Page 3 - Retiree News Fall 2020

Union family
stands by
member
during her
time of need
During a time of need, it’s important to have support from others.
Florida State
West Retirees Local
950 member Benita
Petrillo became
a CSEA Retiree
member through her spouse, former Local 950 Vice President Joe Petrillo.
When he passed away in May 2019, Benita was overwhelmed with grief.
She also found herself faced with handling paperwork for survivor benefits with his pension and health insurance. Benita Petrillo struggled with getting the paperwork submitted for the much-needed pension benefits
In this 2018 file photo, former Local 950 1st Vice President Joe Petrillo, right, hands a copy of the Retiree News to then Local 950 2nd Vice President Barbara Martinez, far left, as Benita Petrillo, second from left, looks on.
Petrillo
that were available to her.
“I was very confused and didn’t
know what to do,” she said.
After Florida State West Retirees
Local 950 President Barbara Adams alerted CSEA Retiree Program Specialist Christine Meehan about Benita’s struggle, Meehan reached out to Petrillo.
Meehan worked with Petrillo to advocate on her behalf with the New York State & Local Retirement System on getting the proper paperwork filed to collect Joe Petrillo’s benefits.
“I was able to advocate on Benita’s behalf with the NYSLRS
and assist her during a time when she was most vulnerable,” Meehan said. “I was able to connect Benita directly to a point person at the retirement system that assisted her in filing the necessary paperwork to collect his pension.”
Meehan also helped Benita Petrillo sort out health insurance paperwork with the Town of Hempstead, where Joe Petrillo had worked as the director of planning and economic development before retiring in the early 1990s. After
he retired, the Petrillos moved
to Florida, where Joe served as
a Palm Harbor, Fla. Fire Rescue
Commissioner for many years in addition to his union activism.
“If it wasn’t for Christine, I wouldn’t have known what to do,” Benita Petrillo said. “She led me to the right people.”
Petrillo’s union family looked after her in her time of need.
“I’m part of the union and it’s very important [to be a member],” Benita Petrillo said. “I know I couldn’t have lived without Joe’s pension and health care. Without the union, I don’t know what I would have done.”
— Janice Gavin
CSEA proud to endorse Joe Biden for President
ALBANY —
CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan has announced
that CSEA
is proudly
throwing our union’s support and political muscle behind electing Joe
Biden for President.
“Joe Biden clearly aligns
with the majority of issues that concern our union and impact union members, and we’re going to do everything in our power to
get him elected,” Sullivan said. Sullivan noted that the CSEA
endorsement aligns with the already-announced endorsement of our international affiliate union, AFSCME.
“We are proud to join our millions of union sisters and brothers in AFSCME in supporting Joe Biden, who has a long history of being a strong ally to working women and men,” Sullivan said. “Unlike the current administration, Joe Biden has plans to move us forward on the issues that matter most to working Americans, and we urge all union members to vote
to elect him President.” Sullivan pointed to the Biden
plan to get the Coronavirus under control throughout the country as one key difference between the candidates.
“In their response to COVID- 19, our current administration was fine with letting states set their own patchwork rules and ignoring the science,” Sullivan said. “Joe Biden has called for
a comprehensive public health strategy to slow the virus’ spread, as well as an economic response that delivers real relief for workers and small businesses and
preserves the public services that CSEA members provide.”
Sullivan made the union’s endorsement after a thorough review of the records of both major party candidates on issues important to workers, as well as conducting a survey of tens of thousands of union members, which showed clear support for Biden when it came to those issues.
CSEA members seeking more information on Joe Biden’s ambitious “Build Back Better” vision for America should visit: https://joebiden.com/joes-vision.
Biden
FALL 2020
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