The Public Sector, 1984 November 2

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Official Publication of The Civil Service Employees Association Local 1000,

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

AFL-CIO.

Union prepared for some
difficult contract talks

_ ALBANY — With the beginning of contract
" negotiations with the state just around the cor-
ner, CSEA is in the final stages of preparations
for the talks, which promise to be long and dif-
- ficult, About 100,000 state workers in three major

bargai
_ directly affected by the negotiations. Initial talks
are expected to convene later this month.
_ Negotiating teams for CSEA have been named
to represent each of the three bargaining units.
_ Input has been received from union members
_ statewide, research is being completed, and final
touches are being made on union contract
_demandsatthistime. |
“We go through a long process of preparations,
talk to a lot of members, do a lot of homework,

gather a lot of information,” CSEA President —

William L. McGowan said, “It’s important to us

that we go into negotiations with the confidence

_ this preparation gives us and knowing that we

‘truly represent our members’ wishes at the
ie

" Appointment of the three negotiating teams is

g units represented by CSEA will be

an important step of the process. Each bargain-

ing unit’s team consists of two members from
each of the union’s six regions.

“The regions gave us an excellent pool of :

nominees from which to make appointments,”
McGowan commented, “‘and the result is that I
think we came up with excellent teams, who are
very representative of the workers they will
represent.” : : :

The teams represent a good mix of

newcomers to the bargaining table and members
with experience on previous negotiating teams.

‘Team members work in a variety of agencies,

working environments and job titles, so that they
can speak collectively for a wide cross-section of
CSEA State Division membership.

“They alsd have one important thing in com: >
mon,” McGowan stressed. “That is a dedication

to the job, a willingness to put in the long hours

and hard work that it takes to bring collective

bargaining to a successful conclusion.”” .

Team members met for several days in mid-

(Continued on Page 6)

PRESIDENT HONORS HEROES — Three members of the village of Lindenhurst CSEA hargaining

County Local 852 have been honored for heroism by President Ronald Reagan. Presidentict citations have bee!

village sanitation workers Ken Bonaventura, Gary Livingston and Michael Cronin for their actions las

from a burning house and then extinguished the blaze before fireme
were able to arrive. Holding their commendations signed by

_ President Reagan are Bonaventura, left front; Livingston,

. center; and Cronin, right front. Flanking the heroes are Lin-
denhurst Supervisor of Public Works Frank Asselta, standing
left, and CSEA Unit Presi-
dent Tony Poldino Jr.,

_ standing right.

Vol. 5, No. 54
Friday, November 2, 1984

LEADING THE
UNION TEAM

| CSEA PRESIDENT
WILLIAM L. McGOWAN

CHIEF NEGOTIATOR
JAMES W. ROEMER JR. |

— 7

president, is pictured with Darlene Hess and Floyd among members.
Payne, who led the recent steward seminar.

NEW YORK CITY — “You can’t do it alone.”

That was the main point for 12 members of New York City CSEA Local
010 who participated in a shop steward training seminar here recently.

Monitors of the Local Union Training Program (LUTP) session were
Manhattan Psychiatric Center Local 413 First Vice President Fred Daniels;
Region II First Vice President and Local 413 President Floyd Payne; and
Division of Housing and Community Renewal Local 258 President Darlene
Hess. All three recently completed a week-long labor instructor workshop
sponsored by AFSCME, and successfully led the group into discussions of
shared concerns.

Daniels noted that the training is especially important for locals such as
010 where members, who are state employees, work at sites spread
| throughout the region.
i Sharing their common problems, participants found that although jobs
and worksites vary, complaints are basically the same. Release time for
union concerns, lack of communication between members and
management, harrassment by management, lack of knowledge of member
rights and out-of-title work were a few that were mentioned.
How to solve these problems? Some suggestions included labor-
management meetings, filing of contract grievances, membership
meetings, newsletters, bulletin boards and training and education.

FRED DANIELS, center, Local Union Training Program trainer, makes a point to
Local 010 members during a group discussion on shop steward concerns.

ns a 2
GEORGE BONCORAGLIO, .left, Region 11 FLOYD PAYNE, center, Region II first vice president, listens in on a problem-solving session

a 2)

Following a film in which a newly elected shop steward unites a group of
troubled workers, the members discussed how to “‘build a team.” Pointing
out the many problems the workers in the film experienced, participants
learned the steps that a trained shop steward should follow:

Set a plan. Know what you are going to do and plan your strategy.

* Talk to management. Try to establish a rapport, then follow up on
your demands.

Let members know they should use the union as their vehicle to solve
problems.

Win a battle and publicize your victories,

Shop stewards wear four hats, Payne and the participants concluded. As
leaders, they listen, negotiate, build confidence, educate and set goals.

As representatives of the members, they are knowledgeable, they
investigate, meet with management, plan strategies and follow through.

As organizers, they get members involved and build group support.

And as communicators they are articulate, they keep members
informed and they know their members’ wants and needs by listening and
discussing the issues with them. .

“The shop steward is the first line of defense,” commented Region II
President George Boncoraglio. ‘‘They’re the vehicle that transmits
problems in the workplace into the union process. The shop steward network
is very important. They are the feelers into the workplace.”

How locals voted
in CSEA election
to be available

Page 2

A local-by-local listing of voting results in the recent
court-ordered rerun of CSEA’s 1982 statewide officers
election will soon be available for reviewing.

Overall results were announced on Oct. 13 with the
incumbents — President William L. McGowan,
Executive Vice President Joseph E. McDermott,
Treasurer Barbara M. Fauser and Secretary Irene Carr

elm, winning re-election by overwhelming margins. The

jovember 2, |,

election was supervised by the U.S. Department of
Labor. =

Election results are being printed in a format listing
the total votes members of each CSEA local cast for each
of the candidates. A copy of the list will be mailed to each
CSEA local president, @po will make it available for
reviewing by any member who wishes to do so. Members
who wish may contact their local president to arrange a
time and date to review the results.
UNITED BUYING SERVICE |
‘You can always bank on savings with U.B.S.

sone e call away
from bi ig savings
an major purchase es

oa

Discount buying service can
increase purchasing power

The purchasing power of CSEA members has
been substantially increased with the announce-
ment by CSEA President William L. McGowan
that arrangements have been completed to pro-
vide CSEA members with the benefits of United
Buying Service (UBS).

Through UBS, the oldest and largest discount
buying service in New York state and one of
America’s largest buying services, CEA mem-
bers can obtain large discounts on a wide variety
of products and services, including new car
financing or leasing, furniture, major appliances,
jewelry and furs.

“UBS has an excellent record of delivering high-

He noted that this special discount buying serv-
ice is being made available at no cost to the mem-
ber, and members are under no obligation of any
type in using the program.

UBS claims savings of up to 60 percent off
retail prices on a wide variety of major con-
sumer items. To use the service, CSEA members
can call the appropriate telephone number listed
on this page and obtain a “discount referral”
certificate from UBS which can then be used at
any one of some 400 participating vendors. Or,
for specific models and brands, members can
call the same number, and obtain UBS quotes for
those specific items and purchase them direct
from UBS through the ‘‘shop-at-home service.”

Brochures describing the UBS program in de-
tail are now available from CSEA regional offices.

quality products and service at substantial sav-
ings,’’ McGowan said in announcing the program.

To avail yourself of United Buying Service discounts, call this
number and identify yourself as a CSEA member.
NEW YORK CITY WESTCHESTER and
LONG ISLAND
(516) 489-3268 © (212) 889-6338 © UPSTATE NEW YORK
or 685-5252 (800) 522-3131 o,

ee oe

save

+ NEW CARS + VIDEO COMPONENTS
+ STEREO HI-FI SYSTEMS » BETTER JEWELRY
* EYEGLASSES & CONTACT LENSES » FINE FURS
« CHINA, FLATWARE AND CRYSTAL 9 somucH mone!

Want to open an IRA? Payroll deduction available

CSEA members in the three state bargaining
units (Adinistrative, Operational and
Institutional), as well as CSEA-represented
e employees in the Office of Court Administration
(OCA) are reminded that they may take
advantage of automatic payroll deduction to set
up an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

An IRA is a tax-deferred investment plan
which allows individuals to save a portion of
their income for retirement while legally
sheltering income from taxes.

CSEA negotiated IRA payroll deduction with
the state last fall. Three vendors, who represent
the three major types of IRAs — a bank,
C) insurance company and investment firm that
manages mutual funds — are offering the
retirement plans.

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

i

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

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

r
|

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| 1 am interested in receiving:
1 —— General information on IRAs
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—_— The Dime Savings Bank IRAs __— Oppenheimer Funds IRAs

NAME: =

Home Address

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__— Prudential-Bache IRAs }
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Place of Employment:

ALBANY — Ina series of meetings recently with the Office of General Serv-
e ices (OGS), CSEA is working to beef up security for employees at the Empire

State Plaza here.
e The union called for tighter safety measures at the huge state employees
worksite following an acident in October outside the Motor Vehicles Building
con | mues involving the stabbing of an office worker, allegedly by her estranged husband.
security at work
complex in Albany

Officials from CSEA Capital Region IV have already had one meeting with
OGS Deputy Commissioner Richard Van Zandt to discuss safety, health and secu-
rity problems at the plaza. At another meeting, scheduled for the first week in
November, the region will present suggestions from members for improving
safety conditions.

CSEA Region IV President C. Allen Mead said he came away from the first
session satisfied that OGS was ‘aware of the union’s commitment to employee
security.

“We brought up ideas concerning various common sense suggestions for
improving worker security at the site. They ranged from putting up signs in-
forming tourists of off-limits state employee work areas to better use of man-
power to make the Capital Police more visible,” said Mead.

