Page 14 - Work Force November 2016

I would like to
thank each and every
one of you who was
or is still involved in our efforts. In our Region, I would like to recognize our Region officers, our staff, our elected leaders, and our member activists. From outside our Region, we also had great assistance from our headquarters staff, as well as staff from our international union. We couldn’t have done what we did without everyone pitching in to help, and I hope everyone understands how strongly this reaffirms what our union is all about... when everyone gets involved and
we come together to fight for our rights, we succeed. I couldn’t be more proud.
I would also like to offer my congratulations to our team of Statewide officers and my team of Region officers on our election to office for the next four years. It is a pleasure to continue to serve my third
a living, tell them you deliver vital services to your community and you will never quit on them.”
14 The Work Force
November 2016
2016 Annual Delegates Meeting Officer Reports
COLLEEN WHEATON Central Region President
When we come together to fight for our rights, we succeed
FLO TRIPI
Western Region President
CSEA: We Never Quit
Fellow delegates, sisters and brothers, I would like to begin by offering my thanks.
As we all know, this past year has been a very challenging one for us as labor activists. We witnessed one of the strongest attacks against everything we stand for with the Friedrichs case before the Supreme Court, and came very close — way too close — to seeing that case decided against us.
As it moved forward, we all scrambled to respond and spread the word to each and every one our members to help them understand the long-term impact the case could have upon us and all of our families. Everyone got involved to some degree or another, and we mounted an impressive effort to strengthen our union... Through member engagement
training... through
having those one-on-one
conversations with our
members... through
our “blitzes” across the
state... and through
our ongoing efforts to
make sure that all of our
members “never quit” on
themselves, each other,
and our union.
term as Central Region President and I thank our members for their continued faith in our leadership. Congratulations also to Danny, Mary, and Nick, who were recently elected as AFSCME International Vice Presidents.
I must also take a moment to again recognize the recent retirement of a large group of our union’s staff. They are all going to be missed and I wish everyone well, but
I want to especially single out our former Region Director Joe Maratea and our former Office Manager Roslie Tallman. Their combined decades of activism and service to our union has served us so well for so long, and they have helped make our Region and our union stronger for having been active, involved, and working with us. I will miss them both, and I know that you will join me
The American Labor Movement is one of our nation’s most vital stakeholders — having been on the front lines of improving our economy and fighting for safe, good- paying dignified jobs for more than a century. While visiting our nation’s capital during
our 106th ADM, we ask all our delegates, members and allies to rededicate our efforts to improving the lives of all working families. We also ask for our community partners and allies to help us bring economic justice to
the workplace and to improve social justice outcomes in New York State and all across this great nation. It’s also very important for our communities to know that CSEA public service and private sector workers will never quit on the promise of creating a better life for our neighbors, our families and ourselves.
We are stronger when we invest in our
as a community — all of us. Work is what connects us — and we are stronger together.
The way working people speak with one voice is through our collective bargaining efforts and our union. It’s through CSEA that workplace democracy exists. In some of our most dangerous institutions, corrections and public safety workers get a seat at the table with management to help prevent unsafe work conditions. It’s through our political action efforts we can provide a necessary voice for all working people when legislators create public policy. It’s through CSEA that emergency medical workers can improve the life-saving services we provide for our loved ones and for our communities. But let’s not kid ourselves — there are many rich and powerful people trying to pass legislation and sway court decisions to diminish the power of
working people— while spending billions of dollars doing it. No matter how vicious and ugly the attacks are against us, we will always stand up for our communities and our families. We will never
quit fighting for our right to have a voice on the job
and in our communities.
We will never quit fighting for a living
wage for all people who want to work; to finally join all other industrialized nations
in guaranteeing Paid Family Leave for working families and at last secure equal
pay for women. Let us also recommit our dedication to creating safe clean workplaces — where workers and employers can be more productive and where employees know they will be going home unscathed after a hard day’s work.
Never quit — this is our CSEA history and it will always be a fundamental characteristic of who we are and what we do. This will always be our message. The next time you are introduced to someone and Western Region President, continued on page 16
“We must take every opportunity we have to spread our “Never Quit” message, because we know that it is just a matter of time before the anti-union forces who seek to take away our rights will be showing up to talk with them to convince them they should quit their union.”
most precious
resource — the
people and families
who take an active
role in making
their communities
better by delivering
on the promise of
a job well done.
Our economy and
way of life is not
all about money
and profit — it’s
about people. It’s
about shared prosperity and improving the standard of living for everybody. We know we are stronger as a community when labor laws are enforced and when we support each other in times of crisis. Our right to organize, to collectively bargain, to be safe on the job — and to retire with dignity and security after years of hard work is fundamental to the growth and well being of our nation.
Unionized workers contribute to virtually every sector of our economy. Work is what we do to better ourselves, our families — our cities, towns, our nation. Work is the initials we scratch in the wet cement of America’s progress. Work is what built this country — and it’s what will build it again. And as work changes we change with it. Work doesn’t separate us — it’s what binds us together
in wishing them the best in their well-deserved retirements.
The retirements of Joe and Roslie, along with a host of other talented staff, also mark a turning point for our union. It truly is a new day for CSEA as we move forward, and as I’ve said before, we need to embrace the change ahead if we want to survive as a movement.
CSEA has not lasted for more than 100 years by staying stagnant and doing the same as we’ve always done. We have grown and adapted to the changing world around us. Now is no different. If anything, the need for change now is even more urgent.
Some may like it, and some may not, but if we are to remain relevant, if we want to
be around for the next 100 years, we need to change with the times. We must look at the bigger picture of what is happening around us and look at how we can further adapt. Changes to the roles and responsibilities of our union staff and leadership are only one example of changes we need to make and accept as our new reality. There will be more changes ahead, some which we can control,
Central Region President, continued on page 17
“Never quit — this is our CSEA history and it will always be a fundamental characteristic of who we are and what we do. This will always be our message. The next time you are introduced to someone and they ask you what you do for