Long Island Region President Jerry Laricchiuta’s Monthly Message

Greetings to all.

Long Island continues to be very busy this time of year. Our hundreds of miles of beautiful beaches have all been at full capacity, especially in the past month. Sometimes people (and members) take things for granted. For instance, who keeps our state beaches in tip-top shape all year long? They are our CSEA State WORKERS WHO DO THEIR JOBS FOR A VERY SMALL SALARY. These members work hard every day, cleaning and grooming a huge mess made by as many as a quarter of a million people in a single day at Jones Beach. Lifeguards remain at the ready at all times regardless of the intense heat. Also, I’m sure most of you have heard that we have a significant increase in shark attacks this year. That’s why I lost so much weight. I am trying not to look so appetizing to the great white sharks!

Despite the heat, Region One remains very active. We continue to use politics to fend off bad management, especially in certain school districts. Unfortunately, one of the worse school boards is right in my own backyard, Massapequa NY. I told our members there that I will not back down, and we will go in there and speak on a live mic to the school board with parents in the audience. I have found that this is the most effective way to get bullies in certain job locations to straighten out and become less aggressive with our members. We speak about their salaries, their perks, their voting records and then we go into some of the terrible things they say and do to our members. We have teacher aides in many school districts that work a 10-month schedule for as low as $21,000 per year! Most, if not ALL of those aides, also pay into their health insurance. Come on folks, how can anybody survive on a salary like that, especially on Long Island, where the median property tax is well over $10,000 a year? We MUST get involved as a union and get those salaries much higher! The only way to get that done is to appeal to the homeowners of each school district.

I look forward to speaking to many of you as we all go forward fighting for our members. Thank you for reading my message.