CSEA’s constant fight for workplace safety This year marks the 35th anniversary of one of the most important protections to help you go home safely at the end of your work shift. CSEA was instrumental in the introduction and passage of the Public Employee Safety and Health Act in 1980. “No one should ever take safety and health protections for granted,” said CSEA President Danny Donohue. “CSEA worked diligently to pass the law in 1980 providing protection. We have been vigilent every since in making sure it is enforced. We remain committed to providing the information and understanding to keep people safe.” Many CSEA members become health and safety activists after an on-the-job incident has left them or a co-worker injured. Safety begins with a network of dedicated activists. Take the example of Onondaga County Local President Kathy Zabinski, a sergeant at the Onondaga County Department of Corrections. She has long dealt with health and safety concerns on the job, including the safe use of potentially hazardous chemicals such as pepper foam, working in confined spaces and workplace violence. While she regularly addresses safety and health issues such as these and more as local president, tragedy prompted her activism. Zabinski’s father had worked in a private-sector chemical plant for 33 years before retiring in 1984 at age 58. Years later, his health declined and medical tests showed spots on his lungs that were diagnosed as cancer. After he passed away from the “You don’t need a technical degree to know if something is wrong at your work site.” disease, an autopsy showed that both of his lungs were encased in asbestos, which he had been exposed to on the job. “I decided then to fight to improve safety and health conditions on my job,” she said. At her disposal is CSEA’s Occupational Safety and Health Department, which for 30 years has been providing resources, training, materials and staff who can perform myriad safety inspections, environmental tests, and investigations to right dangerous wrongs in the workplace. CSEA’s OSH staff are among the best in the country at what they do, and are regularly developing new programs and trainings as new hazards and threats appear on the job. “Occupational safety and health is an issue of social justice,” said CSEA’s Occupational Safety and Health Director Janet Foley said. “You don’t need a technical degree to know if something is wrong at your work site. Our safety and health activists are the watchdogs and it’s important that they are trained in knowing what to look for. This is why our training programs are so essential.” — See related stories, pages 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Honor the fallen on April 28, Workers’ Memorial Day On April 28, CSEA, other unions and workers across the world will again observe Workers’ Memorial Day, a day of remembrance and fighting to prevent any more worker deaths. Nearly 5,000 American workers die each year while doing their jobs, and thousands more are injured. Since Workers’ Memorial Day 2014, these fallen workers include the following CSEA members: • George Grumbach, 55, a grounds worker at Mid Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center who died June 18, 2014, while planting trees on the center’s grounds. • Jarred Newallo, 25, a CSEA-represented Town of Hempstead worker who died June 20, 2014, while doing sanitation work. • Christopher Polomcean, 28, a Southern Tier State Employees Local member who died Nov. 7, 2014, in a automobile accident on Oquaga Creek State Park Grumbach Newallo Polomcean grounds involving a state vehicle in which he was riding. These workers died doing their jobs, providing essential public services to their communities. They were also community members who had loved ones. It is more important than ever to fight to ensure that corners are never cut when it comes to safety and health. CSEA members need to continue the fight toward the day when we are all safe at work. We need to stand strong together to help put an end to preventable deaths and injuries. Workers Memorial Day remembrance ceremonies will be held across the state on or around April 28. Members are strongly encouraged to participate, remember fallen workers and fight for workplace safety. April 2015 The Work Force 3
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