According to Regional Director John D, Corcoran Jr., the region’s officials
will meet with OGS again in November to “update our suggestions by present-
ing a list of ideas from the members who work at various locations in the plaza.”

In the meantime, the region’s Downtown Committee will be working with
OSHA Representative Barbara Mitchell to compile that list from among public
employees who work at the plaza.

‘OR, Friday, November 2, 1984 Page 3

Official publication of

The Civil Service Employees Association
Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

33 Elk Street, Albany, New York 12224

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

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

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

MICHAEL P. MORAN — Publisher

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

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

Less Government,
More Business!

CAUTION

WARNING
zardous ta your job

WALTER'S

Else

PROVIDES
FAST RELIEF!

Restores public services.
es federal tunding

ial Security,
and othor social programs.

a

THE CHOICE IS CLEAR...

ANNIVERSARY
LUNCHEON
Nassau County CSEA Retirees

Local 919 will note its 10th an-
niversary with a noon luncheon

WELCOME TO CSEA — Ulster
County CSEA Local 856 President
Sean Egan, left front,
congratulates John Geib, center,
newly elected president of the
local’s newest unit, the Village of
New Paltz. At right is Region IIT
Organizer Richard Blair. Several
of the unit’s members look on in

on Dec. 12 at the Atrium, 3882
Sunrise Highway (one block east
of the Seaford-Oyster Bay Ex-
pressway).

Reservations and checks for
$13 per person must be received
by Friday, Nov. 16, payable to
Shirley Matluck, chairwoman,

background.

and sent to Nassau County Retirees
Local 919, P.O. Box 304, Merrick,
N.Y. 11566. Members may
bring as many guests as desired.
Additional details may be ob-
tained by calling (516) 221-1782.

‘BROKEN PROMISES: A REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE ELDERLY’

Domestic
spending
cuts hurt
elderly

poor alot

WASHINGTON — The Reagan administration
has led a “relentless assault’ on domestic
programs that are vital to older Americans,
especially the elderly poor, according to a new
study just released.

“Broken Promises: A Report on the State of the
Elderly During the Reagan Administration,’ was
released at a press conference here by AFSCME.
and the National Council of Senior Citizens.

AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said
the report is ‘“‘the first comprehensive
documentation of the four-year, state-by-state
effects of the Reagan administration policies on
older Americans. Under the administration, the
elderly have been particularly vulnerable to
domestic spending cuts.”

Prepared by a respected independent firm,
Fiscal Planning Services, Inc., the report
includes a four-year, state-by-state analysis of
the 12 major programs serving people 65 and
over.

The report found that:

Over the past four years, the cuts in
programs for the elderly total nearly $24 billion,
averaging nearly $900 for each person over 65.

The size of the cuts in these programs has
grown each year of the Reagan administration,

rising from $2.3 billion in fiscal 1982 to an
expected $7.6 billion in fiscal 1985,

¢ In dollar terms, the largest cuts were in the
two programs relied upon by nearly every older
American: Social Security, totaling $9 billion in
cuts, and in Medicare, totaling $12 billion in cuts.
In Social Security, the average benefit declined
$312 for retirees while in Medicare the average
benefit fell by $453 over the past four years.

¢ In percentage terms, many of the programs
targeted to the elderly poor were cut the most,
including Medicaid, food stamps, and subsidized
housing. Because of the Reagan budget cuts over
the past four years, 387,000 fewer elderly people
receive food stamps; 567,000 of the elderly lost
Medicaid coverage; 5,674 fewer housing units for
the elderly receive federal support, and 160
million fewer meals are served through the food
commodities program.

In New York state, the report shows, there has
been $2.3 billion in cuts in programs serving the
elderly, including $1.1 billion in Medicare and
$714 million in Social Security. There were, the
report shows, 15 million fewer meals served to
New York’s senior citizens, 62,437 stricken from
the Medicaid program, and 29,834 fewer
receiving food stamps.

Page 4. THE PUBLIC.SECTOR, Friday, November 2, i —
ak

VANDERBILT
MUSEUM

sonoma

CENTERPORT — Limousines, yachts, luxurious mansions and rolling hills
marked a way of life on Long Island’s north shore in the early 1900s. Today, that
sprawling estate that lies on 43 scenic acres overlooking Northport Bay and Long
Island Harbor to the Connecticut shoreline.

Some 20 CSEA members of Suffolk County Local 852 have the job of protecting,
overseeing and maintaining the magnificent estate, which is currently being restored
by Suffolk County in the most extensive renovation since Vanderbilt died 40 years ago.

“Tt’s a unique and interesting operation, and we cover the entire gamut of run-
ning it,” said CSEA Field Representative Irwin Scharfeld, noting that members
work as everything from graphic artists to groundskeepers.

The Vanderbilt Historic House and Planetarium is the former home of William
Kissam Vanderbilt II, a great-grandson of famed shipping and railroad magnate
“Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt left the estate and a $2 million trust
fund to the people of Suffolk County “for the education and enjoyment of the public.”

“This is an amazing place,” said CSEA Unit President Stan Coffield, as he led
a visitor through the estate recently. ‘‘We have the museum, the Hall of Fishes and
the planetarium, as well as marine and insect collections. One of the more extrava-
gant features of the museum is the hangar Vanderbilt built to keep his seaplane.”

The estate, called ‘‘Eagle’s Nest,”’ is a 24-room, Spanish Revival mansion with
heavily carved wooden doors, ornate wrought-iron windows, carved marble and wood
fireplaces, elaborate ceilings and staircases and marble galleries.

Coffield pointed out a wealth of interesting details and original furnishings, in-
cluding Vanderbilt’s bed with the seal of Napolean Bonaparte and a 2,000-pipe or-
gan dating to 1918.

Strolling around the grounds, he noted the 10-hole golf course, whose first tee
was on the roof of the Hall of Fishes, which now houses thousands of objects, rang-
ing from an Egyptian mummy to an antique deep-sea diving suit.

The estate’s winding driveway is paved with Belgian blocks retrieved from the
streets of old New York City. The entrance to the museum grounds is guarded by
a pair of iron eagles taken from the original Grand Central Station, home of the Van-
derbilts’ railroad empire. Just inside the entrance the view of Northport Bay is
framed by six 1,000-year-old Corinthian columns.

The planetarium, where Coffield is technical supervisor, was built in 1971 on
the Vanderbilt’s tennis courts. It is one of the 12 largest and best best-equipped such fa-
cilities in the country and is used to present public “‘Sky Shows”’ in addition to spe-
cial educational shows for school children.

The CSEA members who arrange and devise the sky shows include technicians
like Coffield, artists, and educational and clerical staff. Members also work as guards
at the museum and as groundskeepers.

About 180,000 people are welcomed to the Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium
by the CSEA members each year. This small group of public employees give visi-
tors a fascinating look into the wealth of a bygone era.

ADMIRING MANSION — CSEA Field Representative Irwin M. Scharfeld,
left, and Vanderbilt Museum Unit President Stan Coffield pause on a tour
of the estate, with the boat house and Northport Bay visible in the back-
ground. In photo at top left, the two men are standing in the mansion’s Box-
wood Garden, admiring renovation progress.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, November 2, 1984

TEAM PHOTO — Members of the Administrative Unit team include, seated from left, Dawn Lyman,
Sarah Jackson, Elliot Bernstein and Chris Carletta. Standing from left are Sara Sievert, Ann
Worthy, CBS Jack Conoby, Lee Johnson, Carole Peets, Barbara Reynolds, Elizabeth Holt and Dann
Wood. Missing is Claire McGrath.

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICES UNIT Negotiating Team

Region | — Joseph Noya and Anthony Ruggiero:
Region |! — Joe! Schwartz and Miguel Cruz
Region Il! — Jeff Howarth and Beatrice White
Region IV — Joel Falkenbury and Dominick Ruggieri
Region V — Madeline Harrison and Ruby Meyers
Region Vi — Elaine Mootry and Kathy Pontillo-Button
Collective Bargaining Specialist Jim Cooney

MEMBERS OF INSTITUTIONAL TEAM, right,
included, seated from left, Kathy Pontillo-
Button, Jeff Howarth, Madeline Harrison, Joel
Schwartz and Joel Falkenbury. Standing are
CBS Jim Cooney, Elaine Mootry, Ruby Meyers,
Anthony Rugieri and Joseph Noya. Missing are
Miguel Cruz and Beatrice White.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, November 2, 1984

Union ready for negotiations

(Continued from page 1)
October for orientation and to work on demand
formulation. They met with their union collec-
tive bargaining specialists to discuss problems
in the current contracts, and heard from staff
specialists in Research, Insurance, Safety,
Employee Assistance Programs, as well as joint
labor/management programs and education and
training programs provided under the
CSEA/NYS contracts.

Members of the negotiating teams also met
with CSEA delegates at the recent annual
meeting in Lake Placid.

“By joining us for the three bargaining unit
meetings at the convention, the teams got still
another chance to get some input from the
membership, to hear what aspects of the con-
tracts the members are concerned about,”’ ex-
plained Jack Carey, Administrative Director of
the Office of Collective Bargaining for CSEA.

“We're going to go into these negotiations well
prepared and with our members well-
represented at the table both by their fellow
members and by professional negotiators.”

RUMINST RA TIVE SERVICES UNIT Negotiating
eam

Region | — Elizabeth Holt and Barbara Reynolds
Region |i — Elliot Bernstein and Ann Worthy
Region ili — Carole Peets and Sarah Jackson
Region 1V — Lee Johnson and Dann Wood

Region V — Chris Carletta and Claire McGrath
Region Vi — Sara Sievert and Dawn Lyman
Collective Bargaining Specialist Jack Conoby

OPERATIONAL SERVICES UNIT Negotiating Team
Region | — Arthur Loving and Lou Mannellino
Region |! — Benjamin Hayes and James Wilson
Region Ill — Jack Cassidy and Richard Riley
Region IV — Milo Barlow and Leroy Holmes
Region V — Tom Ward and Chuck Eynon

Region Vi — John Wallenbeck and Thomas Petrone
Collective Bargaining Specialist John Naughter

OPERATIONAL UNIT TEAM members include,
seated from left, Jack Cassidy, Leroy Holmes,
Chuck Eynon and Arthur Loving. Standing are
CBS John Naughter, Tom Ward, John
Wallenbeck, Lou Mannellino, Milo Barlow,
Richard Riley and Thomas Petrone. Missing are
Benjamin Hayes and James Wilson.

