Page 13 - Work Force September 2025

Workers in
Spring Valley
face disrespect,
contract stalling
SPRING VALLEY — The last time CSEA Village of Spring Valley Unit members had a contract, the Trump administration was in its first term, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were just tying the knot, and the thought of a worldwide pandemic seemed unimaginable.
The unit’s contract has been expired since
May 31, 2018. Despite member advocacy and constant legal action from our union, politics have prevented a contract from getting across the finish line.
The contract campaign has involved unique complexities, hurdles that have prevented workers from receiving fair wage increases like that of neighboring CSEA bargaining units and a community call for justice for the workers who provide the village’s essential services.
No stranger to challenges
Ask anyone involved in the unit’s contract negotiations in recent decades and they will say it’s seldom been a quick process. The atmosphere on the Village Board is often politically charged. Nevertheless, agreements have eventually been reached and wage increases implemented.
“There’s a major difference between what we’re dealing with right now compared to past negotiations,” said Rockland County Local President Christopher Vogel. “We’ve kept the heat on the Village Board for years to get this contract done, but their actions have shown a clear lack of respect. Working families are suffering and facing serious hardships because Spring Valley leaders value politics over the people who provide village services.”
This time, years-long negotiations have gone through the mediation process, with a state- appointed fact finder returning a written decision beneficial to workers. Mayor Alan Simon had agreed to the tenets of the report and brought back a signed memorandum of agreement to the Village Board for a vote, then reversed course
by joining trustees in voting against ratifying the deal.
That highly unusual move drove CSEA to
file charges with the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), which led to a ruling from an administrative law judge that directed Simon
Activists from the Village of Spring Valley Unit and Rockland County Local raised awareness at a recent community rally that village workers have gone more than seven years without a contract. Pictured, from left, are Village of Spring Valley Unit activist Oristil Orisca, Deputy Mayor Joseph Gross, Labor Relations Specialist Larry Sparber, Rockland County Local President Christopher Vogel, Village of Spring Valley Unit activist Judy Marone, and Rockland County Local Executive Vice President Franklin Garcia. Deputy Mayor Gross stood with workers as he expressed hope of getting the unit’s contract finalized.
September 2025
The Work Force 13
to implement the memorandum of agreement. Rather than follow that legal directive, village leaders have dragged the case on by appealing to PERB.
Meanwhile, village employees are working
at a 2017 wage rate, having already been the lowest paid municipality in Rockland County before their contract expiration. Some have
left for other jobs, and those vacancies have gone unfilled, leading to added work for those who remain. Other members have stayed due to being close to retirement age and wanting to secure health insurance coverage in retirement.
A recent review showed that the entire unit membership falls under the federal designation as Very Low Income, earning significantly
less than 50 percent of the median income of $162,000 in Rockland County, with 26 qualifying as Extremely Low Income and earning 30 percent of the median county income. Many village employees work two or more jobs due to the absence of respectful wage increases that would allow them to stay afloat. Workers also noted they are experiencing burnout and residual health issues due to fatigue.
Meanwhile, Board of Trustees members earn $40,000 for a part-time job.
Village of Spring Valley Unit President Jonathan Gonzalez noted that at the time the contract expired, there were 93 workers in the CSEA bargaining unit. As this edition went to press, that number had declined to 54 workers.
“In our Department of Public Works, we have 10 workers covering a two-and-a-half-mile radius with 35,000 residents and a growing population,” said Gonzalez. “People move here from New York City because they want a better environment, but we don’t have the manpower needed to deliver the level of service people come here expecting.”
Speaking out
CSEA Rockland County Local officers have spoken out on the workers’ behalf at Village Board meetings, with village leaders and at community events. After a recent failed attempt by community members to force a vote on dissolving the village, local leaders joined unit members at a rally in support of preserving the village.
During that rally, workers received enthusiastic support from community activists, local clergy and laypeople and Spring Valley NAACP leaders. Also showing support was mayoral candidate Schenley Vital, who won a recent primary and is expected to be the sole candidate for mayor on the ballot in November.
Labor Relations Specialist Larry Sparber, our union’s chief negotiator, said while addressing rally attendees, “I have never seen such dysfunction or such attitude toward our workers and toward the community.”
Not knowing which will come first, a legal decision regarding the contract or a change in village leadership, our union continues to pursue all avenues to reach a fair contract.
CSEA has invested substantial legal resources not only into getting the village to reach a fair contract, but also to resolve numerous grievances and arbitrations that have resulted in substantial monetary judgments favoring members. Enforcing the payout on those judgments has also required legal enforcement by our union.
“We have already gone to court,” said Sparber, who has negotiated numerous contracts for the unit. “We have won challenge after challenge, grievance after grievance against this village for years. But at this point, what does the village do? They hire more lawyers, they pay tens of thousands of more dollars to try to beat us, and they have not done it, and they will not do it.”
— Jessica Ladlee