg Shutka, Pat Fisher, Nick
Zambelli, Debbie Trapp, Jeanne McCarthy and
Richard Vacchio.

IVERHEAD — With strong support from the CSEA Long Island
Region and Suffolk Local members, Marc Alessi won election
in the State Assembly’s ‘st District Sept. 13.

Please see Alessi, continued on Page 4
PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Long Island Region members carried the CSEA banner proudly in the New York
City Labor Day Parade. From left to right they are Oyster Bay Local 1st Vice
President Bobby Rauff, SUNY Stony Brook Local members Maryann Phelps and
Carol Low, Brookhaven White Collar Unit President Meg Shutka, A. Holly
Patterson Unit President Les Eason, Nassau County Local member Valerie
Ciaramella, Long Island State Employees Local member Nora Jane Adkins,
Nassau County Local members Rudy Bruce and Nancy lanson, Long Island
Developmental Center member Richard McLaren, Suffolk Retirees Local
member Al Luppo, Nassau Retirees Local President Dominic Ciaramella, and

Many CSEA members and officers from
Long Island joined their brothers and
sisters from the Hudson Valley and New
York City in a spirited show of solidarity at
the Labor Parade in Manhattan.

Luppo's wife Barbara.

G

It's time once again for the annual Making
Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at Jones
Beach State Park! This year, the walk is being
held Oct. 16, at 8 a.m. The Long Island Region
Women's Committee has been hard at work
making all the arrangements for this worthwhile
event.

We always need people to help us with the
fund-raising. If you sign up for the walk, you go
out and get some sponsors who will pledge
money to have you walk the 5K course. It's a
great way to do something positive for so many
of our our sisters, mothers, friends, wives and
daughters who are fighting, or may one day
fight, this terrible disease.

On Long Island, the breast cancer rate is
even higher than that of the national average.
The disease often robs us of the people we love
the most by cutting them down in the prime of
life. It doesn’t just affect the women we love —
men can get breast cancer too.

If you want to help out at a fun and
worthwhile event, speak to someone on the
women’s committee or call the Long Island
Region office for the forms and information. The
money raised at the Making Strides walk will

2

reetings brothers and sisters,

Long Island Reporter

Message from Long Island Region President

Nick LaMorte

help fund research for
better, more effective breast cancer
treatment and ultimately a cure. The walk also
helps raise money for educational and disease
support programs.

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness
month, it may be a good time to get a
mammogram, especially if you've been putting it
off. After all, if we don’t take care of ourselves,
how are we going to keep
fighting for others?

In solidarity,

Nick LaMorte, president
Long Island Region

Nie

Nicole Schmidt, the littlest CSEA
marcher, makes her way down the
parade route with a little help from her
mom, Linda, a member of the SUNY
Stony Brook Local.

Education and Training workshops scheduled for
Nassau and Suffolk Counties

COMMACK — CSEA's Education and Training Department will be
conducting five workshops for stewards and state government grievance
committee members in Nassau and Suffolk in the near future.

A steward training workshop will be offered Saturday, Oct. 1 from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. at Levittown Memorial Education Center's cafeteria, 150
Abbey Lane in Levittown.

Steward training will be offered at the Long Island Region office, 3
Garet Place in Commack, on Wednesday, Oct. 5 and Thursday, Oct. 6
from 6 to 9 p.m.

Training for stewards on the East End of Long Island will be given
Tuesday, Dec. 6 and Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Best
Western, 1830 Route 25 in Riverhead.

Training for state government grievance committee people is being
offered at the Long Island Region office on Wednesday, Feb. 1 and
Thursday, Feb. 2 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Steward training will also be offered on Tuesday, Feb. 7 and
Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the office of Town of Hempstead
Local 880, 1580 Merrick Road, Suite 212, in Merrick.

Registration begins a half-hour before the classroom sessions.
Pre-registration is required for the workshops. Members who wish to
participate should call the Long Island Region office, (631) 462-0030, to
sign up.

Region Executive Board and
Delegates Meeting

COMMACK — Fifty Long Island Region leaders participated in a joint Executive
Board session and pre-convention meeting at the region office Sept. 17 for
those attending the upcoming Annual Delegates’ Meeting.

Marc Alessi, who won election to the state Assembly several days earlier
with strong CSEA and other union support, got a warm welcome. Alessi, a
former political action coordinator in the Long Island Region, brought Sara Ruby,
his young daughter, with him.

