Page 8 - Work Force March 2020

Balancing work and home life tough for direct care workers
Johnson is December PEOPLE Recruiter of the Month
WAMPSVILLE — Betty Jo Johnson of the Madison County Local in our Central Region is the PEOPLE Recruiter of the Month for December.
Johnson, our Statewide PEOPLE Committee Chair, Central Region 1st Vice President and Madison County Local President, recruited 11 new PEOPLE members.
“For over 40 years, the PEOPLE Program has allowed CSEA and AFSCME to fight to maintain unions, our jobs, our benefits, our pension,” Johnson said. “PEOPLE has pushed for labor-friendly legislation in Albany & D.C., and they have fought against legislation that is anti-union.
There is no other such organization solely dedicated to us and the Labor movement. Without PEOPLE, I'm not sure CSEA or AFSCME would continue to exist anywhere near as strong as we are today.”
CSEA’s PEOPLE program protects and improves our jobs, benefits
and pensions in Washington, Albany and in your community. Your support and participation in PEOPLE strengthens CSEA’s clout
CSEA Statewide PEOPLE Committee Chair Betty Jo Johnson, left, recruits Seneca County Unit Treasurer Donald Black for PEOPLE during a recent Central Region conference.
in the workplace, in the legislature, in your community and in the labor movement.
— Nicholas Newcomb
Publisher’s note:
Peoples, who is married with adult children, points to call center scheduling and mandated overtime as barriers to improving on the promise of exceptional quality care. He added these factors have always been issues for the agency.
Peoples, whose current duties include assisting a man with severe autism, said it’s been very hard for the agency to recruit and keep co-workers when employees are given no viable options about scheduling or overtime mandates.
“No one wants to refuse a mandate to work overtime or be scheduled
for more hours,” he said. “All we are asking for is to be part of the solution and a find a remedy that everyone can live with. We would really like to get back to focusing on what’s really important, to continue the delivery
of high-quality care we give to the individuals we serve.”
Last fall, CSEA participated in a statewide series
of events that recognized workers who regularly go above and beyond
the scope of their jobs as part of national Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week.
CSEA continues to work through labor-management channels with the focus on improving employee recruitment and retention.
Our union is actively participating in hiring events throughout the area to try and encourage new workers
to apply, highlighting higher wages, worker protections and other benefits that are part of our CSEA union membership.
CSEA is fighting every day to make improvements, small and large, to alleviate understaffing, as well as personal and professional stress, that often stems from mandatory overtime shifts.
— Ove Overmyer
For our members
employed at
the state Office
for People With
Developmental
Disibilities
(OPWDD), a
career in direct
care can be
rewarding, as
these workers
make a positive difference in the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities.
But these rewards also carry a price. Many OPWDD workers face persistent understaffing and repeated mandatory overtime, which can create stress that affects workers on and off the job. It also takes us away from personal or family business.
Direct care
workers also must
provide high quality
care knowing that
at any moment,
they could face a
false accusation
of mistreatment
of individuals and
a Justice Center
investigation.
Our OPWDD workers must balance the need to care for individuals and themselves. The following account details a Western New York DDSO Local member who, like many of his
co-workers, is balancing work and life.
WEST SENECA — Like many members employed in direct care, CSEA members employed at Western New York DDSO are facing stress
as they care for individuals with developmental disabilities.
“You have to put yourself first, or you can’t take care of others,” said CSEA member Scott Peoples, a direct support assistant at Western New York DDSO for more than 22 years.
He has worked in developmental centers, Individualized Residential Alternative settings and a group home in the Town of Hamburg.
Peoples
“We would really like to get back to focusing on what’s really important, to continue the delivery of high-quality care we give to the individuals we serve.”
Forsythe named January PEOPLE Recruiter of the Month
BROOKLYN — Conrad Forsythe of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center
Local in the Metropolitan
Region is
the PEOPLE
Recruiter of
the Month for
January. He
recruited nine
new PEOPLE members.
“We need to have greater
clout in Albany as we fight for our members,” Forsythe said. “From the local level to the state level, PEOPLE is our vehicle to Albany.”
CSEA’s PEOPLE program protects and improves our jobs, benefits and pensions in Washington, Albany and in your community. Your support and participation in PEOPLE strengthens CSEA’s clout
in the workplace, in the legislature, in your community and in the labor movement.
— David Galarza
Forsythe
8 The Work Force
March 2020