State negotiations

Contract

Talks Begin

Invest in Your Future

==CSEC=

SEA PRESIDENT WILLIAM L.
McGOWAN’S tour of state was
abruptly halted by federal
Department of Labor.

CSEA PRESIDENT WILLIAM L. McGOWAN, right, talks about contract
issues with Letchworth CSEA Local 412 Treasurer Sal Greco, left, and Helen
Hayes Hospital CSEA Local 302 President Richard Riley during his tour of
state work locations in September.

State's chief negotiator
says ‘do more with less’

Thomas Hartnett, director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Re-
lations and the state’s chief negotiator in the upcoming contract talks,
was quoted in the Albany-area news media this week as saying, “It’s
going to be a difficult round.”

Added Hartnett, “We will bring to the table the philosophy of the
governor — do more with less.”

And although he would not discuss specific contract proposals the
state will bring to the table, he was quoted as saying talks will focus
on “time on the job” such as vacation and sick leave. “We want to make
sure time is spent in a productive fashion; and whether or not (those
benefits) are structured and used wisely.”

to open this month

Atmosphere bristles
with tough talk as
negotiations near

“When | sit down across the bargaining table
from the state’s chief negotiator, | want to be able
to tell him what problems my members are having in
every nook and cranny of this state. | want to be
able to speak about the troubles our DOT workers in
Plattsburgh are having with their new work
schedules. | want to be able to personally tell him
how it feels to be part of the clerical ghetto in the
Empire State Plaza in Albany who daily have to
watch their opportunities for promotion ruined
because the state is ignoring the civil service law. |
want to be able to tell him exactly what my members
throughout this state want in a fair and equitable
contract.”’

ALBANY — That was the message CSEA President William L.
McGowan delivered in mid-September as he initiated what had been plann-
ed as a lengthy tour of the entire state to talk with as many CSEA-
represented state employees as possible before the start of CSEA/state con-
tract talks in November.

But two weeks into the schedule, McGowan’s tour was halted by order of
the federal Department of Labor, which said such a tour might be construed
as having political overtones. The Department of Labor was overseeing at
the time the court-ordered rerun of CSEA’s 1982 statewide officers election.
McGowan led his incumbent team of union officers to overwhelming re-
election in October, but by then it was too late to effectively re-schedule the
tour.

Still, McGowan has been meeting with members every chance he has
since his re-election. And he’s enlisted Local officers to relay their
members’ concerns to him relative to contract talks. And McGowan’s
message remains as it was when his original tour began.

“Right now the commissioner of civil service would like to see the rule
of three replaced by the rule of 10 or 20. I’m against that because manage-
ment is already playing fast and loose with the rule of three. I’d like to see
the rule of one established and enforced,” McGowan says emphatically. “If
you pass the test and you’re number one, you get the job. If you don’t make
the probation period, the job goes to the next person on the list. That’s the
way it should be.”

McGowan leaves no doubt that the current insurance program will be a
hot topic across the bargaining table. ‘I’ve heard so many complaints about
the current insurance program and its administration that I want to take it
over and straighten the mess out once and for all,”’ he declared recently.
“The current programs haven’t been audited in over 30 years! I think we,
CSEA and our Employee Benefit Fund, could administer the program for
our members better than the current providers. I think we could cut costs,
cut red tape, cut the baloney! And I’m sure if we could cut out the problems
and save money we could increase benefits without increasing the cost of the
program.”

6 6 Right now the commissioner of civil service would
like to see the rule of three replaced by the rule
of 10 or 20. I'm against that because management is
already playing fast and loose with the rule of three.
I'd like to see the rule of one established and
enforced. 9 9

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday,, November 2, 1984 Page 7

P|
BROWSING AMONG BROCHURES — South Beach Psychiatric ALL TOGETHER NOW — CSEA members at the Staten Island facility get together
Center employees stop to pick up brochures and other informa- during the event. Seated are Joanne Gardella and Christine Galtieri, EAP committee
tion at the EAP-sponsored health fair. members, and Lorraine Chambers, Local 446 shop steward. Standing, from left, are Local
446 Secretary Irene Day, Treasurer Rose Kelly, First Vice President Lorraine Burrus,
Grievance Representative Brenda Grasso and Local President Pete Antico.

EAP health fair
at South Beach PC
biggest ever

STATEN ISLAND — More than 400 CSEA members and other employees
attended the South Beach Psychiatric Center health fair sponsored by the Em-
ployees Assistance Program recently.

EAP committee members spent four months planning the event, which
included health screening and informational booths. Some of the services
offered were blood pressure screening, pap smear, breast examination, colon-
rectal screening, blood tests, vision examination and lung check. Consulta-
tions were provided by a gynecologist, psychiatrist, vascular surgeon and
a pharmacist.

Anumber of booths offered useful information on CSEA, PEF, health in-
surance, alcohol abuse, gambling information, AIDS, VD, sports medicine,
worker. health and safety, biofeedback and nutrition and weight control. In
all, there were 29 booths — more than twice as many as last year.

EAP Coordinator Gary Bisogna said the number of participants far ex-
ceeded his expectations. “South Beach has never reached this many people
e at one function,” he said.
PERUSING PAMPHLET — Region II Health and Safety Specialist Mitchell A . io tone
Brathwaite and Glinnie Chamble, chairwoman of the Region II Committee CSEA Local 446 President Pete Antico remarked that EAP is “‘one of the

: best committees ici in.” i i -
oa Lh Environment and Productivity, look over information on occupational jo. for thei ieee :pareenates a ileal tte inate cr mem:
safety. i

NEW YORK CITY — The relocation of some 8,000 state employees from
the World Trade Center was the topic of a recent meeting of representatives
J oint meetin f ecu se Ss of CSEA, PEF, the Office of Employee Relations and the Office of General
Services.
i | Employees of several state agencies — including Workers’ Compensa-
tion, the Department of Labor, the Department of Social Services, Housing
and Tax and Finance — will be moved to various locations throughout the e
on @ an 1] mieVve r five boroughs of New York City under a mandate by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo. | *
CSEA Region II President George Boncoraglio noted that the major
i} concern of the labor unions is to see that no “‘political games are played” in
k i] NY placing the agencies in buildings that would serve as a private interest to
wor ers rom Ss landlords or politicians. One representative of PEF termed the move ‘“‘a

public relations gimmick to revitalize the communities.”

Anumber of considerations should be taken, said Boncoraglio, including
World Trade Center accessibility, public transportation, day care centers and parking facilities.
“The concern here is to put these workers in safe, accessible neighbor-

hoods,” said Boncoraglio. This committee is looking out for the interests of
the workers, not the landlords and the politicians.” e

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, November 2, 1984

Page 8

* DET LAKE PLACID — CSEA delegates from across the state gathered here
Ha A ine ViCOL at the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics for the 74th Annual Delegates

¢ a Meeting Oct. 21-26.
% Highlighting the weeklong convention this year, were reports from two
top AFSCME officials, President Gerald McEntee and Secretary-Treasurer
William Lucy. Also on hand to address general sessions of delegates were
State Majority Leader Warren Anderson and Assembly Speaker Stanley
Fink who praised the leadership of CSEA and expressed confidence in the
dedicated work of its members. s

Politics was a prime factor in the delegate’s meeting here as unionists
rallied again behind Democratic candidate Walter ‘‘Fritz’”’ Mondale in the
final stretch of his campaign for the U.S. presidency. In speeches and
presentations throughout the week,
workers were reminded that Mondale is
their best bet for fairness in wages and
safety in the workplace. By contrast, the
policies and platform of the Reagan ad-
ministration were deemed destructive to
unions and workers’ rights, and dangerous

to jobs in the public sector.

Workshops and seminars, as usual,
covered a broad range of topics from how
to set up a local union office to how union
busters are working to curtail organization
of employees. Other educational seminars
deal with health care cost containment,
making committee meetings work, and
strategies to make change work for

work
Detailed reports on convention events

follow.

MORE ON THE MEETING

: i Convention pixs
CONVENTION HALL AT OLYMPIC CENTER — Pictured counter- and reports GES 10-14

clockwise from top: AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee; i
CSEA logo and campaign slogan; and delegates at a general business
session. A

Friday, November 2, 1984 Page 9

——

[a>

) P l i t 1
MONDALE ON THEIR MINDS —
Delegates at the political action info
table and PEOPLE run participant

John Stein with bumper sticker. Stein
took first place in walker division.

Annual
Delegates
Meeting

u? Lake Placid

By Tgniel X. Campbell
Communications Associate RETIREES DELEGATES MEETING — Discussion on the retirees constitution and on formu-
lating a 1985 legislative program for retirees marked their delegates meeting in Lake Placid. The
retirees agreed to lobby for a new supplemental pension benefit and for legislation that would permit
the surviving spouse of a past state employee to continue health insurance at just 25 percent of cost.
Currently, spouses of those who left public service prior to April 1979 are ineligible to take advantage of
benefits and must pay full cost of insurance.

1984 legislative session was one of the
most successful in ‘A’s history,” according to Joseph Conway,
chairman of the unif—™n’s powerful political and legislative action
committee.

