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Labor background drives Murphy’s support of middle class YORKTOWN HEIGHTS — State Sen. Terrence Murphy is well known in his northern Westchester County hometown for starting two successful local businesses. It’s a lesser-known experience, however, that rounded out his credentials as he headed to Albany this January representing parts of Putnam and Westchester counties. The first-term senator pulls up a chair in a front room at Murphy’s, an Irish restaurant and bar. It’s a business Murphy teamed up with his mother and siblings to start after his father’s death, a role he balances with his career as a chiropractor and nutritionist. Murphy’s father was a utility worker with Con Edison who served 26 years as a business agent for the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2. His father’s union pension has been hugely important for his mother, Murphy said. “The reality is that my mom wouldn’t be able to live where she is without my dad’s pension,” said Murphy. “It’s allowed her to stay in the house where I was born and raised.” Growing up in a union family helped Murphy as he learned firsthand about contract negotiations. Coming on board as a Yorktown town councilman, it was Murphy who worked with CSEA leaders in that community to resolve a longstanding contract dispute. That ability to find common ground will serve Murphy well in Albany. He’s been appointed chair of the Administrative Regulations Review Commission, a group tasked with streamlining many state rules and regulations. A proponent of smart business State Sen. Terrence Murphy, left, meets with Dutchess-Putnam Retirees Local 1st Vice President Richard Colson and Town of Patterson Unit Secretary Phil Capalbo in their home district. growth, Murphy wants to cut unnecessary red tape but also cautions against wasteful gimmicks such as START-UP NY. “It was a political ad campaign for the governor,” said Murphy, noting the recent report stating the program created only 72 jobs despite $53 million in advertising. Murphy is also passionate about fighting heroin and other opioid abuse, an issue that hits home for CSEA members working in public health, direct care and other fields. He’s co-chairing the new Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction, which has held several forums to address growing heroin and opioid abuse, and is working to expand access to naloxone, the medication used to counteract opioid overdoses. Other notable committee appointments include labor, ethics, health, local government, and mental health and developmental disabilities. — Jessica Ladlee “My union is ...” “My union is my security blanket. It’s there to protect me if I ever need it.” — Roberta Greene, secretary 1, Geology and Physics Department, SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Potsdam Local vice president Mourn for the dead; fight for the living Western Region President Flo Tripi, center, speaks at a Workers’ Memorial Day ceremony sponsored by the Town of Irondequoit on April 28. CSEA members, community members, labor and town officials attended the ceremony, which was held at town offices. See Page 2 for more on Workers’ Memorial Day. Photo courtesy of the Town of Irondequoit. 14 The Work Force June 2015


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