Page 15 - Work Force April 2020

Welcome our new Statewide Leadership team!
Richard Bebo, Statewide Secretary
Nicole Meeks, Treasurer
ALBANY — For Richard Bebo, what started out as a favor for a friend has turned into
a passion for service that has brought him to the highest ranks of our union leadership.
Bebo, a program aide at the New York State Department
of Transportation’s Office of Construction in Albany, said he began his union advocacy in 2006 after his former Local president retired. His friend, who was the former local vice president, moved up to Local president and asked Bebo to serve as
vice president.
Bebo admitted that he really didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but in short order, he was bitten — hard — by the union bug.
While attending our union’s Annual Delegates Meeting that year, he was overwhelmed with what he witnessed, leading him to want more.
“The camaraderie of seeing all those people together, the passion of hearing all the speakers, the entire week was amazing,” Bebo said. “Getting all the information I got, and to realize the purpose of what our union was, it was inspiring.”
What it inspired him to do was become more involved. He soon joined CSEA’s third Leadership Education And Development (LEAD) Program class, wanting to “make myself a better activist, a better leader.”
Following that, he ran for local president in 2013, a position he served in for two terms. In 2014, he was appointed 3rd vice president
of our union’s Capital Region, successfully running two years later for Capital Region executive vice president.
Now, Bebo has stepped into his most challenging union role to date, elected as our statewide secretary.
“The reason I ran is I wanted
to be able to do what we were successfully doing in the region and in my local at the statewide level,” he said. “The education, the trainings, the communications, and being a resource for the members.”
“What motivates me is serving
our members,” Bebo said. “When I walked away from that first ADM, I realized this is something I wanted to
do. I knew I wanted to be a statewide officer because I knew I wanted to serve at that level. I’ve always loved being a resource
to the members of my local and my region, and I look forward to being
a resource to the members across the state.”
Bebo said he is driven by some important principles.
“I have values that have stuck with me throughout my career in the union,” he said. “Be accountable, be open, listen with respect and stand together. That leads to a stronger union.”
Bebo said he wants to not only be a catalyst for positive change, but also wants to inspire others to be as enthusiastic about our union as he is.
“I don’t want members to just be in our union, I want our members to be excited to be in our union,” he said.
— Mark M. Kotzin
ALBANY —
For Nicole Meeks, growing up in a “big union family” was enough
to make her realize the value of unions.
“My father
had been in
the sheet metal trades for 40 years, and that union kept him protected and employed for that whole time,” she said. “Seeing how my father was gainfully employed thanks to his union led me to get more involved in our union.”
Meeks, an accountant
2 in the City
of Syracuse’s Department of Aviation for the past 20 years, got her CSEA start volunteering
for a union committee. A few years later, she joined the union’s negotiating team.
“I wanted to
help other people
who might have
issues or concerns in their jobs,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that we still received the benefits that our brothers and sisters had fought for.”
Falling back on her four-year degree in accounting, Meeks naturally gravitated to one of the most unsung roles within our union, that of the treasurer. “I always said it takes a special kind of person to be a union treasurer,” she said.
She became treasurer of her CSEA unit, later moving up to vice president, and then president of her
city unit, all the while serving on numerous union committees.
But it was always that background in numbers that kept her coming back to that treasurer role, serving first as local and then Central Region treasurer.
“Having that accounting and auditing background, it really helps with the treasurer positions I have held,” she said. “It has helped me help other units and locals to do that budget work they have to do.”
Meeks said she was proud she was able to use her skills to train our members to get their local union finances in order.
As statewide treasurer, Meeks hopes to bring all her knowledge
and expertise to help an even wider audience of CSEA leaders throughout the state.
“I’m looking forward to
meeting new members and traveling around the state and doing training for our treasurers,” she said. “A lot of them are probably overwhelmed and
I want to be able to ease their minds, to let them know that I’m here as a resource to help them.”
Her goal is to help our union’s leaders continue to be good stewards of their union money.
“I want to assist the treasurers and the presidents in making good decisions for our members when
it comes to union finances,” Meeks said. “I want to do everything I can to help those people.”
— Mark M. Kotzin
“I’m looking forward to meeting new members and traveling around the state and doing training for our treasurers. A lot of them are probably overwhelmed and I
want to be able to ease their minds, to let them know that I’m here as a resource to help them.”
April 2020
The Work Force 15
“I have values that have stuck with me throughout my career in the union. Be accountable, be open, listen with respect and stand together. That leads to a stronger union.”