Page 14 - Work Force April 2020

Welcome our new Statewide Leadership team!
Mary E. Sullivan, Statewide President
ALBANY— Shortly after Mary E. Sullivan began working at
the Herkimer
County
Department of
Social Services,
CSEA union
representatives
came around
and asked her if she would be interested in running for office.
Sullivan responded, jokingly, ‘How about president?’
A month later, Sullivan was the Herkimer County Unit President. A month after she began serving in union office, she was negotiating her unit’s contract with the county. In fact, she was sitting across the negotiating table from her high school guidance counselor.
More than 35 years later, Sullivan now leads our union. Through the years, she served in leadership posts on every level of CSEA. From unit president, she became Herkimer
County Local President. She later served as treasurer and 1st vice president of our Central Region.
Sullivan was elected as our union’s Statewide Treasurer by our union’s Board of Directors to replace the treasurer who had retired. She was overwhelmingly re-elected to that position twice. In 1994, Sullivan was elected our union’s Executive Vice President, a position she served
in until becoming our Statewide President on Nov. 1,
2019.
In February, she was
the first woman — and
first local government
division member
— to be elected by
the membership to a full term as Statewide President.
Her perspective as a union woman in local government has driven her activism.
Shortly after becoming unit president, Sullivan quickly got involved with our union, including getting involved in our union’s Central Region, which was then
known as a conference, and meeting many of our union sisters and brothers.
“I learned from my peers because there were no [union] education programs at the time,” she said.
Sullivan found her local government service to be valuable experience in her leadership roles.
“One of the things that local government members bring to the table is that we are closer to the
action; we deal with our employer every single day,” Sullivan said. “On the state side, you may deal with state agency directors or other
staff people, but not always [elected officials]. In local
government, you’re going to see your employer at the gas station
or grocery store. That may make it easier for us to directly affect things in our community.”
As CSEA’s President, Sullivan aims to enhance our union’s communications, education and opportunities to be involved in our
terms and one that she really enjoyed.
“I loved being the statewide secretary,” Berkley said. “I got the chance to interact with so many
members, and I enjoyed helping them and making the jobs of our leaders and activists a little easier.”
A self- proclaimed “people person,” Berkley also enjoyed traveling
throughout the state to conduct trainings for union secretaries.
“I believe very much in giving the leadership all the knowledge they need to do their jobs better,” she said.
union. She also wants to make our union more inclusive, including urging women to get more involved, noting that women, as well as local government members, comprise the majority of our members.
“I think most women are more willing to build coalitions and work in concert with those coalitions
to get the job done,” Sullivan said. “Women are becoming more willing to support one another and more women are stepping forward. We have to encourage women to be more engaged — they’re the majority of this organization just like local government members. There just needs to be a balance in the thought process in the decisions we make.”
In recent weeks, Sullivan has also faced leading our union amid the coronavirus outbreak. “It’s been an interesting [several] weeks trying to manage CSEA, between taking care of our members, but staff as well,” she said.
— Janice Gavin
Berkley said that she’s still adjusting to switching her leadership role in our union, but it’s a good adjustment.
“I’m learning what this new role is, but I’m loving it,” she said, only weeks into the job.
For now, Berkley wants to focus her work on leadership education, based on her two guiding principles. First, she looks upon her union work as a ministry, in her role as a servant leader. Second, she wants to give our union leaders as much information and knowledge as possible to be better leaders.
“If we can make [our union leaders] stronger leaders by giving them more information and the tools they need, we can make a big difference in our union,” Berkley said.
— Mark M. Kotzin
Denise Berkley, Executive Vice President
ALBANY — Denise Berkley laughed
when asked about being introduced as our union’s
new executive vice president, figuring by
now, most
CSEA members know who she is.
“I’ve been around for a while,” she said with a chuckle, illuminated by her ever-present smile.
More than 40 years, in case you’re keeping track.
Berkley began her union career
a few years after starting work in 1973 at the Brooklyn Developmental Center. In 1979, she became a union steward, and in 1981, she was elected
local president.
She initially got involved in our
union because she didn’t like the way she and her co-workers were being treated.
“I didn’t like the way management was treating our members, so I decided to run for president of the union so I could better protect them,” she said.
What followed
was decades of
union activism that
continue to this day, with Berkley moving up through the ranks, serving in roles too numerous to mention at every level of our union. In 2008, she was elected our statewide secretary, a role that she served in for three
14 The Work Force
April 2020
“We have to encourage women to be more engaged.”
“If we can make [our union leaders] stronger leaders by giving them more information and the tools they need,
we can make a big difference in our union.”