Photo of the Month Photo by Rich Acevedo The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial faces the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in this image taken by Long Island Region activist Rich Acevedo during the March on Washington in August. CSEA and AFSCME helped support the memorial’s creation. On the 50th anniversary of the influential 1963 civil rights march, union and social activists from across the nation gathered to demand, once again, good jobs and equality for all workers. See page 7. Correction: An article in the September Work Force regarding Office of People with Developmental Disabilities stated that the Brooklyn DDSO was the only facility to have Developmental Disability Secure Treatment Aide (DSCTA) titles. The titles are also found at the Sunmount, Finger Lakes, and Taconic DDSOs. ALERT NEW YORK’S LEADING UNION CSEA President Danny Donohue to meet Metropolitan Region members on Nov. 14 President Danny Donohue will visit the CSEA Metropolitan Region on Nov. 14 to meet with members. The meetings will be held in the Metropolitan Region office at 125 Maiden Lane, fifth floor, Manhattan. Donohue will meet with union members from 1 to 7 p.m. Please call the region office at (212) 406-2156 for an appointment and directions. Communities hurt by sale of public nursing homes Despite a strong fight by CSEA and community supporters, officials in two counties made the misguided choice to sell out their health care responsibilities. In Livingston County, the county’s Board of Supervisors recently voted to sell the County Home Health Agency to a private, non-profit corporation. “The sale will hurt our people and our communities,” said Livingston County Local President Robbie Ellis. “Our public nurses and aides have been here for almost 90 years, providing high quality direct care for people exactly when they need it, not three days from now on Monday or when a nurse finally becomes available.” CSEA and other union members fought hard for the home, reaching out to residents to gain support for the home health agency. Community members signed more than 1,000 postcards that were delivered to supervisors. Community residents also filled the legislative chambers during a public hearing on the sale. “Through our efforts, several town supervisors changed their minds and voted against the sale,” Ellis said. “It’s a shame the others took the quick fix and voted to sell residents out.” Hasty, secretive decision In Cayuga County, legislators rushed a vote to merge the county’s public nursing home with a private skilled nursing facility in a move that CSEA blasted as hasty and secretive. “When it comes to a decision as important as the future of senior care in their community, Cayuga County residents deserved better than what they got from their legislative leadership,” said CSEA Central Region President Colleen Wheaton. “The public should have been given appropriate time to review and discuss the details of this proposal with their legislators, more than simply an hour of comments before the vote. This is not how representative government is supposed to work, and we applaud the five legislators who voted against this merger. “We sincerely hope that this merger does not negatively impact the future availability of senior care for all Cayuga County residents.” CSEA represents about 50 workers at the Cayuga County Nursing Home and had been a vocal opponent of giving up local control over the county nursing home by going private. The union will now enter into impact negotiations on behalf of the home’s workers. — Lynn Miller and Mark M. Kotzin Make sure to vote in critical elections CSEA is endorsing candidates in key races across the state who will help working families receive fair treatment and respect on the job. Included in the important races are Orange County executive, where CSEA is endorsing Roxanne Donnery, Westchester County executive, Noam Bramson, and Chattauqua County executive, Ron Johnson. In the New York City mayoral race, CSEA is supporting Bill DiBlasio, who scored an impressive victory. Complete endorsement lists will be published in the November Work Force. Until then, check cseany.org for updates. 2 The Work Force October 2013
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