Page 4 - Work Force May 2016

WorkForce
ISSN 1522-1091
Official publication of
CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO 143 Washington Ave. Albany, NY 12210-2303 Danny Donohue, President
STEPHEN A. MADARASZ Communications Director & Publisher
EMILY COTE
Deputy Director of Communications
LOU HMIELESKI Executive Editor
JANICE GAVIN Associate Editor
JANICE M. KUCSKAR Graphic Production Specialist
JASON D. HOSIER Graphic Production Specialist
BETH MCINTYRE Communications Assistant
CommuniCations speCialists
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
The Publications Committee: Karen Bright
Robert Ellis
Tim Finnigan
Debbie Nappi-Gonzalez Marie Snyder Rick Stahl Vincenza Turpin
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
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President Danny Donohue in touch with
The WorkForce
In CSEA, we never quit on safety and health protections
The dedication and enthusiasm of CSEA safety and health activists represents the very best in what our union is all about. Take note because that’s a really good thing for your well being.
Attention to the law, making
sure that management lives up to
its responsibilities to ensure a safe workplace (no matter where the
work is being done), proper training, equipment and supervision can all make the difference between life and death or serious injury. That attention on the front lines comes from your co-workers — union brothers and sisters — who are committed to you and safe and healthy workplaces.
Nearly 900 attendees recently participated in our Statewide Conference on Occupational Safety and Health (see stories, pages
5, 9 –11). They spent the weekend working hard to learn detailed information from CSEA staff and other experts about how to protect you, no matter what kind of work you do.
What’s more, they will bring
back what they learned to your work site — and many attendees will also become peer trainers and help present programs across the state so that others can learn, too.
CSEA was the driving force behind the state Public Employee Safety and Health Law of 1980. Before that, public workers in New York did not have safety and health protections, as hard as that might be to believe. That is still the case in more than half the states in America today. In many of those states, laws also make it nearly impossible for workers to have a union to make their voice heard. Not surprisingly, objective studies have show that workers in so-called right-to-work states are
far more likely to die, get maimed
or seriously ill from on-the-job circumstances.
Think about it. Be proud that your union will never quit when it comes to ensuring workplace health and safety.
4 The Work Force
May 2016