Page 16 - Work Force September 2021

Summary of July Board of Directors Meeting
Editor’s Note: The Work Force publishes
a summary
of actions
taken by
CSEA’s Board
of Directors.
The summary
is prepared Bebo by CSEA
Statewide
Secretary Richard Bebo for union members.
ALBANY — To comply with state social gathering restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CSEA has canceled in-person meetings and this meeting was held via Zoom.
In official business, the board:
• Endorsed the Capital
Communications Federal Credit Union (CAP COM FCU) CSEA Heroes Home Solutions Mortgage Program as a CSEA member benefit.
• Endorsed the hearing health
•
company Your Hearing Network (YHN), to replace the previously endorsed hearing health company, Ear Q. Approved Local 010, New York City, to enter into a four-year extension agreement between 32 Court Street Associates
LLC located at 32 Court Street, Suite 1502, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The lease is for four years commencing June 1, 2021 and ending May 31, 2025. As this lease term runs past the local officers’ current term, the Board’s approval is necessary for this lease.
Approved Local 835, Ontario County, to enter into a third addendum to the lease agreement between Geneva Housing Authority located at 41 Lewis Street, Suite 102, Geneva, NY 14456. The lease is for four years beginning August 1, 2021 and ending July 31, 2025. As this lease term runs past the local officers’ current term, the Board’s approval is necessary
for this lease.
• Approved revisions to the
CSEA Financial Standards Code language, as contained in the • Treasurer’s Report to the Board
of July 15, 2021.
• Approved the revised and
updated investment policy as contained in the Investment • Committee’s report to the
Board of July 15, 2021.
• Approved the issuance • of a permanent charter
for CSEA Local 793, Metz
Culinary Management Erie
Medical (Western Region, 43
employees).
• Approved the issuance of a
permanent charter for CSEA Local 795, St. Christopher Ottilie (Long Island Region, 93 employees).
• Approved the issuance of a temporary charter for CSEA Local 797, Northern Onondaga Volunteer Ambulance (Central Region, 25 employees).
• Approved the issuance of a temporary charter for CSEA
Local 798, Easter Seals Project Excel (Southern Region, 25 employees).
Approved the transfer of two members from CSEA Local 003 to CSEA Local 012 (Western Region) due to operational considerations.
Approved the Standing Legal Committee Report to the Board of July 15, 2021.
Approved the appointment
of Patrice Haskell Local 100A (Western Region) and Stephanie Teachman Local 607 (Western Region) to the Western Region Political Action Committee,
as contained in the Standing Legislative and Political Action Committee Report to the Board of July 15, 2021.
Questions concerning the summary should be directed to Statewide Secretary Richard Bebo, CSEA Headquarters, 143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210. (800) 342-4146 or (518) 257-1253.
•
OHistory of Labor Day
n Labor Day, we celebrate the Labor Day parade in U.S. history.
important contributions of This event’s success led multiple
unionists began to observe May 1 as what later became known as International Workers’ Day. They initially observed this day to commemorate
the Haymarket
affair in
Chicago,
during which
eight people
were killed
during a labor
demonstration
urging for an
eight-hour
workday.
many labor leaders of the time wished to celebrate a workers’ holiday on May 1, Cleveland opted for the first Monday in September
to avoid
any further strikes or potential violence. International Workers’ Day is still observed around the world.
More than a century
American workers to society. While it is unclear who initially
thought the idea to celebrate Labor Day, working people began observing it during a difficult period in U.S. labor history.
In the late 19th century, many people, including children, worked for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, often for low pay and facing unsafe working conditions.
As people increasingly worked
at industrial jobs, labor unions became more prominent in fighting for fairness and dignity on the job, including through rallies and events such as parades.
One of these events happened on Sept. 5, 1882, when more than 10,000 workers in New York City marched from City Hall to Union Square, taking unpaid time off from work. This march is considered the first-ever
cities — and soon, states — to adopt a full-time workers’ holiday, but Labor Day didn’t become a federal holiday until 1894.
That year, the Pullman Palace Car Company cut pay without lowering worker rents in its namesake town in Illinois. After workers complained, they were fired. Tens of thousands of railroad workers in the Midwest held strikes in protest, which led to railroad traffic being halted in the area. Many of the demonstrations and strikes ended in violence, including by federal troops.
U.S. President Grover Cleveland faced much political criticism for his response to the railroad strikes. On June 28, 1894, he signed legislation declaring Labor Day a national holiday, a move his critics saw as a way to regain support he had lost.
During the same period, trade
International
Workers’ Day,
also known
as May Day,
became
negatively
associated with what many people of the era, including Cleveland, considered radical policies. While
16 The Work Force
September 2021
This illustration (from Frank Leslie’s Weekly Illustrated) depicts what is believed to be people the first-ever U.S. labor parade, held in New continue York City in 1882.
dignity and fairness on the job. Labor Day helps
us highlight our successes and ongoing struggles.
later, working
to fight for
15