LAKE PLACID — Political action was a major theme at the
| 1984 delegates convention as top officials of AFSCME and lobbyists
| for CSEA made pleas to unionists to get involved by casting their
| votes and watching their representatives.

Voters should look at economic programs before making their
| decisions at the polls on Nov. 6, AFSCME President Gerald
| McEntee told CSEA delegates here. He and Secretary-Treasurer
| Lucy both stressed the importance of union workers to organize
| politically for fairness in government.

But Lucy warned that “‘life will be difficult”’ for workers despite

the outcome of the national election. As the deficit increases and

| municipal funds tighten, public service employees will be blamed
| for budgetary problems.

“Support is declining,’ he said. But AFSCME is working with
various governmental groups to “try to approach sound taxing
systems that would provide adequate resources.”

Noting that the last four years have represented “starvation

By Daniel X. Campbell
CSEA Communications Associate

LAKE PLACID — “The professionalism of CSEA in
negotiations and political action is a great factor in the union’s
success,”’ State Senate Majority Leader, Warren Anderson told
CSEA delegates at the Olympic Convention Center here.

Speaking at the union’s 74th Annual Convention, Anderson,
amon other things, called for a cut in business and personal income
ax.

“The governor is saying ‘someday.’ I say the time is now! I
think the sooner the better. I believe a tax cut will give our state’s
economy a shot in the arm and produce more jobs.”

Assuring the audience that a tax cut would not affect any future
negotiated salary increase, Anderson noted that the Senate’s
proposal for a $1.5 billion tax cut program over a five-year period
will not affect any good faith salary negotiations between the state
and CSEA.

one

Page 10 * THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, November 2, 1984

Workers urged to vote, lobby

government,” Lucy urged members to “look at issues, not at
slogans.”

CSEA Attorney and Chief Lobbyist James Featherstonhaugh
told activists that problems are anticipated in the 1985-86 state
budget that will directly affect local government fiscal health.

Revenue sharing, school district aid and per capita aid are
concerns this year, and inadequate funding in any of these areas
could result in serious shortfalls.

Feathersonhaugh emphasized that while most local
government employees ‘“‘think of their lives as being dictated by
local municipal budgets, the state dictates your local budget,” so
lobbying at the state level is important.

“Local government representation in New York State has been
the Rodney Dangerfield of the labor movement. We get no respect!”’
he told members.

Referring to the recent hiring of six political action specialists
for CSEA’s six regions, he said: ‘‘We will get respect by doing on the
local level what we’ve done on the state level. Your time has come.”

Senator Anderson says tax cuts
won't hurt CSEA in negotiations

Anderson also pointed to various successes CSEA had achieved
through political and legislative action during the past session.

“The CSEA backed early retirement option is really catching
fire. So far 20 major public employers have already adopted the
concept,” he said.

“And because of the union’s concern for its members and the
needs of the clients they care for in mental institutions, the Senate is
always looking at the staffing levels at such sites and is always
seeking to make some improvements.”

Anderson also recalled the union’s recent success in prohibiting
mandatory retirement due to age, and passing the “‘whistleblower”’
law and Tier III reform.

“The Senate wants that type of close cooperation to continue in
the coming session,”’ Anderson told delegates. ‘“‘Let’s keep the lines
of communication open and we'll both be able to work to the benefit
of CSEA workers and the benefit of the state of New York.’*

Reviewing the fMiccesses of the past year at a standing
committee forum af™the 74th Annual Delegates Meeting here,
Conway said the pat session presented both opportunity and
difficulty for CSEA.

“But we wege abi to tee advantage of the vast majority of our
opportunities while oggercoming most of the difficulties,” he said.

Conway listed a Ing litany of union successes ranging from the
early retirement oy™fon for political subdivisions to ‘‘whistle-
blower’’ protection 4d additional appropriation for barge canal
maintenance.

He also spoke alj™ut the union’s new regional political action
coordinators: ‘‘WefMhave redesigned the authority for the
expenditure of moneg™ in local government races so that the final
authority for the endd
with the regional polij
should greatly g@reafilin
candidates and obtaif#ng funds for them.”

Conway noted: “ie have come a long way in a short period of
time. But this year’sfession combined with the added pressure of
state contract negotigMions will certainly be a testing ground. With
the support of all of qr members in this great organization, CSEA
will continue to succq@ed.””

ANDERSON FLAN!
Warren Anderson, s| 1
from convention hall ical action representatives.
Pictured, from left, chairwoman of Region
V’s PAC; Anderson; ph Conway, irman of statewide PAC;

and Michael Cugtin, ee

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER
STANLEY FINK, right, ad-
dressed CSEA delegates, saying
“No other state in the union even
comes close in terms of the
quality of the people who toil for
it.” Additional coverage of the
convention, including a report
on the speaker’s address, will be
included in the next issue of The
Public Sector.

SMALL GROUP
DISCUSSION —
AFSCME Secretary-
Treasurer William Lucy
| takes time out for a talk
with Region I President
Danny Donohue, left,
and CSEA Executive
Director Bernard

Zwinack,

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, November 2, 1984

Page 11

By Anita Manley
CSEA Communications Associate

LAKE PLACID — Informative publications on the
recently enacted early retirement option for local
government workers in New York state are now
available to officers and members of CSEA.

Legislation signed into law during the last legislative
session provides for three additional years of retirement
credit during a designated 50-90 day period established
by the employer.

The option must be adopted by local law or
resolutions before a municipality can offer the plan to its
employees.

A workshop held at the 74th delegates convention
here recently showed that workers still have many
questions about the new option. Following are some of
the questions and answers from the seminar:

Q: If my municipality adopts the plan in 1986, what is
the best time for the open period in order that the most
retirees can be eligible for Social Security?

A: The later in the year, the better for all retirees.

Q. How would my pension be determined if I take the

option?

would be the determining factor.
Q: What if I change my mind about retiring?

before your retirement date.

A: Your average salary for the past three years

A: You can withdraw your retirement anytime

‘More Q’s and A’s on Early Retirement

Q: On some retirement plans, you can credit unused
sick leave or vacation leave. How does this work?

A: It depends on your contract. Sick leave and
vacation leave are only added if you do not take cash
compensation for the accumulated leave.

Q: Can a retiree return to work parttime?

A: Some employees who return to the same agency
would lose their pension, Others can earn up to a certain
amount without losing their pension.

Q: Can you seek elected office once you retire?

A: Yes.

Q: Is there a specific application for retirement?
A: Yes, it can be obtained from your personnel
department or from the N.Y.S. Retirement System.

Q: When is the best time to write for an estimate of
my retirement benefits?

A: Approximately 18 months before you plan to
retire.

Q: Is my pension going to be taxed?

A: There will be no New York state taxes, but there
will be federal taxes.

Tom Cuite, director of External Communications for
the New York State Retirement System, says that
information may be obtained by writing to New York
State Retirement System, Albany, N.Y. 12244. Booklets
available include ‘‘Public Employment After
Retirement” and ‘‘Your Options at Retirement.”

Option |

, i Sf

J

LAKE PLACID — The Employee
Assistance Program is growing by
leaps and bounds, according to
CSEA’s FAP Director Jim Murphy.
Addressing convention delegates, he
noted that more than 200 such pro-
grams are in existence today as
compared to 12 just five years ago.

Murphy emphasized that it is to

recently.

Speaking at a local government delegates meeting
during the annual convention, Carr pointed out that
women make up 90 percent of public sector employment
in the lowest paying jobs. Traditionally male jobs pay
more than traditionally female jobs, she said. Ninety
percent of the applicants for clerical jobs are female.

Although a state instituted study affirmed pay in-
equities in Washington and resulted in a ruling to equal-
ize salaries and retroactively pay the workers millions
of dollars, it is expected that the Justice Department

Comp worth in trouble?

LAKE PLACID — Federal intervention that could
reverse the comparable worth decision in the state of
Washington could set women workers back 50 years,
CSEA statewide Secretary Irene Carr warned members

ruling.

from AFSCME.

statewide and nationally.

under President Reagan will intervene and reverse the

“Tf we continue with the present administration, I
predict that there will be a surprise decision in Decem-
ber to intervene in Washington, even though discrimi-
nation has been proven,” she said.

Locally, four pilot projects in Dutchess County, Erie
County, Three Village School District and the City of
Schenectady will be conducted, thanks to a $95,000 grant

Carr said that a CSEA task force will work with the
Center for Women in Government to complete the
studies, details of which will be used at bargaining ta-
bles. The studies will also be used as models, both

the advantage of employees that

management personnel are willing
to participate in the program. But
the success of EAP does not neces-
sarily depend on management
cooperation.

“We have looked at labor models
with the idea of running programs
without management help,” said
Murphy. He added that financial as-
sistance for such programs has been
offered to some unions by such
groups as the United Way.

There are a humber of advan-
tages to EAP. Murphy said the pro-
gram has been useful in arbitration
decisions where an employee who job.
has an alcohol or drug abuse
problem is ordered to seek counsel-
ing for his problem through EAP.

The program’s focus on preven-
tion of life-threatening diseases has
generated good publicity for the un-
ions. Health fairs featuring blood
pressure screening, vision, dental
and colon-rectal exar tions and
consultation with specialists have
been experiencing a high participa-
tion rate. Some of the programs
also offer courses in cardiopulmon-
ary resuscitation (CPR) to
members and their families.

Among other cases of abuse cited were: an employee hired without the
processing of proper documents; employees hired in titles inappropriate to
job specifications; employers who claim that a candidate who, in fact, was
never interviewed, refused a job; and minimum qualifications tailored to a
favored candidate.

Also: examination announcements not accessible to all but a few em-
ployees; residency requirements changed so that a provisional employee can
take the examination; and an employee removed from the eligible list
although he returned his canvass letter.

