Page 3 - Retiree News Summer 2023

Our Voice, Our Power: Some powerful union stories ‘We can be very strong’
CSEA Rochester Retirees Local 912 President Bernadette Giambra comes from a family of
strong union women.
Her grandmother had worked
in the textile factories, and her mother, Concetta Giambra, was among those who in 1950 signed CSEA’s first charter in Monroe County.
“My mother proudly told
me when I was little that she
had signed papers to get Social Security,” said Giambra. “She proudly said that she was retired longer than she worked.”
Giambra herself was a Monroe
County probation officer and CSEA activist for more than 30 years.
After retiring, she stayed active in our union. In addition to her local office, she chairs our union’s Retiree Executive Committee
and serves on CSEA’s Standing Women’s Committee.
Even as a retiree, Giambra found herself facing battles.
A former Monroe County Executive had used contract language to cut retiree health insurance for workers as they reached Medicare eligibility, despite workers being promised this care.
Giambra worked with CSEA staff and Western Region members to fight back. While they ultimately lost the lengthy battle, she noted that CSEA retirees did still take action.
“CSEA and other unions got together and ousted that county executive,” said Giambra. “We have a wonderful county executive now. When we get going, we can be very strong.”
Giambra credited former Western Region President Flo Tripi for two of her most important union leadership lessons.
“I learned two things from Flo,”
Giambra
said Giambra. “One, you are never alone and you never go anywhere alone. Two, power is perception and if you are never alone, you have power because people are with you.”
‘Bugging’ management to fix safety issue
When Rochester Area Retirees Local 912 activist Clara Forbes was a Rochester Psychiatric Center Local vice president,
she found herself “bugging” management to take care of a major problem at her workplace.
When visiting members at one of the facility’s units, she was told there was a bed bug infestation that covered not only the rooms, but workers and patients.
“There were people (nearly) eaten alive!” said Forbes. “They were on their beds, legs and
hands.”
Forbes alerted management
about the situation.
“I went to the manager and
said ‘Bedbugs are a no-no!’” said Forbes.
In response, the manager asked Forbes to prove the presence of bed bugs by locating the bugs, placing them in a bag and bringing it back to them.
“I cleared my voice and said to him, “I’m going to make two phone calls. The first one is going to be to [former Western Region President]
Flo Tripi and second one is going to be to the (local news),’” said Forbes.
Tripi, other union leaders and staff soon headed to the center to address the situation. Management soon agreed to call an exterminator and move the affected patients.
“We got rid of the bugs, cleaned the unit and people were happy,” said Forbes.
She took away another important lesson.
“Any time you see something
Forbes
going on, speak up,” said Forbes. “[Our union was] right there for me. We are CSEA!”
More than 30 CSEA retiree activists attend the recent statewide Women’s Conference in Saratoga Springs. See page 8 for more coverage.
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