ALBANY — Now that New York State has paid the deferred wage increases promised from our previous (and now expired) contracts, our union is moving ahead to negotiate our next contracts for CSEA-represented state workers. President Mary E. Sullivan refused to begin negotiating new contracts until the state lived up to its prior obligations.
We’ve already selected the members of our Negotiating Team, with members chosen from around the state from a variety of agencies across our four bargaining units (Administrative, Institutional, Operational and Division of Military and Naval Affairs) to best represent the entire membership. Team members have met and will continue to meet for training and are preparing to develop the proposals we eventually bring to the bargaining table.
They will be joined at the bargaining table by CSEA staff professionals, including General Counsel and Lead Negotiator Daren Rylewicz, Deputy Counsel and Second Chair Negotiator Leslie Perrin and State Operations Deputy Directors.
To facilitate that process, beginning June 1, we will be requesting Executive Branch CSEA members to complete contract surveys. These surveys will directly assist the CSEA Team in formulating proposals in negotiations.
Starting in July, our Negotiating Team members will meet with members throughout the regions to hear from them directly.
Once our union proposals are finalized, our CSEA Team will schedule and conduct negotiations with the State’s Team, with the goal of reaching a fair contract that meets the priorities of the majority of members.
No one should expect this to be a quick process. Negotiating fair contracts takes time and effort. The CSEA Team’s start was delayed by the pandemic and the economic instability it caused. The good news is that union members are still covered by the terms of our previous expired contracts, until new ones are in place. All your rights and protections from those documents remain enforceable.
Despite a delayed start and working under the terms of an expired contract, we will not rush to settle something quickly. We will take the time required to make sure we get a strong contract meeting the needs of members. No contract is complete until union members vote to approve it, so you have the final say on your contract.
What you can expect is that we will keep you informed with updates throughout the process. We urge all state employees to login and update your user account at https://cseany.org/register to ensure we have your most current personal email address on file.
We will email our State Contract survey to all state employee members who have previously registered personal emails with us. Those who have not yet registered accounts on the CSEA website must do so and can then fill out the form at: https://cseany.org/state-contract-survey to request a survey link. Note: survey may only be completed once. Please only use personal email addresses. Information about state contract negotiations will not be sent to state email addresses.
For members who do not have the ability to take the survey online, printed copies will be available upon request by calling our State Operations Department at (518) 257-1279.
— Mark M. Kotzin