According to Local Government Executive Committee Chairwoman Mary
E, Sullivan, the purpose of the survey was to ‘develop a laundry list” which
would be brought to the attention of legislative officials. In addition, CSEA’s
lobbyists will determine if there are legislative remedies to the problem.

“But if we don’t get more responses,” Sullivan added, “we may assume
that this is not a priority item.”

‘Laundry list’ of civil service abuses aired

LAKE PLACID — CSEA Research Department Director William Blom
is disappointed in the response to his request to members for case histories
of abuse of the civil service system.

Blom told delegates at the 74th annual convention that of more than 225,000
members, only 166 returned the reply coupon that was published in The Pub-
lic Sector this fall.

But even with the small return rate, plenty of abuse cases were uncovered.

Blom said that complaints received included: temporary appointments
made to permanent positions; provisional appointments made to unqualified
persons; positions abolished and new ones created with the same job specifi-
cations; positions reclassified when a favorite candidate can’t be reached;
and candidates discouraged from taking positions so a favorite can take the

WILLIAM BLOM

Page 12 THE’PUBLIC SECTOR) Friday,

vember 2, 1984

October 21-26, 1984. th

0,
<6

7h in Lake Placid

yy

Time umpire calls
* foul on contract
attendance language

LAKE PLACID — Speaking before a packed audience of CSEA members
at the annual delegates meeting recently, an arbitrator for time and attendance
matters said his “hands are tied’”’ by the current CSEA/state contracts when
dealing with certain charges made against workers by the state.

Those charges involve three basic categories of employees: single parents,
legitimate users of sick leave, and deinstitutionalized patients now working as
public servants.

As an umpire at downstate hearings on attendance cases, Jeffrey Selchick
said current provisions of the contract prohibit him from giving “additional con-
sideration” to such workers.

Under current provisions, a worker who is consistently late must be found
guilty of time abuse charges regardless of whether the reason involves child-
rearing responsibilities, he noted.

“Gov. Cuomo talks about the needs of the family of New York. Well, the
family of state employees needs day care facilities at every state worksite,”
Selchick told an enthusiastic audience.

He explained that sick leave users who are not abusers also ‘“‘need additional
protections from managerial intimidation.

“Many workers who are using their leave time correctly are also suffering
under the current restrictions. These people have legitimate excuses, hospitali-
zation, medical excuses. But because there is a pattern of leave use the state
claims abuse and I have to set a hearing date.”

But the workers who need the most help in these matters are the deinstitu-
tionalized patients who are hired as ‘“‘the lowest paid workers” in the institu-
tions in which they were formerly clients, Selchick said.

Selchick commented on a CWEP concept called
“CSEA Project Bill” (after the movie “Bill,” which
featured Mickey Rooney as a former mental insti-
tution patient who learns how to function and live in
society.)

“CSEA Project Bill would provide a CWEP-funded
social worker for time and attendance hearing
officers,” Selchick said. ‘‘Then in cases involving
former clients of such facilities the hearing officer
could assign the social worker to the employee to
teach the person living skills such as how to get from
their home to their worksite on time.”

Jeffrey Selchick

MODEL OFFICE — A model union office set up in Convention Hall
of the Olympic Center gave delegates ideas on how to put their own
business in order.

The perfect
union office

By Melinda Carr
CSEA Assistant Director of Communications

LAKE PLACID — “Out of Chaos” was the theme of a workshop on
how to set up a local union office, and the emphasis by Education and Train-
ing Specialist Peg Wilson was on getting organized.

Discussion and helpful advice centered on a few basic questions:

WHY organize a local office? Wilson pointed out that an office makes
the union more visible, helps the local make a smoother transition follow-
ing a change of officers, provides immediate access to union files and refer-
ence materials, and can sometimes provide space in which to hold small
meetings.

WHO is the office for? While office space facilitates the work of officers
and grievance reps, ultimately the local office is for the members. ‘And
if the office is for the members, do they know about it?” Wilson asked.
“Do you remind them it’s there, do you make it accessible to them, can
members find your phone numbers in facility directories?”

WHAT equipment and supplies should be in the office? A long list of
suggestions included such innovative ideas as personal computers which
locals can use to maintain membership records, financial records, and even
grievance files.

WHERE should the office be? ‘For most locals, the answer is you settle
for what you can get, even if it’s a closet or even if it’s not the best loca-
tion,” Wilson commented. ‘‘But if you have a choice of locations, consider
that the office should be accessible to members, be as central a location
as possible, easy for the members to find, and in a safe location.’’

WHEN will the office be open? Regular office hours are highly desira-
ble, so that the members know when they can get service. ‘‘There’s noth-
ing more frustrating than taking your grievance to a locked door,” Wilson
pointed out. ‘If your local can’t afford hired staff or you don’t have release
time for your officers, you can explore other alternatives. A telephone an-
swering machine is a wise investment. Some locals have tapped retiree
members, who volunteer their time to staff offices.

“Basically what we’re talking about is getting organized,” Wilson
concluded. “Getting our files organized; getting systems set up to keep
track of things; using tickler files, schedules, and various tricks for
managing your time effectively.”

Community action benefits unions too

LAKE PLACID — Blood drives, fundraisers, blood
pressure testing, toy drives, walk-a-thons, food
banks, Special Olympics, health fairs, and volunteers
to work with children or senior citizens are among
the community action projects that CSEA locals and
units are involved in.

Community action projects provide a number of
valuable benefits to unions, AFSCME’s Marsha An-
derson told CSEA delegates.

“Getting involved in community services improves

your image within your community,” she pointed
out. “It enhances your image both as a union and as
public employees. It shows you being ‘good neigh-
bors’ and a positive force within the community. That
kind of image can really help when things get tough
or when you need support from the community, from
the voters, at crucial times.”

Anderson, who is assistant director of AFSCMR’s
Community Action staff, pointed out that communi-
ty action projects can also bring important internal
benefits to the union.

Community action can encourage more members
to take an active role within the union, can help build
spirit within the union, and can increase the mem-
bers’ respect for the union as an organization that
cares about people and that can get a job done.

To get started, Anderson suggested that locals be-
gin with easily manageable projects and build from
there and that locals enlist the efforts of members
who are already active in community projects on
their own.

THE PUBLI@: SECTOR, Friday; November 2; 1984,
Cee >

Page 13

'

UNION
BUSTERS

The ‘goon squads' of
bygone are back again
but under new guise

By Brian Baker
Assistant Editor

LAKE PLACID — Speaking before a group of CSEA activists at the 74th
Annual Delegates Meeting here, a regional director of the AFL-CIO said the
policies of the present administration are “‘destroying our jobs, destroying
our economy,”’ and backing the big business of union busting in the 1980s.

“Nothing is promoting union busting more than the present political cli-
mate, and it is the New Right which is giving the greatest support to the cause,”
charged Humphrey Donohue, director of Region VII (a multi-state area in-
cluding New York) of AFL-CIO.

Donohue said the trade union movement today faces a challenge more
threatening than at any time since the 1920s and 30s, when ‘“‘goon squads”
were used to break unions.

The goal of union busters today is the same as then: to eliminate the right
of workers to collective bargaining. But tactics have changed considera-
bly. No longer thugs with clenched fists ready to bash the heads of workers
who try to organize, today’s union busters wear camel’s hair suits and harass
union supporters in a quite different way.

“Today there are hundreds of law firms and more than 1,500 consulting
firms that deal as union busters. Their aim is to destroy the right to collec-
tive bargaining in the federal, public and private sectors,” said Donohue.

The Reagan administration, through the Transportation Department, paid
one such firm — Morgan, Lewis and Bockius — nearly $375 million for its
advice in helping to break PATCO, the air traffic controllers’ union. Accord-
ing to Donohue, that was one of the highest fees ever paid to bust a union.

Management consulting firms like this generally work very closely with
management in directing anti-union campaigns. Some actually move in and
take over personnel functions including dictating who is hired and fired,
preparing anti-union literature, planning and conducting union decertifica-
tion efforts and advising managers on contracting out. Many such firms also
run seminars on how to prevent union organizing drives and maintain a union-
free work environment.

Because of the present political climate, with its emphasis on cutting taxes
and eliminating public sector jobs, the number of union-busting firms has bur-
geoned over the last few years. They’ve arrived on the scene, touting the
philosophy that there’s too much waste in government and towing the adminis-
tration’s line that the answer is to cut back.

And cutting back on government jobs is a direct result of cutting taxes,
Donohue pointed out.

“Cutting taxes is a form of union busting,” he said. “The New Right says
it wants to get government off our backs. By that they mean they want to
get rid of government programs and jobs. It’s a bad philosophy. Not only do
they feel that the people who run the programs aren’t worth it, but that the
people who need them aren’t worth it.”

But getting government off our backs is not what we need, Donohue said.

“What we need is a government that shows more concern for people.
What’s wrong with a public sector that helps the unfortunate? That cares about
the poor, sick and elderly?”

While cutting social programs has been the course of government, the
trend in private industry is for management either to break unions or to take
its business elsewhere — to places outside the country where there are no
unions and where wages are only a small fraction of what they are in the Unit-
ed States.

“We’re exporting jobs, sending business away. It’s not only destroying
unions and destroying our economy, it’s destroying our jobs,” said Donohue.

Texas Instruments, the large computer and electronics corporation, is
a prime example, he noted.

“Tf you even mentioned an inclination toward a labor union you were dis-
missed from Texas Instruments. They've finally got around unions by mov-
ing their operations to Mexico where they pay workers substandard wages
but still charge customers in this country the same prices for their products.”

There are a host of other corporations which are parlaying the present
popularity of the New Right into an opportunity to squelch the rights of work-

Page 14 THE PUBLIC SECTOR, ‘Friday, Novehiber'2, 1984

ers. Taking an example from the PATCO break, Continental Airlines recently
fired most of its pilots and co-pilots, only to hire two-thirds of them back later
at half pay.

