Donohue honored for leadership MANHATTAN — CSEA President Danny Donohue was recognized for his leadership and longstanding dedication to fairness and respect for working people at two recent events. Dedication to farmworkers The Rural and Migrant Ministry, which leads the Justice for Farmworkers campaign, honored Donohue at the ministry’s Sowing the Seeds of Justice event at The Riverside Church in Manhattan on May 28. ABC News correspondent John Quiñones and Rene Thiel of the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale were also honored. (See more about Quiñones, below.) CSEA has been a longtime supporter of The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act (bill S. 1291/ A.4762), which was introduced by State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Assemblymember Catherine Nolan. The act would help to extend fundamental labor rights and benefits to farmworkers throughout New York state. Despite working in harsh conditions and being particularly susceptible to abusive labor practices, farmworkers, many of whom are Latina/o, do not currently enjoy the same protections that were long-ago extended to workers in other vocations. Key provisions of the bill include collective bargaining rights; an eight-hour workday; overtime pay; workers’ compensation benefits and mandates for sanitary work conditions. The bill has strong bipartisan support, but needed at least five more votes in this session to make it to the floor for consideration. “We are determined to pass this bill,” said Donohue. “The people who feed us every day should enjoy the same worker rights all other workers have.” LaborPress honors Donohue On June 4, Donohue was honored by LaborPress at the labor publication and website’s annual Labor Leadership Awards Reception, held at the New York City District Council of Carpenters office in Manhattan. Donohue was recognized for his outstanding CSEA President Danny Donohue was recently honored by LaborPress. From left are Bill Hohlfeld, staff writer, LaborPress; Mike Butler, CEO, Radius Bank; Neal Tepel, publisher, LaborPress; state Sen. Martin Golden; Victoria Mitchell, executive director, AFSCME District Council 1707; Donohue; Joseph Stamm, CEO, MedReview; Gary LaBarbara, president, Building and Construction Trades Council and Vincent Peter, an attorney. leadership and hard work on behalf of working people. “Now more than ever, we need to all come together and make a better New York for all,” Donohue said. “We have to go out there and be aggressive and remind people that labor unions aren’t something from the past. They are needed today to give people the respect they deserve for the jobs they do.” Other labor leaders honored at the event were Thomas Buffenberger, international ABC News’ Quiñones inspires crowd John Quiñones will never forget his father’s words early one morning as they knelt on the cold, hard ground of Ohio’s tomato fields. “Juanito,” said his father, Bruno. “Do you want to do this for the rest of your life? Or, do you want to get a college education?” The answer was a “no-brainer” to Quiñones, a former child farmworker who is now an Emmy Award-winning ABC News correspondent who hosts the network’s “What Would You Do?” series. He earned a master’s degree from Columbia University, one of the nation’s top journalism schools. But Quiñones never forgot where he came from, which is why he recently joined the Rural & Migrant Ministry at its recent Seeds of Justice event. He moved attendees with his inspiring stories about his humble beginnings and dreams of going to college and being on national television. — David Galarza president, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; James Cahill, president, New York State Building and Construction Trades Council; Edwin Christian, business manager, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 14; Ernest Logan, president, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators and Steve McInnis, president, New York City District Council of Carpenters. — David Galarza CSEA Statewide Secretary Denise Berkley, right, displays a leadership award from the Rural and Migrant Ministry presented to CSEA President Danny Donohue. At left is ABC News correspondent John Quiñones, who was also honored. 6 The Work Force July-August 2015
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