“| had to come down here to thank you,” Alessi said.

His victory in the special election, he said, was the result of a positive
campaign that stuck to the issues.

“I can’t thank you enough and hope to make you proud of me,” he said.

President Nick LaMorte announced the appointments of three local officers ' —— —-—
as chairpersons of region committees: Dominic Ciaramella, Nassau Retirees Long Island Region officers make notes during the meeting. They are, from left, 2nd
Local, Public Relations; Maryann Phelps of the SUNY Stony Brook Local, Vice President Jane D'Amico, President Nick LaMorte, Secretary Lee Reynolds and

Veterans, and Gary Steckler, Town of Hempstead Local, Constitution & By-laws. Treasurer Christine Urbanowiecz.

Marc Alessi, who won
election to the state
Assembly several days
before, and daughter
Sarah Ruby, 6 months old,
were warmly welcomed to
the meeting. Mom is
Gretchen Penn, CSEA
Long Island Region
political action coordinator,
a position that had earlier
been held by Alessi.

Among appointments
announced at the meeting
were Maryann Phelps as
chair of the Long Island
Region Veterans’
Committee, and Dominic
Ciaramella, chair of the
Public Relations Committee.

Participants from the SUNY Stony
Brook Local are, from left, around
the table, President Carlos Speight,
Rich Tuckosh, Jimmy McPherson,
Martin Catapano, Ramon Valdez
(partly hidden), Debbie Nappi-
Gonzalez and Keith Krejci. Aldoray
Cowell also attended.

bel a i
Bobby Rauff of the Town of Oyster Bay
Local urges Long Island Region delegates
to attend sessions of the convention's
Resolutions and Constitution & By-laws
committees before the general session. He
is chair of the CSEA Convention Committee
and one of the region's two representatives
on the union's Resolutions Committee.

—_— oe | —
Manny Mangual, president of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Andre Sigmore of the Long Island State Employees Local, one of
Center Local, makes a point during discussion of a the region’s two members on the convention Resolutions
resolution that will be offered at the Annual Committee, reads text of a resolution being submitted to the
Delegates’ Meeting. convention by Gary Steckler, at rear. 3

Long Island Reporter
—
——>_=

Alessi victory

Continued from Page 1

Alessi, a Democrat and former CSEA political action
coordinator in the region, beat Republican Michael
Caracciolo by a 52-48 percent margin.

“The support | received from labor in general and
CSEA in particular was overwhelming and helped put
me over the top," Alessi said. “I believe | had such
strong support because they know my background
firsthand and they know how important itis to me to
fight for issues that matter to working men and
women.”

Alessi was to be sworn into office Sept. 21. The
district he represents includes the entire North Fork
and the north shore of Brookhaven. He is the first
Democrat to represent the district.

“It's a great win for CSEA,” said Suffolk Local
President Bill Walsh, who rallied members of his local
in the campaign. CSEA members served as poll
watchers, did literature drops, staffed phone banks at
the union office and attended an Alessi fund-raiser in
Greenport Sept. 8.

“They did whatever they could to help out Marc,”
Walsh said. “Union supporters talked about Alessi
being our friend, being there for us, and that cut
through party lines. That may have been the
determining factor. Marc appeals to working people
regardless of their party affiliation.”

Tom Skabry, a vice president of the Southold unit
who served as a poll watcher for Alessi, agreed. “From
his background at CSEA and in the political arena, it
sounds like he’s the right man for the working people,”
Skabry said.

Alessi will be one of the 105 Democratic members
in the 150-member New York State Assembly.

“Now that Marc has been elected, East End folks
will have a representative in the majority,” said Walsh.
“I'm sure Marc will bring more home to that district than
was ever brought home before.”

OFFICER INSTALLATIONS

In addition to building support for the former CSEA
employee at the Executive Board meeting, held at the
Hampton Inn in Medford on Aug. 31, Walsh also
installed officers of units who were present. They
included President George L. Dobler Jr, president,
Juan Ramirez, vice president, and Margaret Hennings,
secretary, of the Town of Huntington Library unit; Dan
Durinick, president of the Village of Patchogue unit;
John Christ, president, Richard Roberts and Henry
Herman of the Village of Babylon unit; Kathy Weiss,

4 Long Island Reporter

Inside Reporter

Top photo, with Local Executive Vice President Pat
Fisher, standing, an employee of the Smithtown
Library, are officers of the Town of Huntington Library
— George L. Dobler Jr., seated left, president, Juan
Ramirez, vice president, and Margaret Hennings,
secretary. Anne Grofik is the unit treasurer.

