Page 6 - Work_Force_January_2023

Library workers in Croton organize with CSEA
CROTON-ON-HUDSON — Workers at the Croton Free Library are the newest CSEA-represented library employees in Westchester County after the group voted in October to join our union.
Since unionizing means staff will have workplace
policies in writing
and gain a voice on
the job, organizing committee members said the process
will improve their working conditions. The community will benefit, too, they said.
“We wanted to do
this because we want
to be able to give to
the community the
best of our abilities,”
said Marion Callis, a
librarian and member
of the organizing
committee. “Our
patrons get really
good service from us. We’ve let them know that our wish is for it to be that good or better moving forward.”
Callis connected with CSEA Deputy Director of Organizing Jessica Riley, who helped workers get the organizing process underway. It
took only one month from the time the organizing committee notified management of their intent to unionize before the National Labor Relations Board election took place.
“I think the group was really ready for it,” said Gillian Rothchild,
a librarian and organizing committee member. “I was part
of the union when I used to work for the ASPCA and am a big believer in organized labor. I even did
the union semester internship through
the Murphy Institute at CUNY, so I was very much on board with us organizing here.”
Organizing committee members said they hope contract negotiations will allow them to codify a number of
workplace policies, which should ensure consistency with management regardless of who’s at the helm.
“We would like the ability to know that things are more structured than they are now,” said Kim Stucko, a librarian and organizing committee
From left to right, Croton Free Library workers and organizing commitee members Marion Callis, Kim Stucko and Gillian Rothchild celebrate forming a union with CSEA.
“We wanted to
do this because
we want to be
able to give to the community the best of our abilities. Our patrons get really good service from us. We’ve let them know that our wish is for it to be that good or better moving forward.”
member.
Workers said they appreciate the
words of support they received from both community and union leaders. Croton-on-Hudson Mayor Brian Pugh wrote workers a letter of support and CSEA Southern Region President Anthony Adamo had a letter to
the editor published in the weekly Croton Gazette, urging neutrality from management during the election process and requesting community support for workers.
In addition to solidarity from
the public, workers said the organizing process has helped build
cohesiveness amongst co-workers. “Our schedules keep us somewhat
isolated from one another but organizing meant I had to reach out to people I don’t know really well, tell them what we were doing, and ask for their support,” said Rothchild.
“It was really a great chance to connect.”
“We’re honored to welcome Croton Free Library workers into
the CSEA family and will continue to stand with them as they work toward their first contract,” said Adamo.
— Jessica Ladlee
Honoring Dr. King
The Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr. speaks at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tenn. on April 3, 1968.
In January, CSEA members will join in celebrating the life, work and legacy of The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
King fought tirelessly to
advance civil rights, human
rights and economic and social justice. As we honor Dr. King’s life and accomplishments, we also remember his work on behalf of the labor movement.
King often connected the ongoing struggles for workers’ rights with civil rights, noting that labor rights are key to helping working people find prosperity.
“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope
and progress,” said King, while addressing the 1965 Illinois AFL-CIO State Convention.
King had a special connection to our international union, AFSCME.
On April 3, 1968, the day before his assassination, he visited Memphis, Tenn. to support striking sanitation workers who were seeking to form a union with AFSCME. That evening, King delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address to those sanitation workers.
Several weeks after King’s death, the workers reached a deal with the City of Memphis that ended the strike and recognized their union, now known as AFSCME Local 1733.
More than 50 years after King’s death, his fight for racial, social and economic justice is as relevant as ever.
CSEA is committed to joining our allies in labor and other groups in continuing King’s work to realize his dream of equality and dignity, including an end to all discrimination.
6 The Work Force
January 2023