“Pilots flying large commercial jets coast to coast are making only $28,000
and co-pilots only $16,000. It makes you wonder what kinds of people Continen-
tal is getting for so little money,” said Donohue.

Another union buster in the private sector is Joseph Coors, owner of the
Coors beer company. He heads an anti-union organization called Committee
for Survival of a Free Congress. So far, it has been instrumental in breaking
13 unions, according to Donohue.

He noted that AFL-CIO keeps a
roster of all management con-
sulting firms, lawyers and other
organizations specializing in un-
ion busting.

“We know who the union
busters are, and we can tell you
what their plan of action will be
if they should come into your
company or agency. We can help
you fight back, and we’ve been
successful in beating the union
busters more times than not.”’

But Donohue indicated that the
best way for union activists to
fight back is at the polls.

“Labor unions are being at-
tacked from all directions. If we
are to survive we have to stand
up united and cast our votes for
those who support the labor
movement and workers’ rights.
We can no longer afford to be
uninvolved,” he said.

Donohue warned voters not to
be distracted by what he called
“side issues” raised by the 2
New Right. AFL-CIO’s Humphrey Donohue

“One year they throw in gun control. Another it’s abortion. Or it’s tuition
tax credits. It’s all a smoke screen to make workers forget about the issues
that are really important to them.
“And they’re getting away with it because we as workers aren’t involved

enough. We have to get our people registered and run our own candidates,
or the gains we’ve made over the past four decades will be lost.”

WHO THEY'RE GONNA CALL

when they want to break your union

Union-busting organizations you shouldn’t con-
tribute to:

e National Right to Work Committee Legal Fund
e Americans against Union Control of
Government
e Public Service Political Action Fund
¢ Committee for Survival of a Free Congress
(Joseph Coors’ group)
¢ Young Americans for Freedom (William
Buckley's group)
Christian Voice
John Birch Society
Populist Forum
Accuracy in Media

October 21-26, 1984.

CSEA wins arbitration over payment >
of St. Lawrence County shift differential

CANTON — Officials of CSEA St. Lawrence
County Local 845 have been notified that a class
action grievance filed against the county over
payment of shift differential to employees during
sick time, vacation or other paid leave has been
sustained.

According to Joe Seavey, second vice presi-
dent of Local 845, the grievance was filed after
the county issued an Oct. 20, 1983 ‘Policy Regar-
ding Shift Differential Payment’ denying pay-
ment of shift differential to employees on vaca-
tion, sick time or other paid leave.

At the PERB hearing Sept. 5, CSEA based its
case on a clause in the contract ratified in March
1983, calling for a differential payment for sec-
ond and third shift employees. The union also
pointed out that between March and October 1983
the county had obviously agreed with the inter-
pretation of the contract language because dif-
ferential pay was included in paychecks to

employees who took various types of paid leave.

Following the issuance of the “policy,”
employees on leave were denied differential pay.
The county declared the payment was an over-
sight and it was discontinued.

In testimony presented to the arbitrator, both
sides agreed the purpose of the differential
clause is to compensate employees for the in-
convenience of working second or third shifts.
Both sides also agreed that at no time was the
payment of shift differential while on leave
discussed during negotiations.

Inhis opinion, the arbitrator called attention to
specific contract language.‘‘They (both parties)
were very careful to specify that the clause per-
tained only to employees permanently assigned
to the second or third shifts. They even opera-
tionally defined ‘permanently.’

“This fact leads inevitably to the conclusion
that the clause was not to reward single in-

stances of second and third shift work, but rather
to permanently change the wage structure of
employees working these shifts. The concept of
paid leave presumes that the employee on sick
leave will receive his normal wage.’’

The arbitrator’s decision ordered the county to
resume paying shift differential to qualified
employees who take sick time, vacation or other
paid leave, and to reimburse employees not paid
in accordance with the ruling. j

After being notified of the decision, Seavey had ‘
this comment: “It is always rewarding to win an
arbitration, but we are especially pleased after
putting a year’s effort into the gievance. For all
employees affected by this decision I would like
to express our sincere appreciation to Regional
Attorney Bill Maginn and the CSEA Legal
Assistance Department for their help. Working
together we came out a winner.”

Insurance
adjustments
effective in

November

ALBANY — CSEA members who participate in the
voluntary insurance plans (except Masterplan or Family
Protection.Plan) are reminded that November is the
month when premiums are adjusted because:

e You may be in a new age bracket;

«Your annual salary has increased and _ this
automatically increases your Basic Plan coverage.

Payroll deductions reflecting the adjusted premiums
will go into effect on the following dates: for
administrative payroll (state), Nov. 14, 1984; for institu-
tional payroll (state), Nov. 8, 1984; for political subdivi-
sions, first paydate in November.

Questions regarding Supplemental Life Insurance or
Accident & Sickness Insurance should be directed to
Jardine Insurance Brokers, Inc., 433 State Steet,
Schenectady, NY 12301; telephone 1-800-342-6272 or
518-381-1567.

Questions regarding the Basic Group Life Insurance
Plan should be directed to the CSEA Insurance
Department, 33 Elk Street, Albany, New York 12207;
telephone 518-434-0191.

Please be sure to include your Social Security
number in any correspondence.

AFL-CIO survey reveals average family’s
tax burden larger now than four years ago

WASHINGTON — The total tax burden of the average taxpayer is great-
er than it was four years ago, according to a survey by the AFI-CIO Public
Employee Department (PED).

Titled, “In Search of the Reagan Tax Cut,” the report surveyed the com-
bined federal, state and local tax bill for median income families in 20 cities
around the country. In 16 of these cities, a greater share of family income
was going for taxes in 1984 than in 1980.

“The average working American is worse off today than before Presi-
dent Reagan took office because increases in state and local taxes, plus higher
Social Security and gasoline taxes at the federal level, more than offset
whatever benefit they might have received from the Reagan tax cut,” said
PED President Kenneth T. Blaylock in announcing the report’s findings.

“Ronald Reagan’s so-called ‘across-the-board’ tax cut was neither across-
the-board nor a tax cut for the vast majority of working Americans,” Blay-
lock continued. ‘‘In fact, almost half the cut went to big business and the
wealthiest 5 or 10 percent of the population,”’ he said.

The Reagan administration, the report said, ‘favors an entirely regres-
sive tax system falling most heavily on average working Americans. Thus
it has called for taxes on workers’ health insurance benefits, tuition tax
credits, new excise taxes on gasoline, and tax credits for employers instead
of unemployment insurance for employees.”’

In addition, the report noted, ‘a major overhaul of the tax structure to
shift the burden entirely onto consumers and workers is being studied by the
Reagan Treasury Department, which has promised to unveil its findings af-
ter the election.”

The Reagan tax cut, said the report, led directly to higher state and lo-
cal taxes. The loss of federal revenue, combined with massive military spend-

ing, created record-breaking federal deficits. These deficits ‘‘were used to
justify dramatic cuts in federal assistance to state and local governments.”

Thus state and local governments were forced to raise taxes to maintain
services, reversing the trend during seven of the eight years preceding
Reagan’s election, in which state and local taxes were reduced.

The Reagan shift in program-funding responsibility from the federal to
the state and local level ‘represents a shift away from a tax system based
on a progressive income tax at the federal level to tax systems heavily de-
pendent on regressive sales, property, and flat-rate taxes on wage income,”’
the report said.

The report gave the example of a median income family in Indianapolis,
Ind. In 1980, their family income was $21,303, and their state and local tax
bill was $1,880, or 8.83 percent of their family income.

By 1984, their family income increased to $25,935. However, their state
and local tax bill jumped to $2,891, or 11.15 percent of family income. If 1984
taxes still represented only 8.83 percent of family income, their state and lo-
cal tax liability would have been held to $2,289.

The difference — $602 — represents the net state and local tax increase
for this family between 1980 and 1984. This increase more than offset their
$240 federal tax cut, giving them a net tax increase of $362. This sum doesn’t
include the higher federal excise taxes they may have paid on alcohol and
tobacco.

A budget with different federal spending priorities and with a tax cut tar-
geted toward lower and middle-income groups could have avoided the huge
reductions in aid to state and federal governments, the report said. “If such
a budget had in fact been adopted, then working Americans would indeed be
better off today,” it said.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, November 2, 1984 Page 15

“a

CENTRAL
REGION
MEETING:

Contracting
out, PAC
endorsements
& convention
matters —.
among topics

AUBURN — For the more than 200 delegates
who attended the recent CSEA Central Region V
Fall Conference here, the three-day meeting
delivered a wide range of topics and information
to take back to their 40,000 fellow members
throughout the 20-county region.

Region V President Jim Moore praised the
regional committees for arranging an agenda
covering such topics as contracting out, regional
political action endorsements, and two briefings
of CSEA legislation to be covered at the
statewide convention in Lake Placid.

“It was a productive conference from every
aspect,” Moore said.

The Friday session was devoted to contracting
out and its far-reaching impact on state and
county employees. Alice Grindstaff, of the
AFSCME research staff in Washington, D.C.,
and Tom Pomidoro, CSEA collective bargaining
specialist, addressed the group.

Grindstaff cited some of the ‘danger signals’”’
ae “pat”? answers public employees should

PAC TALK — The political action table was a popula
recent conference. Visiting the display are Sharon Connor, left, president of Hutchings Psychiatric Center Local 435,
Richard Grieco, president of Jefferson County Local 823, and Alice Steckiewicz, president of SUNY College of
Forestry at Syracuse University Local 647.

a, : a 2

expect to see and hear when confronted with the
contracting-out problem.