Bottom left, Bill Walsh urges Executive Board
members to attend a fund-raiser for Alessi, held at
the Harborfront in Greenport just days before the
Sept. 13 vote.

Bottom right, Dan Durinick, new president of the
Village of Patchogue unit, is a constable for the
village.

president, and Bob Pease, first vice president, of the
Town of East Hampton Unit, and Pete Collins,
president, and Pat Densieski, secretary, of the Town of
Southampton unit

The local comprises 35 units from the Nassau-
Suffolk County line eastward, with members employed
by seven towns, 11 villages, a dozen public library
systems and other local governmental agencies.

Dobler, who attended his first meeting as a unit
officer, said that it was a chance to network with other
CSEA leaders and learn what their concerns were. A

Top photo, Kathy Weiss, second from left, of the
Town of East Hampton unit, talks with Meg Shutka
of the Brookhaven White Collar Unit while Pete
Collins of the Town of Southampton unit, left, chats
with Bob Pease, right, also of the East Hampton
unit.

Above, representing members who work for the
Village of Babylon are, left to right, John Christ, unit
president, Richard Roberts and Henry Herman.

discussion of sick banks sparked interest among the
officers, “We've already started working on that,” he
said.

Head of maintenance and security atthe library,
Dobler has worked there for nearly 17 years. The
CSEA unit includes all library employees except for
pages, who are partimers.

— Charlie Michaelson

Left, Statewide Treasurer
Maureen Malone chats with
Marc Alessi at Local 852's
recent installation of officers
and dinner-dance.

At the Executive Board meeting, Rob Scholz, right, of
CSEA's Political Action Department asks for volunteers
for Alessi. At left is John Belmonte, a Political Action
intern. Both, along with other department members,
spent weeks working on Alessi's successful campaign.

\
Wes

Bill Walsh represents about 3,100 members of the
CSEA Suffolk Municipal Local, which comprises of
town and village government employees scattered
from Huntington to Montauk.

“Four years ago, | was asked if | wanted to join
the board and | came on as Sth vicepPresident. Now,
| find myseff the local president,” he said. "It’s not
something | set out to do, but | feel honored to have
this opportunity to serve the rank and file in a
different capacity.”

“Bill Walsh is a stand-up guy," said CSEA Long
Island Region President Nick LaMorte. "'m sure that
Bil will continue to be the kind of smart, seasoned,
and strong leader CSEA members deserve, and |
look forward to working closely with him.”

Walsh is a longtime member of CSEA, starting as
a laborer in the Brookhaven landfill in 1981 following
a stint in the U.S. Air Force. ‘I served my country and
now I'm serving my union.”

Like most activists, Walsh remembers clearly what
spurred him into union activism. “The first Easter
Sunday | was a town employee, | was told | had to
use my own time off or | would not get paid for the
day even though it was my regular workday,” he said.
"So, | fled an improper practice charge and changed
the rules my first time out.”

Walsh was determined to see that he and his co-
workers were treated with dignity and respect on the
job, so he ran for president of his unit in 1989. He’s

Local 852 President Bill Walsh

represented the CSEA Brookhaven town blue collar
workers ever since. “In my experience, CSEA is a
very democratic union, and if any member wants to
get involved, they have that ability. Even if things
don't tum out as you would like, with CSEA you can
always fight for what you believe in,” Walsh said.
“You could say I've always been a bit of a rabble-
rouser, even though | have mellowed a lttle over the
years.”

As the new local president, Walsh wants to build
bridges. “I want this local to form good relationships
with our 36 units so that we can help them serve
their members,” he said.

Walsh is dividing up the units between the seven
vice presidents of the local. They will have to be in
touch regularly, and provide monthly reports to the
locat’s executive board, detailing situations and what
the local can to do help. “Part ofthis job is making
sure that the members see the local, they hear from
the local, and the local hears them,” said Walsh.

Walsh is also putting together a Suffolk Local
rapid response force, a core of experienced activists
that can be mobilized quickly if necessary. “If we
need to shore up the activism that is already taking
place; if we need to give encouragement and support
in struggling units, with this group we'll have a
method to do that quickly,” he said.

‘Above all, Walsh said he wants to encourage
members to get involved, especially the newer and

younger members, because he says the union needs
educated, motivated and committed activists and
groom new leaders if itis to remain strong.

