Page 12 - Work Force April 2024

Briggs: Moving forward, rising to the challenges of our unique time
ALBANY — A union activist for more than
30 years, CSEA Executive Vice President Ron Briggs continues to work toward building an inclusive and responsive union.
Briggs
County, working in the Department of Social Services as a child protective worker. In 1997, Briggs was elected to his first position as 2nd Vice President of CSEA’s Fulton County Local. He later served as the local’s 1st Vice President and then as Fulton County Local President. After 11 years at the Fulton County Department of Social Services, Briggs joined the county’s Probation Department as a probation officer, the work title he continues to hold.
“One voice, although strong, will not be heard as well as a chorus.” This philosophy drives Briggs
to seek effective ways to have a positive impact, improving the lives of working people of our state and the CSEA membership.
Briggs is involved in numerous CSEA committees and initiatives. He is a CSEA Leadership Education
and Development (LEAD) Program graduate. He has also chaired CSEA’s New Member Orientation Task
Force and is officer
liaison to our union’s Probation and PEOPLE committees.
Since 2020, Briggs has served as an AFSCME International Vice President. Before joining CSEA, Briggs was a member of UUP for eight years.
Committed to
rising to the unique
challenges of our
time, he recognizes that our focus moving forward needs to be on building power and strengthening member-to-member education and involvement.
“We must ensure that as employees enter workplaces, our voice must be clear that together is
the only way to move forward for higher wages, safer conditions, and better workplaces,” said Briggs. “Our future is bright. Our union work isn’t easy, but it is the only way to ensure progress and stand up to those billionaires who want us to have less. We must learn from our history to value our collective voice and recognize
that our communities value public services. We should celebrate that.”
— Jill Asencio and Therese Assalian
we could get it done.”
“When we finally got that first
contract, I was overwhelmed with excitement that we won one of
the biggest organizing battles that Region One has ever had - that people believe in CSEA,” said Brown.
Brown is also a CSEA Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Program class 4 graduate, and serves as an executive board member of
the Long Island Federation of Labor. He had also served on numerous committees on every level of our union.
“I really like being on committees because you get to be a part of developing a progressive plan that gives CSEA members what they need to be educated and informed,” said Brown.
As region president, Brown is committed to continuing educating and informing.
— Wendi Bowie
Before his
recent election as CSEA’s Executive Vice President, Briggs served
eight years as CSEA Capital Region President. He had previously served for eight years as Executive Vice President of the CSEA Capital Region. He also served one term as the CSEA Capital Region 1st Vice President from 2004 to 2008.
Briggs began his career in Fulton
Brown “communicates to educate”
COMMACK —
Newly elected
Long Island
Region President
Jarvis T. Brown
has been a
proud CSEA
member for
more than 20
years, and an
esteemed leader
and advocate for Brown workers’ rights
for about the same number of years. Leading with the motto
“Communicate to Educate,” Brown is dedicated to building a stronger union and improving the lives of members across CSEA Long Island Region.
Before being elected CSEA Long Island Region President, Brown served as CSEA Town of Oyster Bay Local President for 11 years. In this position, Brown used his experience and tenacity to retain CSEA union
positions in the face of budget cuts and organizational changes. One such instance came when Brown persuaded town administrators to lift the tax cap to save the jobs of CSEA members.
Brown was elected CSEA Long Island Region 1st Vice President in 2020. During that time, he has used his leadership skills to help establish and grow the CSEA Long Island Region School Districts Committee, which was created to address specific issues impacting school district workers.
Brown has also helped get locals and units out of administratorship including the SUNY Farmingdale Local, which had been in administratorship for more than two years before Brown stepped in to help.
An outstanding union organizer, Brown has successfully brought more than 600 new members into the CSEA family, expanding our union’s
influence and reach.
Among Brown’s most successful
organizing accomplishments is his role in bringing 120 SCO Family of Services workers into our union. With the help from the workers’ organizing team, Brown successfully defeated one of the country’s largest union-busting law firms.
When beginning the group’s contract negotiations took longer than expected, Brown “stormed the SCO Family of Services Administrator’s office,” where
he parked himself in the waiting room for about an hour until the administrator agreed to speak with him face-to-face. Contract negotiations began the next day.
“It was overwhelming when
the organizing team and I got that victory,” said Brown. “There was a point when the organizing efforts were falling apart because SCO workers were starting to give up. I was able to get them to believe that
12 The Work Force
April 2024
“We must ensure that as employees enter workplaces, our voice must be clear that together is the only way to move forward for higher wages, safer conditions, and better workplaces.”