We are union, we are proud and we are strong.
Time and time again, we have shown our power in the workplace. When we work together, we are unstoppable.
This year, we have accomplished some wonderful things. CSEA has welcomed many new groups of workers into our union, including the City of Long Beach Part-Time workers, Utica Zoo, Croton Library, BANGS Ambulance, Storm King Arts Center, Inwood Sanitary District No. 1 for Supervisors and the Goshen Public Library. As part of our union, they have respect, dignity and voice on the job. Most of all, they have power.
Over the past year, CSEA has worked with Governor Hochul and her administration to enact measures to increase hiring and encourage retention at state agencies and local government. Thanks to our union’s political action efforts, the governor and state legislature have made many changes to the state’s civil service system that include waiving civil service examination fees, offering continuous recruitment exams, placing Civil Service representatives in career centers across the state, requiring the Department of Civil Service and municipal civil service commissions to advertise competitive exams in schools and job training centers and counting employee provisional time toward permanent appointments. These measures will help ease the hiring process, encourage worker retention and recruit people for public jobs.
Our union members can help with recruitment and retention, too. We need to keep using our voices to help recruit and retain public employees. We can make a difference by sharing our stories about the rewarding nature of our work and urging people to pursue public sector careers. If we can each connect with at least one person, we can help address the staffing crisis.
We celebrate these victories, and we are working toward achieving even more improvements in 2024. In addition to recruitment and retention, our union continues to fight for further improvements to the state’s pension system and civil service.
We also face challenges from anti-labor groups. I am happy to say that their efforts are not working, but we need to continue to be vigilant. I urge you all to continue to stand strong against our opponents. The more they try to attack us, the more we will show them we will not break.
CSEA is also working hard to reach out to new employees as soon as they are hired to introduce them to our union and have them join. Our union has formed a task force on new employee orientations to ensure we are doing the most we can to get new members excited and enthusiastic about our union. This is a key way to keep our union strong.
For 113 years, we have stood strong against challenges both big and small, and we will continue to do so for the next century. When we stand strong, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.
I wish you all a happy, safe and healthy holiday season. My very best to you and yours.
