Page 10 - Work Force July-August 2018

Ken Crusie: Why I’m Sticking With Our Union “
Editor’s Note: Village of Wappingers Falls Unit is a tremendous value.
President Ken Crusie understands the value of Other unions don’t have the resources we
I’m sticking with our
our union membership, particularly the many resources our union has to offer our members. He recently spoke with
The Work Force’s Jessica
Ladlee about why he will stick with our union.
“It’s huge just to
have the ability to negotiate what you want. Everything is negotiable. You have
a say about workplace safety raises, and terms and conditions of employment.
If someone were
looking to quit our
union, I would advise
them to think about
what might happen if
they are disciplined
at work and no longer
have our union there to
represent them. All of
that money they saved
on union dues would go to a private attorney to defend them, plus a lot more because it’s very expensive for lawyers and arbitration. Having our CSEA Legal Department behind us
have at CSEA. We have no idea how lucky we
s strength in numbers.
are to have them.
I approached our Occupational Safety and Health Department when I found out that a water main replacement we were undertaking was in an area where there was soil contamination. [CSEA Industrial Hygienist] Mark Stipano told us had the right to know what kind of conditions we were working in. He later helped us monitor the site.
To work in the area, we had to take a 40-hour training course that the village paid for us to take and have an emergency response plan.
If we didn’t have our union, we would have been working in these
conditions with no protective gear. Just having our Occupational Safety and Health Department is a major factor in what makes our union such a great value.”
I could never tur back on my co-wor have come too far t now. I will always s our brothers and si our union. That’s w sticking with CSEA.
— Angel Pride, f worker and Sodex Community Colleg
union because there i”
— Jaquay Jones, eligibil examiner, Albany Cou
Department of Soc Servi
“
10 The Work Force
July-August 2018
We’re STI
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