Photo of the Month Photo by David Galarza Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett, far left, and CSEA Statewide Secretary Denise Berkley, front row, right, join hundreds of Brooklyn Developmental Center workers and advocates for a rally on Oct. 10, to call on the governor to keep the center open. The center serves hundreds of individuals with mental and physical disabilities and provides good middle class jobs to hundreds of workers. Need your CSEA ID number? Access your CSEA ID number for union elections, contract ratification votes, and member-only benefits offers by clicking on the “Look up your CSEA ID!” tab at www.cseany.org. ALERT NEW YORK’S LEADING UNION CSEA President Danny Donohue to meet Long Island Region members on Dec. 4 President Danny Donohue will visit the CSEA Long Island Region on Dec. 4 to meet with members. The meetings will be held at the Long Island Region office, 3 Garet Place, Commack. Donohue will meet with union members from 1 to 7 p.m. Please call the region office at (631) 462-0030 for an appointment and directions. CSEA kills county pay bill SYRACUSE — Faced with criticism from the labor community and almost certain legal action, the Onondaga County Legislature has backed away from a controversial resolution that CSEA publicly condemned. The legislature withdrew its resolution, which would have declared its official policy to oppose paying retroactive wage payments for county employee contract settlements. CSEA has been negotiating on behalf of about 3,000 Onondaga County workers since January and continues to work at bringing about a fair contract settlement. The union called for the legislature to drop the resolution, calling it a “ridiculous political distraction.” CSEA Onondaga County Local President Kathy Zabinski said the union is glad legislators got the message. “We’re pleased the legislature did the right thing by pulling this divisive resolution,” she said. “The truth is, our union had sought from the beginning to bring about a timely yet fair resolution to contract talks, and this resolution would have been counterproductive. We hope this renewed interest by county leaders in the negotiations process will translate into a willingness to work more cooperatively at the bargaining table to allow both sides to come to a fair agreement.” CSEA lashed out at legislators who improperly blamed the union for the slow pace of negotiations, reminding them we had requested to use an expedited form of negotiations that would have brought about a settlement in less than a week’s time, but the county declined. CSEA also attempted to start negotiations several months before the former contract’s expiration, but the county’s negotiating team was not ready until after the old contract had expired. — Mark M. Kotzin CSEA, PESH investigating work site deaths of Long Island, Southern Region members CSEA is mourning the loss of two members killed on the job in separate but similar incidents. CSEA Town of Eastchester Unit member Nicholas Farella died Oct. 7 from injuries sustained when the sanitation truck he was riding on struck a utility pole, crushing him. Town of Oyster Bay Unit member Steven A Giacobello, 45, died Tuesday, Sept. 23, after he was struck by a car while collecting recyclable materials for the town. CSEA and the state Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau are investigating both incidents. Farella, 42, succumbed to his injuries during surgery at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, according to published reports. A co-worker who was also on the back of the truck was uninjured. Farella is survived by his wife, Jennifer; a daughter, Victoria, his parents and a sister. Giacobello, an equipment operator II at the town’s Department of Public Works, Public Packaging and Snow Removal, was picking up recycled materials around 7 a.m. when a car struck him, severely injuring him. He died in the hospital shortly after the incident. The Nassau County Police Department is conducting an investigation to see if any charges will be made against the driver of the car. Cell phone records are being reviewed as well as witness accounts. Giacobello, of Westbury, leaves his wife, Angela Giacobello, and three daughters. — Jessica Ladlee and Rich Impagliazzo 2 The Work Force November 2013
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