“When management is questioned about filling
vacancies, they may reply with such answers as:
‘hiring freeze,’ ‘no budget money,’ ‘it’s not cost
efficient? and other reasons you may have
heard,” Grindstaff explained. “‘You have a fight
on your hands from day one. And the way you
fight is through the education of your members.
Get the support of your political action
committee. Take the issue to the media.

“Tt is also a good idea to run a check on the
contractor,” Grindstaff said. “Get his track
record in other areas. If past service is inferior,
or rates were inflated after the first year, take
the message to your fellow taxpayers.”

Pomidoro told members to “‘notify your CSEA
field representative immediately. The earlier we
talk to management concerning the impact of
contracting out, the better our chances.”

Both speakers urged members to use the full
resources of CSEA and AFSCME research

departments.

“Our combined teams of research specialists
can pick any budget apart. If management is
trying to hide something, research can find it,”
he added.

The regional political action committee met
Saturday to review all regional endorsements
with PAC Coordinator Tim Burns. Dorothy
Penner, Dick Grieco and Bob Allen, co-
chairpersons, discussed the effort of regional
coalitions and the final list of endorsed
candidates.

At general sessions, delegates reviewed
legislative issues to be discussed at the statewide
convention. Local presidents, mental hygiene,
retirees and other committees also met during
the weekend.

CSEA statewide officers who attended
included Executive Vice President Joe
McDermott, Secretary Irene Carr, Treasurer
Barbara M. Fauser, and Region I President
Danny Donohue.

1 LONG ISLAND
REGIONAL OFFICE
Hauppauge Atrium Building
300 Vanderbilt Motor Pkwy
Hauppauge, N.Y. 11788

11 Broadway/Suite 1500
New York, N.Y. 10004
212-514-9200

<=

‘(DIRECTORY
OF CSEA
REGIONAL
OFFICES

3 SOUTHERN
REGIONAL OFFICE
Rural Route 1
Box 34, Old Route 9
Fishkill, N.Y. 12524

1215 Western Ave.
Albany, N.Y. 12203
518-489-5424

iitrbseteonams

5 CENTRAL
REGIONAL OFFICE
Suite 308
290 Elwood Davis Rd.
Liverpool, N.Y, 13088

516-273-2280 914-896-8180
516-435-0962 315-451-6330
6 WESTERN
2 METROPOLITAN 4 CAPITAL REGIONAL OFFICE
REGIONAL OFFICE REGIONAL OFFICE 4245 Union Rd.

Cambridge Square
Cheektowaga, N.Y. 14225
716-634-3540

Page 16

THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Friday, .November.2, 1984

AFSCME, employer groups work

on containing health care costs

WASHINGTON — A unique coalition involving
the country’s largest public sector union and two
public sector employer organizations has begun
to deal with skyrocketing health care costs.

The American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Ger-
ald McEntee, U.S. Conference of Mayors Execu-
tive Director John J. Gunther and National Public
Employer Labor Relations Association
(NPELRA) President Peter Vallone have formed
a national committee to develop ideas and pro-
grams agreeable to both labor and management
for effective containment of health care costs.

The initial goals of the committee are to pub-
lish a manual made up of practical advice for un-
ions and employers on how to contain their health
care costs; and to provide limited funding and on-
site technical assistance to two public sector com-
mittees addressing health care cost containment.

According to McEntee, “for too long labor and
management” have been pitted against each other
by doctors and hospitals demanding more and
more of our scarce health plan dollars. Together,
public sector management and labor now have an
historic opportunity to benefit themselves, and
more importantly, the taxpayers.”

Conference of Mayors Director Gunther added,
“It’s time to get on with this important task, more
and more mayors are alatmed by the sharp in-
crease in employee health costs.”

The joint effort, funded by a grant from the Fed-
eral Mediation and Conciliation Service under the

Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978, will
examine a variety of public and private cost con-
tainment efforts in search of options that effective-
ly contain costs without affecting the quality of
health care services.

Currently, AFSCME is involved in labor-
management committees at all levels of govern-
ment. Successful efforts in the state of Pennsyl-
vania, in Clackamus County, Oregon and in
Detroit for example, are showing that unions and
employers can work together to address the
problem of rising health care costs.

Cost containment options to be examined by the
labor-management committee include:

Plan redesign to encourage use of less expen-
sive methods of health care delivery such as out-
patient surgery, hospices and birthing centers;

¢ Improved administration of the health care
plan through alternative funding methods, claims
review, coordination of benefits and other ap-
proaches;

«Utilization of controls to increase the efficien-
cy of health care delivery and protect against un-
necessary and wasteful use of health care
services;

eEncouragement of the use of health main-
tenance organizations (HMO’s);

Promotion of increased use of public health fa-
cilities;

Improved employee health through health pro-
motion and wellness programs;

«Formation of local coalitions that would engage

7

-_*
é

GERALD McENTEE

in monitoring and controlling of capital costs by
hospitals and nursing homes; lobbying on cost
containment legislation; gathering and analysis
of information; and negotiation of fees with local
hospitals or physicians;

Legislative efforts such as improving health
care consumers’ access to price information on
physician and hospital rates, rate setting for phy-
sician and hospital services, restricting further ex-
pansion of hospital facilities, and controlling the
purchasing of duplicate medical technology.

THIS MONTH IN LABOR HISTORY

By the New York State Labor History Association News Service

81-year-old league fighting for women’s cause

The Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL), founded in November 1903,
was a remarkable combination of working women and liberal, leisure-class
women — wage earners and their “allies.”

The League’s purpose was to improve the dangerous, dreadful working
conditions of women workers by helping them to unionize and by supporting
legislation such as child labor laws, protective legislation and factory in-
spection.

Those were the days of sweatshops, grueling hours, low pay and child
labor. Women and children slaved away for a pittance binding books, doing
laundry, and making clothes, paper bags, shoes, gloves, umbrellas, flowers,
candy and other items. Women’s place was in the home, everyone agreed;
e women worked in foundries stripped to the waist because of the intense

eat.

The American Federation of Labor spent little time and less money or-
ganizing unskilled workers and that included most women workers. After all,
weren’t women impossible to organize into unions? The common assumption
was that they all get married and quit work.

The WTUL challenged these attitudes. It constantly sought to convince
AFL President Samuel Gompers and other labor leaders to accept women
as union members and to go out and organize them.

The national WTUL was based in Chicago with branches there and in New
York, Boston, San Francisco, St. Louis, and other cities. The AF'L endorsed
the League and gave occasional financial support during its early years, but
the relationship was often strained.

The gap was great between WTUL wage-earning women and their allies.
Most of the working women were young, poor, unschooled, and often im-
migrants. Their allies were older, wealthy, American-born, and college-
educated. Divided by differences in class and ethnic background, WTUL mem-
bers were united by gender and shared concerns.

The WTUL won its spurs in New York in 1909-10 during the ‘‘Uprising
of the 20,000,” the historic shirtwaist strike. The young International Ladies’
Garment Workers Union was astonished and overwhelmed as thousands of
women joined its general strike. The WTUL helped 1,000 workers a day join
the union, register for strike relief and picket the shops. Allies provided bail
money, walked the picket lines, ran giant rallies and prodded the public con-
science. A woman striker abused, beaten, or arrested on the picket line wasn’t

news. But when a socially-prominent ally was arrested, the story hit the front
page of every newspaper.

WTUL wage-earners provided their organizing skills during that strug-
gle and in countless other campaigns in other cities in the League’s early de-
cades. The WTUL leafleted shops and held street meetings, found meeting
rooms (other than saloons where women were not welcome or felt uncom-
fortable), and drop-in centers where women workers could sit down and talk
union.

When the League had enough funds, women workers would be hired as
organizers to meet union requests for help. Few unions had women on staff
and many unions even refused to admit women as members.

The League saw itself as a force struggling for women’s rights in the labor
movement and for workers’ rights in the women’s movement. In 1909-11, it
sparked the formation of working women’s suffrage groups so wage-earning
women would have their own organization to fight for the vote. The first group
was founded in San Francisco. Agnes Nestor, first women president of an in-
ternational union (The Glove Workers International) and other members of
the Chicago WTUL, joined the “suffrage special” train which whistle stopped
through Illinois.

The New York Wage Earners Suffrage League was headed by clothing
worker Leonora O’Reilly, one of the most popular women’s public speakers.
O'Reilly, capmaker Rose Schneiderman (and later president of the New York
WTUL), and ILGer Pauline Newman talked suffrage to working men at un-
ion meetings, on street corners, and from automobiles after parades ended.
They knew women’s votes were vital in order to wipe out child labor, abolish
sweatshops and to secure a better life. And they were appalled that women
did not have this basic democratic right.

In 1903, women unionists were too few and too powerless to form their
own organization such as today’s Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW).
Their alliance with well-to-do supporters in the WTUL was a potent one that
changed the lives of thousands of working women. Through the doors of their
education programs marched almost every woman who became a union
leader.

From coast to coast this small, dynamic organization made its views and
actions count for working women far beyond its numbers. At a time when
women were scorned as unionists, the WTUL showed a woman’s place is in
her union!

THE PUBLIC, SECTOR, Friday, November :2, 1984 Page, 17

fi: ”

Package search policy
causes union fo file
charges against state

ROTTERDAM — When the state recently reinstituted a policy of
searching packages and purses of state employees at the Upstate Supply
and Support Distribution Center here, it went too far, again, charges CSEA.

“Harassment,” says CSEA President William L. McGowan. An ille-

gal action, say union attorneys. And as a result, CSEA has filed an im-
proper practice charge against the state.
+ The huge facility, operated by the state Office of General Services, was
the target of a probe in 1983 after it was discovered that hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of supplies were missing and believed stolen
from the distribution center.