Walsh, the 47-year-old father of three, lives in
Centereach with Kathleen, his wife of 26 years. She
is also a CSEA member, as is their oldest son. The
Walshes' middle son, Jason, is serving in the U.S.
Army, and their youngest is attending C.W. Post on a
baseball scholarship. Walsh succeeded Irv Bitman,
who has retired.

Long Island Reporter 5

Long Beach members at work

LONG BEACH — The 34,000 residents of Long
Beach are well served by the 215 members of the
CSEA Long Beach Unit of the Nassau Municipal
Local.

“We are the hardworking, dedicated and
professional Long Beach work force,” said
Colleen Silvia, the unit's president. “Our members
are the ones who get the job done.”

Among the city’s departments staffed by
members are the beach, sewer and street
maintenance departments, the animal shelter, the
building department, offices of the city clerk, the
city comptroller, the city manager, the tax
assessor and the corporation counsel, the payroll
department, the police department's civil work
force, public works, purchasing, tax,
transportation, water pollution control, water
purification, water transmission and youth &
family services.

The city is an excellent place to live, Silvia
said. “It is a close-knit community that always
manages to pull together for its residents in a
time of crisis or need.”

The population of the city expands in the
summer, when thousands of visitors take
advantage of the city’s beautiful beaches,
boardwalks and parks, the wide and spacious
malls, the summer concerts and arts and crafts
festivals and the many activities for young people.

“Our members make Long Beach a great
place to live, work and play,” Silvia said.

Below, among the CSEA members who work in
central garage maintaining the city’s vehicles are,
left to right, John Denton, Edwin Ritter and
George Krezminiski.

Bottom photo, among the employees of the city's
water purification department are Glenn Robbins,
left, and Charles Caruana, who has 31 years of
service with Long Beach.

7) ALL AGES: 6 10 GO
|) TROPHIES T-SHIRTS » AWARDS

yy At The LONG BEACH
BOARDWALK

Above, from left, Frank
Haggerty, Paul Ferrante and
Christopher Paggi stand

beside a billboard for one of

the city's recreation
department. This summer,
the city sponsored a series
of 29 nighttime concerts and
had 520 youngsters at the
camps it runs.

Top right, Rahson Butler, left,
Abdul Blackshear and Kevin
Elrod of the street
maintenance department
work to keep city's streets
clean and in good shape.

Bottom right, James
Carlough is one of the CSEA
Members who mows Long
Beach's five miles of malls.

Turn out to help fight breast

cancer

The Long Island Region

Women’s Committee invites all

Long Island Region members

to participate in the annual

Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, which will
take place on Sunday, Oct. 16, at Jones Beach.

Members should come to the CSEA tent to
sign in when they arrive at the walk. Members of
the committee will be staffing the tent from 8 a.m.
on.

For more information, call Bobbi Eisgrau, chair
of the Women’s Committee, at the region office,
at (631) 462-0030.

Last year, members of the union raised more
than $20,000 in the campaign to fight breast
cancer.

Suffolk Co-operative
Library negotiations

BELLPORT — After meeting with
management of the Suffolk Cooperative
Library Service on Sept. 15, negotiators for
the 70 members of Local 701 brought the
offer to the members.

“The bargaining unit
was outraged that
management had made
this low offer,” said Jim
Baletta, local president
and one of its
negotiators. “The offer
doesn't address COLA
[cost-of-living
allowance] or the fact
that medical costs
have increased by 10
percent. Petroleum is a factor as well, and
will drive up the cost of most everything.
We probably won't see the repercussions
straightaway but it is coming.”

He said that one member of the
bargaining unit was recently promoted to
management and the unit position is not
being filled.

At the bargaining unit meeting, Baletta
continued, “Words like ‘unacceptable’ and
‘discouraged’ were commonplace.

“What's really upsetting is that at every
staff meeting management always says
what a great staff we are and thanks for all
your hard work and without you we
wouldn't function.

“But as Cuba Gooding Jr. said in that
movie ‘Show me the money!”

The next bargaining session is slated for
Sept. 30. The negotiations are on a
reopener, part of the local’s contract with
the library that runs through Dec. 31, 2007.

Also bargaining for the union are
Treasurer John Richardson, Vice President
Eileen Milewski and Recording Secretary
Terese McCormick.

Local members are librarians, clerical
and maintenance workers, technicians,
drivers and Internet specialists. They
provide a number of important services to
56 public libraries and library users
throughout Suffolk County.

