Page 14 - Work Force November 2025

CSEA welcomes Tyree
Learning Center
workers into union
SEA CLIFF — After more than a
year of organizing, Tyree Learning
Center workers are now the newest
members of our CSEA family.
The Tyree workers share a
campus with the CSEA SCO Family
of Services Local members. After
seeing the many ways SCO members’
work lives improved after unionizing,
Tyree workers decided they
wanted to leave the group that was
representing them and join CSEA.
“To see how happy people at
SCO are with CSEA really spoke
volumes to us,” said Tyree Learning
Center Organizing
Committee Member
Jenna DiPietro.
“We could see
great things were
happening for them;
it’s natural to want
those same things
for yourself.”
Tyree Learning
Center Organizing
Committee member
Tatia Layne initiated
conversations with
CSEA SCO Family
of Services Local
President Sirlentor
Berry to get a better
understanding
of the organizing process and to
support DiPietro, who had already
begun conversations with CSEA’s
Organizing Department about
unionizing.
After delving into the workers’
contract with their former
representation, our union realized
the group’s contract “was a sham.”
Once Tyree workers realized
what they were in, their desire
to break away from their former
representation intensified.
Without hesitation, Tyree Learning
Center workers signed union
authorization cards to let their
“So many of us have
worked at Tyree for
so long that we’re
used to being kept
small, having no
voice, and getting
nothing other than
what our measly
salary was. Now, we
have opportunity for
growth with longevity
being factored into
our contract.”
employer know they were done with
their de facto union and wanted true
representation at their worksite.
Now that our new union members
have their new contract, they are
happy to have gained benefits while
establishing a framework for future
negotiations.
“So many of us have worked at
Tyree for so long that we’re used to
being kept small, having no voice,
and getting nothing other than
what our measly salary was,” said
DiPietro. “Now, we have opportunity
for growth with longevity being
factored into our
contract.”
Organizing
committee members
admit to being quiet
when they first
began organizing,
but as time went on,
they grew into their
power.
“I learned not
to be intimidated
by management,
powerful union
busters, law firms,
or anyone else,” said
DiPietro. “It doesn’t
matter who’s sitting
at the table. You have
a voice that’s equal to theirs, and
you’re allowed to speak your mind.”
“I’m a stronger person now,” said
CSEA Tyree Learning Center Local
Organizing Committee Member
Debbie Ali. “When you work together
as a team and have a positive
attitude, things will get better.”
Committee members also
note that an initial “no” doesn’t
necessarily mean the conversation is
over because, “there’s always room
for conversation, and with a little
push things can get done.”
Others have a greater
appreciation for their colleagues and
14 The Work Force CSEA Tyree Learning Center Organizing Committee members are very
happy to be rid of their former representation and to be with CSEA. From
left, Jenna DiPietro, Debbie Ali, and Tatia Layne.
the way they came together for a
collective result.
“We realized that we were all in
the same fight and we needed to
make the time to meet to become
stronger,” said Layne. “Organizing
became a way for us to connect with
each other in a way we never had
before.”
Before Tyree workers paid a dime
in dues money, CSEA was already on
the ground, putting in work to help
our new Tyree members organize,
an action that spoke volumes to the
workers.
“I would advise anyone to take
a chance on an organization that’s
willing to take a chance on you,” said
DiPietro.
— Wendi Bowie
Cottrell is September PEOPLE recruiter of the month
SYRACUSE —
Ali Cottrell of the
SUNY Upstate
Medical Hospital
Local in the
Central Region
is the PEOPLE
Recruiter of
the Month for
September,
Cottrell
recruiting 22 new
PEOPLE members.
Cottrell was also honored as
PEOPLE Recruiter of the Year. (See
Page 12 for more.)
“The PEOPLE program helps
us show our power at the federal
level to keep our union protections
and pensions,” said Cottrell. “When
you do a new employee orientation
or talk to a new co-worker, ask
them if they’ve signed up for
PEOPLE and remind them why it’s
so important.”
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.
— Nicholas Newcomb
November 2025