OGS instituted a package search policy in August, 1983 indicating that
workers would be searched prior to leaving the work location. CSEA filed
an improper practice.charge, but since then CSEA and the state have
held discussions in an effort to resolve the problem. CSEA maintained
that a search policy was a matter of negotiations and could not be
unilaterally imposed. Furthermore, the union took the position that in-
dividual employees could not be taking anywhere near the volume of
material missing and that an individual search policy was ludicrous and
a violation of employees’ rights.

This past July a stipulation was reached wherein the state agreed to
withdraw the search policy and negotiate with the union on the issue. Af-
ter a series of unsuccessful negotiating sessions, CSEA declared an im-
passe at the final meeting Oct. 2, 1984.

Almost immediately the state posted notices at the facility that it was
reinstituting the package search policy, prompting CSEA to file the
latest improper practice charge. The union contends the state cannot rein-
stitute the policy while the impasse procedure is in progress. As a result,
a the entire matter is currently in the hands of the state Public Employment
Relations Board awaiting action.

Xe

“Vdbe

down the
road without
a job were @
it not for

CSEA. CSEA
backs you

100 percent.

I'm proud to

be a member.”

MANNY SNELLING
bridge repair
assistant

CSEA STATEWIDE PRESI-
DENT William L. McGowan,

Page 18

left, installs newly elected
officers of Southern Region III
at a recent ceremony. Accept-
ing the oath of office are, start-
ing second frem left, Region
President Pat Mascioli, First 0
Vice President Jack Cassidy,
Second Vice President Harold
Ryan, Third Vice President
Rose Marcinkowski, Secre-
tary Grace Woods and Treas-
urer Eleanor McDonald.
e
ROCHESTER SATELLITE OFFICE
SATELLITE OFFICES | cats.saans
3699 W. Henrietta Road
Rochester, NY 14623 e
BINGHAMTON SATELLITE OFFICE = MAYVILLE SATELLITE OFFICE 7*°00*7'*0
juite , Executive ice ig. P.O. Box 225
Binghamton Plaza Mayville, NY 14757 UTICA SATELLITE OFFICE
33 W. State Street 716-753-5290 289 Genesee Street
Binghamton, NY 13901 Utica, NY 13501
OTTERS PLATTSBURGH SATELLITE OFFICE optics, 2g
CANTON SATELLITE OFFICE Broad Street Professional Bldg. WESTCHESTER SATELLITE OFFICE
P.O. Box 488 53 Broad Street 222 Mamaroneck Avenue
Canton, NY 13617 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 White Plains, NY 10601
315-386-8131 or 8132 518-563-0701 914-946-6905 or 6906 e

“DID You SEE THAT, PETER?"

"YEAH!

HE MUSTA TAKEN ONE OF A
THOSE STATE EMPLOYEE LEAP COURSES!

LEAP — the CSEA Labor Education Action Program — has an
offer state employees will want to jump at. LEAP has scheduled

scores of tuition-free courses for next spring, from science to short-

hand, psychology to carpentry.

Employees in the Administrative, Operational and Institutional
Bargaining units should call (518) 434-8152 or contact their state

agency training office for a full list of course announcements. Nov.
28 is the final date for LEAP applications.

So don’t let yourself fall behind in important skills and studies.

take.

Sign up for a LEAP course today. It’s one of the best steps you can

CSEA committees to help state agencies get training grants

CSEA recently set up joint labor/management
training committees in each of its six regions in ord-
er to take full advantage of funds being made avail-
able by the state for training projects.

The committees will develop proposals for train-
ing of CSEA members in the Administrative, Institu-
tional and Operational Bargaining Units. The monies
are available through the Agency-Specific Grant Pro-
gram, which was established in the present contract

between the state and CSEA, and is being jointly ad-
ministered by the union and the Governor's Office
of Employee Relations.

While agencies will still be able to seek training
grants on an individual basis, as they’ve done in the
past, the committees were established in an attempt
to consolidate certain types of training within the
regions, said John Weidman, a CSEA representative
for the grant program.

THEY DECIDE — Evaluating a proposal for a training project through the Agency-Specific Training
Program are, from left, William La Fleur (GOER), John Weidman and Tom Quimby (Leap). CSEA
recently set up regional committees to help members take advantage of monies for the training pro-
gram grants,

THE PUBLIC SECTOR,

For example, employees of separate departments
such as Motor Vehicles, Tax and Finance, and Pub-
lic Service — where there have been large numbers
of requests for stress management training — would
now be able to attend regional workshops.

Besides making training more efficient, the com-
mittees also will be able to make it feasible in cases
where it was not before. When it is not practical to
do training for a small group of employees in a
single agency, it may be possible to run a program
if interest is expressed by employees from several
agencies throughout a region.

Weidman said that committees that submit
proposals for training projects costing less than
$5,000 may hear in as little as a week’s time whether
they’re approved.

“Agencies requesting grants are required to list
in writing the number of employees that would be in-
volved, the type of training, who would be doing it,
and how much it is. We make our decisions on that
basis, and if after reviewing the proposal we think
it qualifies, the grant can be done within a week if
it’s for not more than $5,000,” said Weidman.

Proposals for more than $5,000 must go to CSEA
President William McGowan and GOER Director
Thomas Hartnett for approval

While noting an interest in stress control programs
— especially among counter people and license ex-
aminers in the shortstaffed Department of Motor Ve-
hicles — William LaFleur of GOER’s Program,
Planning and Development Office, which ad-
ministers the grant program for the state, said the
greatest need identified in a survey of C09EA mem-
bers is for computer knowledge and word processing.

CSEA members with ideas or suggestions on train-
ing programs for their agencies should contact their
local presidents, who in turn will get in touch with
the regional committee, he said.

jay, November 2, 1984 Page 19

CSEA members voluntarily contributed more
than $10,000 during the past year to the union’s
PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to
Promote Legislative Equality) program. The
funds are primarily used to support labor-
endorsed candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S.
House of Representatives seats, as well as
supporting labor-backed federal legislation.
And, according to a report by CSEA’s
statewide PEOPLE committee delivered to
delegates at the union’s 74th annual meeting last
week, the coming year should be even more
spectacular. A payroll deductions checkoff plan

$3,000 raised at

LAKE PLACID — The PEOPLE Run at this
year’s Delegates Meeting added nearly $3,000 to aid
CSEA-endorsed federal candidates, according to
CSEA PEOPLE Coordinator Sheila Brogan.

Brogan said 33 runners and walkers entered the
three-mile race that circled Mirror Lake. The
money raised represented sponsor donations by
supporters of the individual runners.

Danny Jinks, collective bargaining specialist

will soon take effect for state employees, and
PEOPLE checkoff for local government units
will be a priority as well.

CSEA’s statewide and regional PEOPLE
committees raised the more than $10,000 in
voluntary contributions through a variety of fun-
draising projects during the year. The CSEA
PEOPLE committees work in conjunction with
AFSCME PEOPLE, the international union’s
federal political action committee, of which
CSEA Executive Vice President Joseph E.
McDermott is a member.

division, with Flora Young of Local 402 taking se-
cond, Laurel Nelson of Local 445 placing third and
Ellen Fontanelli of Local 691 finishing fourth.

John Stein of Local 852 finished first among the
walkers. The top finishers in each division received
a trophy for their efforts.

Bill Zippiero of Local 829 received an Honorable
Mention for ‘‘Most Visible Team Support.” Part of
his support was a mock ambulance, complete with

Collective
Bargaining

) Specialist Dan-
ny Jinks won e
the men’s divi-

nurses and attendants to aid him, should he require
medical attention.

The racers were started on their run by CSEA sion PEOPLE
President William McGowan. He and Brogan prais- Pe race at the
ed the runners and their supporters for “their spirit convention.
and enthusiasm in aiding the cause.”

from Region VI, was the winner in the men’s divi-
sion. He was followed by CSEA Counsel Jim
Roemer in second place, while Bill Cucolo of Local
844 placed third and Len Foster of Local 834 finish-
ed fourth.

Coleen Bleimeister of Local 814 won the women’s

THINK ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY;
there are people who want to bust the unions — @
especially public employee unions.

And there are people who want to ‘‘balance
the federal budget’’; that means they want to
cut federal spending — to end revenue sharing
and other federal programs that help our local
communities. While they’re cutting the federal
budget, they’re cutting jobs that are paid with
federal funds.

There are those that want to slash taxes, too.
But that usually means slashing jobs of hard- e
working city and state employees who are pro-
viding the services of government.

And the people that want to do these things
are the ones who are making millions — and
who want to avoid paying their high taxes. They
have the money to spend on campaigns to elect
their people.

That’s where PEOPLE comes in. Campaigns
DO cost money. Individually, we can’t afford the
hundreds of dollars it takes to fight the big
money, but each of us, contributing $1.00 or @
$1.50 a pay can make a difference. It’s an invest-
ment in OUR future. An investment that insures
we have a job. Insures we have a future, in fact!

»
i THE PAYOFF — Flo Tripi flashes a radiant smile as she holds some of the proceeds from
ae 4 the PEOPLE Run in Lake Placid. With her is Region V Executive Vice President Pat
Crandell. Both women are active in PEOPLE and CSEA’s political action program.

_ | PEOPLEISANINVESTMENTINGOUR RUTURE |

families.

I
: 1
; ‘YES! | want to contribute $1 $3 $5 $10 $. to the CSEA PEOPLE effort.|under- | :
1 ere stand this money will be used in federal elections. !
, Send your contribution payable to |
| ‘‘PEOPLE”’ to the CSEA } \yaye Local # '
1 Legislative Office, 150 State Street, I
5th Floor, Albany, NY 12207. 1
‘id : ! Contributions can result in an }{ ADDRESS : Rusroe a rr os
| income tax credit up to $50 for a !
| person filing singly or $100 for a —- — Zip |
1 joint return. i
| In accordance with federal law, the PEOPLE Committee will accept contributions only from members of AFSCME and their | )
|
|