Page 4 - Work_Force_June_2018

WorkForce
ISSN 1522-1091
Official publication of
CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO 143 Washington Ave. Albany, NY 12210-2303 Danny Donohue, President
SHANNON HUTTON
Director of Communications & Publisher
MATHEW L. CANTORE Deputy Director of Communications
Long Island Region: WENDI BOWIE (631) 462-0030
Metropolitan Region: DAVID GALARZA (212) 406-2156
Southern Region: JESSICA LADLEE (845) 831-1000
Capital Region: THERESE ASSALIAN (518) 782-4400
Central Region: MARK M. KOTZIN (315) 433-0050
Western Region: OVE OVERMYER (716) 691-6555
Headquarters: JILL ASENCIO (518) 257-1276
JANICE GAVIN Editor
JASON D. HOSIER Graphic Production Specialist
BETH MCINTYRE Graphic Production Specialist
JOELLE LUCENTE Communications Assistant
CommuniCations speCialists
The Publications Committee:
Karen Bright Marie Snyder
Debbie Nappi-Gonzalez Rick Stahl
The Work Force (USPS 0445-010)
is published monthly by
The CSEA Publication Office:
143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210. Periodical Mail Postage paid at
Post Office,
Albany, New York 12288,
and additional mailing offices.
Postmaster: Send address changes to: CSEA, Attn: Membership Department, 143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210
Readers: Send any comments, complaints, suggestions or ideas to: Publisher, The Work Force
143 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12210-2303
CSEA online: cseany.org
or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube:
facebook.com/csealocal1000 twitter.com/csealocal1000 youtube.com/csealocal1000
President Danny Donohue in touch with
The WorkForce
Strong unions mean safer workplaces
4 The Work Force
June 2018
On Feb. 1, 1968, Memphis, Tenn. sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker took shelter from heavy rain in their truck.
When it malfunctioned, they were crushed to death.
Their deaths sparked a strike among their co-workers that defined not only labor justice, but racial justice.
It all centers on one basic tenet of the labor movement: all workers should be able to go home safe.
Fifty years later, unions continue to play a major role in workplace safety and health, through legislation, advocacy and technical expertise.
Our goal is to ensure that no workers die or become injured on the job; that we can all go home safely.
While we have made great strides improving workplace safety, we have so much more to do.
At our recent Statewide Conference
on Occupational Safety and Health, we remembered fallen workers, including three of our own brothers who passed away on the job since our last conference: Donald Schultz, Stephen Giorgio III and Gregory Eliopolous.
Their deaths were preventable, and we need to work harder to ensure that the list of our fallen members never grows by another name.
Unfortunately, there are anti-union forces out there who are willing to cut corners on equipment, training and procedures to increase their profits. This corporate greed puts workers at risk.
We can have all the conversations we want about protecting wages, benefits, health care, and our retirement security, but all of it really means nothing if we lose the power to push our employers to protect us properly on the job.
Remember, the most important thing that unions ultimately do is to ensure your employer is keeping you as safe as possible on the job.
There IS something you can do to help ensure your safety and well-being in your workplace. You can remain an active member of CSEA. There is strength (and safety!) in numbers. If every one of us remains in the union, our strength will
let us continue to advocate for our safety on the job.
When these anti-union groups contact you and your co-workers, and try to weaken us all by getting you to quit, tell them you are sticking with our union! Strong unions mean safer workplaces.