Baletta

6

Long Island Reporter

A\ROLUE

id=the-Ke gion

Calendar of Upcoming Events: October 2005

5 - Shop Steward Training, 5:30-9 p.m.
6 - Shop Steward Training, 5:30-9 p.m.

8 - Safety and Health Committee Meeting 9 am.-1
p.m, "How to set up a Health and Safety
Committee in Locals”

410 - Region Office Closed — Columbus Day
Observance

45 - Safety and Health Committee Meeting — Elder
Care Workshop 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

28 - Local 920 General Membership Meeting —
11:15 a.m.-3:15 p.m.

25 - Political Action Committee Meeting
17 - Women's Committee Meeting — 5:30 p.m. — 5:30 p.m.

(Making Strides)

: g

Unit President Joanne Salvia, left, swears in members of the unit's Executive Board,
who are, left to right, Danielle Brunjes, 1st vice president; Debbie Trapp, treasurer;
Lori Hollis, secretary; Viriginia Foran, 3rd vice president, and Jeanne McCarthy, 2nd
vice president.

LINDENHURST — After their workday on Aug. 25, more than 100 members of the
Babylon Unit of Suffolk Local 852 and their guests took advantage of a beautiful late
summer afternoon to picnic on the grounds next to Town Hall.

“We had a beautiful, gorgeous day, which helped to bring everybody out and | think
everybody had a great time,” said Joanne Salvia, unit president.

During a brief business meeting, she announced that Janet Garofola had resigned
as secretary after 11 years of service. Salvia named Lorie Hollis in her place. Salvia
thanked the board and members for their support, and expressed appreciation to town
Supervisor Steve Bellone and the Town Board.

The committee that arranged the picnic was chaired by Lynn Hansen and included
Carmela Conte, Christine Korkidis and Hollis. Many members also pitched in.

“We had a wonderful response and a lot of members volunteered,” said Salvia.
“Everybody wanted to get involved. They want to come out, they want to help, they
want to be part of it, which is a great thing.”

The union represents 130 employees of the Town of Babylon.

Hanging CSEA banner are, from
left, Joan Ball, Unit President
Joanne Salvia and Mary Ellen
Muller.

Hundreds enjoyed the Nassau
Municipal Employees Local's
recent picnic at Lido Beach.
Among them are President John
Shepherd, seated second from
tight; Executive Vice President
Kathy DiBari, seated third from
left; 1st Vice President Eleanor
Arnost, standing left; Treasurer
Michael Delasant, standing
second from left and Delegate
Gary Kornova, standing center.

Nassau Municipal Employees Local
members enjoy picnic

Retirement party planned

MELVILLE — Willie Allen, former Lombardi in Holbrook. Tickets are $60.
president of Long Island Developmental For more information and tickets, call
Disabilities Services Office Local, willbe  Rutha Bush at (631) 493-1829, Shirley
honored at a dinner on Oct. 5 to mark his Baker at (631) 493-1857 or Verna
retirement after more than 35 years of Morant at (631) 493-1738.
state service.

The dinner is being held at Villa

Picnickers enjoyed burgers, hot dogs,
corn on the cob, salads, watermelon
and two flavors of gelato. All the food
and people to cook and serve it were
provided by a restaurant chain, which
has offered to continue its
contribution in the future. “They were
absolutely wonderful,” said Salvia.

At right, members buy tickets for
raffle prizes donated by local

merchants. Taking the
money are Janet Garofola,
left, and Lynn Hansen, who
chaired the picnic
committee. Garofola, who
tesigned as secretary, was
honored by the unit at the
picnic.

Above, the picnic was held after work day on Lakeside grounds next to the Babylon

Town Hall in Lindenhurst. Region President Nick LaMorte was among guests at the
picnic.

7

Long Island Reporter
Town of Oyster Bay members ratify contract

OYSTER BAY — The Town of Oyster Bay and the CSEA
local representing 1,050 of its employees have reached
an agreement well before the expiration of their current
pact.

The four-year agreement was ratified by both parties
in August and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006.

“This is only the second time in town history that a
contract has been signed, sealed and delivered prior to
expiration of the old one,” said Bobby Rauff, executive
vice president of the local and a member of its bargaining
team. The other instance happened during negotiations
for the current contract.

Under the terms of the pact, members will receive
wage increases of 4 percent the first year, 4.5 percent the
second year, 5 percent in the third year and another 5
percent in the last year.

