Page 8 - Work Force May 2025

8 The Work Force May 2025
COMMACK — CSEA members
employed at school districts face
a unique set of circumstances that
differ from those of other local
government workers.
To address members’ concerns,
the CSEA Long Island Region
established a region School Districts
Committee, where CSEA school
district workers from across Long
Island gather together to collaborate,
problem-solve and shape a collective
vision for the future.
Chairing the CSEA Long Island
Region School Districts Committee
is Western Suffolk BOCES Teacher
Aides/Cafeteria Unit Vice President
Patricia Davila, with Western
Suffolk BOCES Teacher Aides/
Cafeteria Unit member Steven Askew
serving as co-chair. Davila took
over as committee chair in 2021,
after a period of dormancy due to
retirements.
Resources and similar stories
Similar to the state’s Office
for People With Developmental
Disabilities (OPWDD) and the
Office of Mental Health (OMH),
CSEA members who work at the
Boards of Cooperative Educational
Services (BOCES) work with children
with developmental disabilities
and mental illness. Many of these
workers also face violence, low
pay and the outsourcing of their
positions.
“One of our members was
grabbed by her hair and punched
in the face eight or nine times,” said
Davila. “Other members have been
bit and had someone spit in their
eye. It isn’t uncommon for members
to end up in the hospital or urgent
care.”
Violent behaviors can be so
excessive that certain schools have
a padded room. More so, the age of
the “children” in some of the BOCES
schools can go as high as age 22.
Violence aside, other school
district workers are facing the same
School workers build strength
with region committee
issues as BOCES workers. The
region committee is working to be a
resource to help these workers.
At the committee meetings,
officers exchange phone numbers
so they always have someone to
consult about prevailing issues in
their units. All members receive
contact information, including
names, titles and office contact
information for CSEA officers and
staff that members will most likely
need.
“We have
discussions about
the function of
different levels
of leadership in
CSEA,” said Askew.
“A lot of rank-and-
file members don’t
fully understand
the roles and
responsibilities
of each office. It’s
good to break that down for them.”
Attendees also fill out a survey
asking them to identify what is
working — and not working — in
their units as well as any other
issues they may need help in
addressing. These efforts are
intended to help members better
connect with one another.
Seeing results
The Long Island Region School
Districts Committee does not
focus solely on negative issues.
The committee also makes a point
of sharing their success stories,
including how they applied the
knowledge they acquired at the
committee meetings at their
worksites.
One of the success stories is the
CSEA Patchogue-Medford School
District Operational Unit, which was
highlighted in the January 2025 issue
of The Work Force.
Patchogue-Medford School
District Operational Unit President
Peter Starken learned about the
importance of establishing a political
action committee. Starken took that
knowledge back to his unit, which
was able to harness that knowledge
into much-needed political power in
the school district.
Other members have learned
the importance of forming a labor-
management team and gained ideas
on applying certain methods in
their school districts, particularly in
safety and health. These teams now
meet with their respective school
districts twice a month and are
seeing positive change.
Davila and Askew said they
CSEA Long Island Region School
Districts Committee Chair Patricia
Davila briefly explains the meeting
agenda to attendees.
CSEA Long Island Region President Jarvis Brown clarifies the roles of CSEA leadership and CSEA staff during
contract negotiations.
strongly believe members should
rely heavily on region and statewide
leadership to educate them on
chairing a committee.
“We were running on a hamster
wheel, going nowhere, before we
turned to the region,” said Davila.
“That’s where we learned what is
and isn’t permissible, and we are
grateful for that guidance.”
— Wendi Bowie
Askew