Message from Long Island Region President Jarvis Brown

A message from CSEA Long Island Region One President Jarvis Brown

Late 2024, Region One held its first in-region Fall conference, with about 300 members in attendance. The structure of the workshop was framed around getting back to the basics of unionism, focusing on responsibility, accountability, and member engagement. The Region One officers and I received a lot of positive feedback from attendees, who told me they were glad that they were able to attend. Among the people that offered kind words are CSEA Statewide President Mary E. Sullivan, CSEA Statewide Treasurer Nicole Meeks and CSEA Statewide Secretary Rich Bebo. I am happy that officers with their wealth of knowledge and experience enjoyed the workshop. I thank them for attending and for their continuous support.

In 2025, the Region One Board and I will be focusing on the existing issues in our region, such as administratorships. Addressing administratorships is the beginning of our region officers identifying and resolving issues in CSEA, which should be happening around the state. Other issues include finding election committee chairs for unit and local elections, and holding unit and local presidents and their election committees accountable for adhering to CSEAs rules and regulations for the electoral process.

Accountability is how we effectively conduct our union’s democratic system. I intend to focus a lot on accountability this year. Every year of my presidency, I intend to pick a new focus and build on what we have learned in the previous year. The theme for my presidency in 2024 was Communicate to Educate. The theme for 2025 is Accountability is the New Action.

As CSEA members, we must start prioritizing communication with each other. If we do not start doing so, some members will start listening to internal and external entities like the Freedom Foundation that seek to defame CSEA. It is much easier for members to turn on their union if they are not being properly educated. As a result, members put the wrong person in office for what they think is the right reason, never realizing they have been misinformed.

No unit, local or region leader should get too comfortable in their position. As easy as it was for one of us to be elected or be appointed it is just as easy for one of us to lose an election or be removed. Every day, we must work to earn the respect and trust of our union members. Members’ reaction to our leadership style tells us if we are succeeding or lacking in certain areas.

If we do our jobs and stay in contact with our members, keeping them engaged and informed, members will understand the importance of keeping CSEA in existence.

Organizationally, we are focused on external obstacles like Project 2025 and how they will affect us. I realize that there are differing opinions about the existence of Project 2025. The fact remains, that there is too much discussion about an external document. We need to create and focus on a CSEA Project 2025 – a list of internal issues that we must start working on immediately if we expect our union to survive at least another 20-30 years. The Region One Board and I have discussed many of the issues we are facing, some that I have already mentioned. I would identify and elaborate on what we see as our union’s immediate threats as follows:

• Member engagement – We should be talking with members and educating our members, daily. The more they learn, the more they will want to be involved, which essentially fixes present issues with apathy and lack of involvement among the membership.
• Education – Completing the CSEA workshops that officers are required to take, according to CSEA constitution.

              * Building trust – Due to lack of education, there are some officers that   do not know what their job entails, which has led to a lack of trust.

              * Educating members on the value of union membership.

• Accountability – If you are seated in a position, you need to learn what that job entails and how to apply that information.

We must hold lesser ranking officers, committee members and board members on the unit, local, region level responsible for their job requirements.

• Succession planning – When unit, local and region leaders are making a plan for their retirement, they should also be putting a succession plan in place for when they step down from their position. In order for there to be a smooth transition, activists have to be properly educated to take over.
• Communication – We should be disseminating information as we learn it. An informed membership is a powerful membership.
• Health and Safety – School districts, private sector, local government, and state agencies all have health and safety issues that are harming our members and need to be neutralized. Our members have the right to work in a safe environment.

What I have identified is no longer a want it is a need, and if we don’t focus on resolving the problems they will turn into a collective emergency that will cripple us as an organization. If everyone gets back to these basics, we will have an organization full of leaders, activist and rank and file members who can stand up for themselves and be an organized, cohesive group. This will give us the foundation to stand up against the Freedom Foundation and other obstacles that come against our union.

In solidarity,

Jarvis Brown

CSEA Long Island Region President