‘I am proud to grow up in a union household’
OGDENSBURG — Connor Sibley’s mother, Stacy Sibley, a teacher aide at the Ogdensburg City School District, was laid off not once, but twice, in the early 2000s.
Connor Sibley is among the 12 AFSCME recipients of the 2019 Union Plus Scholarship, which awards college scholarships annually to eligible union members and their dependents. He discussed his mother’s fight for justice in his application essay.
In 2003, the Ogdensburg City School District made budget cuts and Stacy Sibley’s position was on the chopping block.
While her position was reinstated and Stacy Sibley returned to her job, she found herself in the same situation a few years later.
Stacy Sibley and her co-workers were laid off again in 2006 and were hired back as per diems for substitute work throughout the year. Those substitute and part-time positions became full-time positions, but Stacy Sibley and her co-workers weren’t getting the contractual benefits they once had.
They turned to our union to fight for fairness.
“Thanks to representation from our union and our fellow union employees, [our union representatives]got together with the district for a meeting, and we had all our benefits and pay reinstated,” Stacy Sibley said.
“Especially being a parent, you need those benefits to raise your children. I was so thankful for the union representation that I had received.”
Connor Sibley, who is attending SUNY Oswego and studying business administration, learned a lot about the benefits of unions throughout the union scholarship process.
“When I learned of [my mom’s]experiences in a union, I couldn’t help but feel thankful,” Connor Sibley wrote in his scholarship essay. “I realize how much I benefited from the fact that my mother makes a fair wage, receives medical benefits, has job security, and is allowed sick leave to manage her work and family life. Unions are essential, as they are the voice for all working people.
“Thanks to these organizations, my mother was given the opportunity to stand up, speak out, and have her voice be heard,” Connor Sibley wrote. “For that reason, among others, I am proud to grow up in a union household.”
By telling his mother’s union victory story, as well as having a strong high school resume, Connor Sibley was selected as a Union Plus Scholarship recipient, the only one from CSEA this year.
“I remember getting the letter and I was jumping up and down because there were so many students who applied for it that I was shocked he was selected,” Stacy Sibley said. “I was so grateful to our union for this opportunity.”
Connor Sibley, who received a $1,000 scholarship, used the award for a laptop computer that will greatly help him with his studies.
Our union has affected Connor Sibley’s perspective on what he’s going to be looking for when he joins the workforce after college.
“For the union, it definitely kind of makes me pinpoint what I want when I’m looking into a job,” he said. “I like [the benefits a union provides]. I’d like to have a union behind my back for support, and make sure I get the pay, the work environment, and just everything a worker needs. I think the union is definitely helping me set a path for where I want to go job-wise.”
And Stacy Sibley likes to remind everyone of the importance of labor unions like CSEA.
“I believe unions are important even to nonunion workers,” she said. “I like to remind people that unions benefit everybody, not just the people in the union.”
— Nicholas Newcomb
