Page 9 - Work Force October 2016

Get out and VOTE!
cseany.org WorkForce October 2016 • Vol. 19, No. 9
Our future,
our vote! See pages 9, 10-11, 15
No matter what you do on Election Day on Nov. 8, get out and vote! Every election is important, but this year’s state and federal elections will literally determine the direction in which our nation moves, including the future of collective bargaining.
CSEA has made endorsements in many elections, which are highlighted on pages 16-17. While we support these candidates, we also respect that your vote is your choice. Just get out and vote!
But to elect these candidates, we need to vote. Here are a few ways, through progressive political website Americablog.com and some of our own tips:
• Register to vote. If you are unsure of whether you are registered,
or if your address or name has recently changed, check with your local Board of Elections or visit the New York State Board of Elections website at elections.ny.gov.
• Make a plan to vote, and urge others to do so. Think about
your plan to vote on Election Day, including planning a time to visit the polls, finding your polling place and making a plan to vote for your chosen candidates. Like anything else important during your day, schedule your voting time (write it down or text it to yourself, if that works). If you know you will be unable to get to the polls, apply for an absentee ballot. Finally, ask others what time they plan to vote.
• Join the (voting) party. While
our ballots are of course private, people are ultimately joiners and voting is no exception. Bring a family member, friend or co-worker to the polls. Americasblog.com has noted that when people hear that turnout will be high, they are more likely to vote because they know their families, friends, co-workers and neighbors are voting. Plus, wouldn’t you want to be where the action is?
•
On the cover, from left, Ryan Mayer, Leah Mayer, and Terrell Frerichs ride the CSEA float in the Buffalo Labor Day parade. Photo by John Normile.
Help out and talk with someone.
CSEA is helping many of our endorsed candidates across the state get out the vote. Making phone calls and literature drops are important, but your best chance of getting someone to actually go to the polls? Face-to- face conversations. Americasblog has noted that for every 14 face-to- face conversations a campaign has
with a voter, that campaigns gets a vote that would not have been cast otherwise.
• Your vote counts. Some voters may be tempted to avoid the polls out of frustration with candidates or apathy, but in the end, your vote counts. One recent state Senate election was decided by 18 votes.
approach to all of those areas to come out with both good hospital and medical care.”
Hannon has also started a Senate task force that is fighting the growing heroin and opioid epidemic.
“We developed a database called I-STOP that prescribers will have
to check before giving a patient
a prescription for a controlled substance,” said Hannon. “We want to make sure there is no doctor shopping or misuse.”
“We also got a restriction on the amount of opioids that can be prescribed at any one point,” said Hannon.
Hannon said he entered politics because he wanted to solve problems.
“If you put intelligence towards what you’re doing, you can make effective changes,” he said.
— Wendi Bowie
Hannon puts you first
EAST MEADOW — Now more than ever, unions are being attacked by anti-worker, corporate- backed groups that want to undermine you.
It’s good
to know we
have someone
like state Sen. Kemp Hannon in our corner.
Hannon, who has represented New York’s 6th Senate District in Nassau County since 1989, proved he was on our side when he signed onto an amicus brief siding with public employees when the U.S. Supreme Court was considering the Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association case.
Hannon believes strongly in everyone having a voice at the bargaining table.
“When you have unions representing employees, there is a good, productive communication between the employee and
the manager,” said Hannon. “If communication starts to breakdown, there is a vehicle to correct the problems as they arise.”
The health of community members is also very important
to Hannon, who has been fighting
for more than 10 years for less expensive and more easily accessible alternatives to EpiPen, which provides a potentially life-saving injection for allergic reactions.
“We have researched and found there is an additional product that is only slightly different in physical configuration to EpiPen,” said Hannon “We have introduced
legislation (S.8189) saying that that alternative product will be viewed as generic in pharmacies.”
“The price of the alternative is $150-$200 verses the $600-$700 of EpiPen,” said Hannon. “People need this.”
Hannon has also asked New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to investigate the makers of EpiPen for antitrust, which Schneiderman has agreed to pursue.
As Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Hannon plans on continuing to be the mediator between numerous entities that work on behalf of the public.
“There are a series of relationships between hospitals and insurance companies and drug companies and the Medicaid program,” said Hannon. “You have to be able to take a reasonable
Hannon
Editor’s Note: Here’s a look at some of the key races in which CSEA is working to get out the vote. See below and page 15. We will feature more candidates in the next edition.
October 2016
The Work Force 9
Photo by John Normile