CSEA SUNY Old Westbury Local member Errol Roberts, left, and local 1st Vice President Jeffrey Dormody walk through the administration building to view the numerous updates that members recently completed.
OLD WESTBURY— CSEA SUNY Old Westbury Local members are working hard to beautify the school campus and saving the state money in the process.
CSEA members who are painters, electricians and carpenters came together to revamp an open space outside of the college’s president’s office into a waiting room.
In two short weeks, members laid sheetrock, spackled and painted walls and rewired electric cords, turning the area into a warm, cozy foyer.
By using the skills of CSEA members employed at the college as opposed to hiring an outside contractor, the state saved money.
“I’d say it would cost [thousands]to get contractors in here for two weeks,” said CSEA SUNY Old Westbury Local 1st Vice President Jeffrey Dormody. “Plus, you’d have to call in an electrician to do the wiring.”
CSEA SUNY Old Westbury Local President Thomas Noble believes that designating work to CSEA members is more meaningful than simply saving money.
“Allowing CSEA members to work on large campus projects helps to return the belief and the faith that administrators have in the workers that are here,” said Noble. “They get to see that our work will be done in an efficient and timely manner, while they’re saving money.”
To decrease the disruption of the administrators’ workday and minimize their exposure to dust and other elements, CSEA members came to work at 4:30 a.m. to sand, lay down spackle and mop the floors.
That level of thoughtfulness and pride in their work is why CSEA members play such a large role in keeping the campus running, a fact that is not lost on the membership.
CSEA SUNY Old Westbury Local member Errol Roberts, left, and local 1st Vice President Jeffrey Dormody inspect their work.
“It feels good to see the results of your labor and to know that others appreciate it, as well,” said CSEA SUNY Old Westbury Local member and painter Errol Roberts. “We’re [CSEA members] always contributing to the betterment of this campus.”
“When we walk away from a project, we want to know that we left it as good as possible,” said Dormody. “The school president joked that we should go do some work at her house.”
As a result of members’ excellent work for the school president’s office, members have been assigned various other beautification projects around campus and members are happy to do it.
“We’re here, we’re really good at what we do and we want the work,” said Roberts.
— Wendi Bowie
