After a landslide victory over the constitutional convention, CSEA activists and staff are continuing to reach out to our members to build a stronger union.
During recent member engagement visits in New York City and Ulster County, conversations centered on educating our members, and hearing their concerns about the pending U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, which will review the constitutionality of agency, or fair share, fees. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the case in early 2018.
Spreading an important message
At a Workers’ Compensation Board work site meeting in Harlem, CSEA Political Action Coordinator Matt D’Amico shared copies of a mailer urging people to quit their union that public employees in Washington received.
“These are the kinds of deceptive tactics that are being used to destroy the union movement,” said D’Amico. “We all need to be aware and we need to warn our brothers and sisters.”
“Without our union, we will be lacking our voice,” said Marilyn Valle, an assistant workers’ compensation examiner. “We have great benefits through our union and we don’t want to lose them.”
“We are determined to reach every single member in the region,” said Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett. “The enthusiasm and support members have for our union is solid but we can’t rest until we’ve reached everyone.”
Strengthening communication
In Ulster County, busy schedules and hunting season made work site meetings and weekend door knocks a challenge, but CSEA activists volunteering for the member engagement visits said the conversations they had with members were overwhelmingly pro-union.
“We need unions now more than ever,” CSEA Ulster County Unit member Ralph Perry told Dutchess County Education Local Secretary Joanne Bardin and CSEA Occupational Safety and Health Specialist Brian Pomeroy, after the two visited Perry’s home.
CSEA Ulster County Local President Amanda Wolfson thanked the member engagement team for coming to the county to reach out to our members. Both the Ulster County Unit and Local are working to strengthen communication with members.
“The members showed a clear interest in staying with our union and even getting more involved,” said Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo, who noted that even when a fire alarm during a work site meeting at the Ulster County Department of Social Services forced an evacuation, conversations continued outside in the parking lot.
— David Galarza and Jessica Ladlee
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- Workers’ Compensation Local activist Pat Dixon Lawrence joins other members, from left, Marilyn Valle, Josephine B. Melendez and Mildred Roman in pledging to Never Quit our union.
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- CSEA Director of Member Engagement Adam Acquario explains to members at the state Department of Health and the Health Research Institute, Inc. why union members must remain strong in the face of attacks.
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- CSEA Political Action Coordinator Matt D’Amico shares information about a deceptive mailer sent to union members in Washington at the Workers’ Compensation office.
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- CSEA Contract Administration Specialist Neil Kelly speaks with members at the state Department of Health about the pending Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 case.
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- State Department of Health Local members Lorette E. Lacey and Angela Wright are committed to our union.
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- CSEA Director of Member Engagement Adam Acquario speaks with a member about the need for union members to stand united despite attacks against working people.
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- “Having a union gives us a voice on the job.” — Ed Doroschuk, Wallkill School District Unit, on why he will Never Quit our union
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- Jordan Hughes of the CSEA Employee Benefit Fund and Statewide Political Action Chair Anthony Adamo plot out their route as they prepare to drop literature at members’ homes in Ulster County.
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- “My grandmother and aunt worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The day of the fire, they were both home with the flu. Knowing what happened at the Triangle factory, how could anyone not want a union?” Jordan Hughes of the CSEA Employee Benefit Fund and Statewide Political Action Chair Anthony Adamo plot out their route as they prepare to drop literature at members’ homes in Ulster County. — Kathi Bayer, president of the Wallkill School District Unit (pictured with labor relations specialist Vinny Castaldo), speaking on why she would Never Quit on our union.
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- CSEA Westchester County Local activist Sue Fontana, left, and Statewide Organizer Carlos Peguero, right, visit the home of Town of Lloyd Unit member Thomas Marion.
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- From left, CSEA Ulster County Unit shop steward Tom Kellner and Labor Relations Specialist Rebeca Blum look over member feedback.
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- CSEA Labor Relations Specialist Howard Baul, left, and Ulster County Unit activist Kathleen Harrison prepare for a member home visit in Ulster Park.
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- CSEA Labor Relations Specialist Howard Baul, left, and Ulster County Unit activist Kathleen Harrison prepare for a member home visit in Ulster Park.
