Pure and clean, post-Sandy Nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy smashed into downstate New York, CSEA municipal workers on Long Island are still playing a key role in helping those affected by the superstorm get back on their feet. Long Beach workers restore critical needs When Hurricane Sandy hit Long Island on Oct. 29, 2012, CSEA members working for the City of Long Beach were faced with a dire situation they never thought possible. Flooding from the storm cut off city water and sewer services, crippling Long Beach’s ability to function. Despite being faced with storm challenges at their own homes, City of Long Beach Unit members got right to work restoring the city’s water and sewer services. Over two days, workers repaired nearly 200 water line breaks and replaced 50 fire hydrants that had been destroyed to help provide residents with an emergency water source and allow the fire department to respond to any fires. “A fire erupting in this interval could have spread unchecked and possibly destroyed the entire city,” CSEA City of Long Beach Unit President John Mooney said. “There was no quality of life in Long Beach without water and sewer services.” City workers also moved to quickly restore clean drinking water by flushing the entire water treatment system. Long Beach city workers also worked hard to restore the city sewer system. The city sewage treatment plant was flooded during Sandy, causing significant damage to structure and apparatus. The city’s three pumping stations were also damaged. While CSEA members quickly restored sewer services, the storm strained the system so much that workers have to constantly monitor the 5 million gallons of sewer water it processes every day. Enforcing new regulations CSEA members in the Town of Hempstead are also working hard to normalize the lives of residents affected by Hurricane Sandy. On Narragansett Street in Seaford, several abandoned houses still stand in various states of disrepair and remain eerily frozen in time. But CSEA members employed by the town, including Chief Building Inspector Brian Nocella and Senior Code Enforcement Officer Maureen Greene, have steadily worked in the hard-hit neighborhood since the storm to help residents repair and rebuild their homes. Nocella and Greene are also working to make sure the new construction adheres to town building regulations and new insurance company specifications enacted in the wake of the storm, including new height requirements and other measures to minimize damage in future storms. — Rich Impagliazzo “The pumping stations have experienced intermittent problems in the months after the storm. But we have been working hard to stay on top of it, to such a degree that residents don’t even notice there are problems.” — Jason Leimsider, CSEA City of Long Beach Unit member and assistant supervisor at the Long Beach sewage treatment plant CSEA City of Long Beach Unit member Glenn Robbins adjusts some equipment at the city’s water transmission services and treatment plant. Union wins in retaliation case HERKIMER — Giving union workers negative evaluations because of their union activities is clearly illegal, and a judge has agreed with CSEA that Herkimer County broke the law when county officials did so. A state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) judge recently upheld two Improper Practice charges the union brought against the Herkimer County Probation Department on behalf of three department workers, including the CSEA local president, who were the victims of retaliation after they spoke out against department operations through CSEA back in 2009. Herkimer County Local President and Probation Officer Beth Hall was one of the workers who got a negative evaluation, despite a previously good record, and also was reassigned to different job duties. Two of her Probation Department co-workers also received negative evaluations that the judge ruled were improper. “This was a clear case of retaliation, where management of the Herkimer County Probation Department overstepped their authority and broke the law by going after our union president and workers who were exercising their rights,” said CSEA Central Region President Colleen Wheaton. “Herkimer County needs to respect the rights of their workers, and they need to comply with the judge’s order. We’ll keep pursuing this, in court if need be, to force them to do so.” Recently, CSEA filed affidavits with PERB seeking that they enforce the judge’s decision, after the county failed to comply by giving the three workers the exact same negative evaluations they had previously received. — Mark M. Kotzin September 2013 The Work Force 13
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