Page 15 - Work Force November 2019

CSEA STATEWIDE PRESIDENT, continued from Page 10
proximity to the Thruway and Amtrak. CSEA has hosted numerous conferences here in the past, and they are one of the few places in our state with large enough meeting facilities to house all our workshop needs. Other unions have used Turning Stone, and it is not on any labor boycott lists.
As union leaders, we should remember that the key to good union leadership is not only to keep learning, but to take back what we learned and share it with our members in every town, school, highway garage, library, hospital and every other workplace. In order for us to remain a
“forever union,” we must make sure to keep sharing the important work we are doing and lessons we are learning.
Finally, as I have already announced that I will not seek another term of
office, I want to thank everyone for their support as I attend my final delegates meeting as president of our great union.
It has been my honor and privilege to
lead CSEA, and I could not have done it without the support of all my union sisters and brothers, not to mention our great staff and elected officers. I feel like I am stepping back at a time where our union
is in better shape than when I started, and that we can continue to make progress for our members and enhance their lives on and off the job, not just now, but forever.
Respectfully submitted,
Danny Donohue
CSEA President
to build by the way we communicate — not talking ‘above’ or ‘at’ the member. We are having a two-way conversation and members understand this. They see it, they feel it and that is why they invite us into their homes.
I hear members say when I knock on their door, ‘Wow, you are a statewide officer and you have come to my home?’ I say, ‘Of course. This is how we build our union strong.’
As we move forward from a position
of strength and renewed commitment to
the ideals we hold dear to us in unionism: solidarity, community, fairness, dignity, respect; I believe the key to success as we move toward FOREVER UNION is to remember that trust is not only the foundation of our strength, it is also the foundation of good leadership. Leadership is so important. It is
ever need it. For union leaders, Forever Union should mean standing by and representing
our Mission Statement; as a face of our union, they should ideally project a sense of integrity, honesty and thoughtfulness. For the Statewide Officers, Forever Union means leading the way to ensure that CSEA remains strong forever. To me, that means working together and ensuring that we have the resources we need to project our union into the future. Finally, Forever Union means being part of
a team. We do not always get to pick our teammates, but we must all work together as our diversity only makes us stronger.
Much of my work as your Statewide Treasurer has revolved around making our union stronger. Over the past several years, we have been working on improving our union’s technology so that we can not only meet the demands of the future, but make our union more accessible to younger workers. We were about 10 years behind current technologies, but we have made great strides to bring our union up to today’s needs. We now have firm footing on this, but it is now time to build on that even more to advance our union.
Since the Janus decision, we have taken a very conservative approach to how we budgeted our members’ money. While we have ultimately not lost on membership numbers, we still need to be careful because
crucial to how we do business.
In contrast, I was horrified to learn that
when Trump recently held a ‘union rally’
the members were FORCED to be there by their management. Management threatened to withhold paychecks if the workers didn’t show up. They were told they could not even be honest and express how they felt. That to me is not what the union movement should EVER be about. EVER. Where was the leadership for those union members who were forced? What happened to their trust?
Our members always have a voice with us. We will always be honest with each other. We will always LISTEN.
As I continue to walk the “blitzes” (now with two new, good knees (smile)), I ask you — Join me.
there are still challenges ahead. Our opponents are still knocking on doors trying to get our members to quit our union. Anti-labor groups are trying to fool union members into giving up their rights, but our members are staying union and are stronger than ever.
We must still take a careful approach with spending our members’ dues money. As I reported previously, we recently revised our Treasurer Training to make it more interactive and comprehensive for our treasurers. Between July 2017 and today, we have trained more than 1,500 treasurers, many for the first
time. We continue to present this training to our remaining treasurers, and it is our goal
to ensure that every treasurer can complete this mandatory — and important — training. Because our treasurers are generally volunteers who have numerous work and personal responsibilities outside of our union — and some of our treasurers also live in locations that may be remote from their CSEA region or satellite office, another goal of mine is
to establish a means for our members to complete this training electronically, saving time and money.
I could not complete the goal of presenting Treasurer Trainings to every treasurer
without a team of people who are serious about helping me. I would like to thank
Rich Condelles for helping present treasurer
It is an amazing feeling to see how warm and inviting our brothers and sisters are and how much information is available to do good work and help others in need. The experience of being involved will alter your perception and your mindset.
As I type this report, Gallup released its latest poll that shows approval for labor unions is the highest it has been in 50 years! We are winning. It is working. Most importantly,
we are seeing our work making a significant impact for our communities.
Forever Union! Respectfully submitted,
Denise Berkley
Statewide Secretary
trainings across the state; Connie Bonacquisti for helping me with numerous details and program materials, sometimes a significant amount, and our Print Shop and Mailroom staff for printing, sorting and distributing the training materials. As a local officer, I always knew that our union had many resources, but I never realized the valuable role that our staff plays in helping us provide the many services we have for our members, including legal assistance, training opportunities, safety and health and much more. They help us serve our members every day, and I appreciate all that they do.
On a final thought, Forever Union means that we are also forever a family. While families sometimes don’t always agree with one another, we must all work toward the goals that first brought unions together — fair pay, strong benefits, retirement security, safe working conditions and a voice at work. We have to remember that we are labor leaders, not politicians. We need to have our flag planted firmly where we are and that is what make us stronger than ever.
Respectfully submitted,
William Walsh
Statewide Treasurer
CSEA STATEWIDE SECRETARY, continued from Page 11
CSEA STATEWIDE TREASURER, continued from Page 11
November 2019
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