Abig gain substantially boosted health care coverage
for the families of employees and retirees after their
deaths. Previously, the family of an employee who died —
his or her spouse and their eligible children — received
health coverage for a year at no cost. The new
agreement extends coverage to three years from the
employee's death.

Retiree families won the same benefit. The spouse
and covered children of a deceased retiree will receive
health care at no cost for three years after the retiree
dies.

The agreement also extended optical coverage to
retirees.

“Whether someone is a retiree, an active employee or
a newly hired employee, no one pays for any benefits,”
Rauff said.

The vote of members in favor of the agreement was
overwhelming, 581-19. More than half the membership
voted, balloting by machine at three locations in the town
on Aug. 5. The terms were ratified by the town board on
Aug. 23. Negotiations had begun in January.

The local's Executive Board negotiated for the Oyster
Bay members. The board is comprised of President Augie
Buckhardt, 1st Vice President John Andersen, Alex Bard,
Rocco De’Rienzo, Bette James, Martin Edie, Barbara
Huben, Pat Kabelka and Rauff. Rigo Predonzan and Toni
Soucie, CSEA labor relations specialists, assisted the
team.

Bargaining for the town were Leonard Genova, deputy
supervisor, Robert McEvoy, director of finance, and Louis

Black in vogue at Baldwin Public Library

BALDWIN — On Wednesdays for the past few months,
the Baldwin Public Library has been a funereal-looking
place. Why?

The 22 CSEA members dress in black to express their
dissatisfaction with the progress of negotiations with the
library's trustees. (Many of the part-time pages, who are
not in the union, also dress in black to show their
support.)

And every day, members wear two tags. One notes
their collective salaries average 20 percent below that of
other Nassau library employees while the second states:
“Im asking for an average salary.”

Since their contract expired 15 months ago, the library
trustees’ offered only to take money away from the
Nassau Municipal Local unit. The board offered a 3
percent salary increase but that “gain” — and more —
would disappear in the face of a demand that members
pay 10 percent of medical coverage costs.

Salaries are estimated at $12,000 a year below the
county average for librarians and $8,000 a year below the

Nassau library average salary for clerks. The contract has
no steps or increments and quite a few staff must work
six days a week to keep their heads above water.

At a recent meeting of the unit, its labor relations
specialist, Jim Della Rocca, talked about the situation.
“The sad fact is that the pay scales here really stink,” he
said.

“The regular library users are very supportive of our
cause,” said Gail Baselice, a librarian and one of the
union negotiators, “and quite surprised to learn what our
salaries are.”

Further, there is no dental or optical coverage, and
employees lose medical coverage when they retire.

While they're indifferent to employees, the
trustees spent an estimated $5 million on recent
renovations to the library.

Unit President Cathy Whiteway, a library aide who has
worked there for 20 years, said members would love to
see the situation settled fairly. “I don’t think we're asking
for anything unrealistic,” she said. “We worked through

At left, negotiator Gail Baselice, front
row, second from right, questions Labor
Relations Specialist Jim Della Rocca,
back to camera, before recent unit
meeting began. Cathy Whiteway,
president of the unit, is standing, and
Diane Lass, another of the CSEA
negotiators, is seated at right.

Right, members listen intently during a
recent unit meeting. Some came in
from vacation to attend. “We have very
good solidarity,” said President Cathy
Whiteway.

Heading the negotiations for the Oyster Bay Local were,
left to right, President Augie Buckhardt, Executive Vice
President Bobby Rauff and 1st Vice President John
Andersen.

Savinetti, commissioner of human resources. John
Venditto is supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay.

The local represents workers who fill more than 200
blue and white collar job titles. Members include
equipment operators, laborers, groundskeepers, park
managers, engineers, clerical workers, directors of
personnel and human resources, mechanics,
environmental control specialists, sanitation workers and
job trainers.

while the construction was going on. We did our part and
we want the board to do their part.”

At the unit meeting, Region President Nick LaMorte
pledged the support of the Long Island Region to the
members. Ron King, CSEA region director, and Eleanor
Arnost, 1st vice president of the Nassau Municipal Local
and an employee of the Hewlett-Woodmere Public
Library, were also present.

Baldwin unit members’ job titles include librarian and
librarian-trainee, library clerk, library aide, clerk-typist,
program specialist and network specialist.

— Charlie Michaelson

8

Long Island Reporter