Officinal Publication of
I
i
The Civil Service Employees Association
Warmest holidays
A happy new year
^
^
H
^
W
Amid the frenzy of business and the burden of
responsibility we all manage somehow to set aside our
daily chores and habits at this special time of the year
to observe the happiest of holidays and the promise of
the new year.
I wish to take this opportunity to convey to you all
(KX on behalf of the Civil Service Employees Association,
our best wishes for peace, joy, happiness and success
^ this holiday season and throughout the coming new
^ year.
^
This is a time when all men and women can pause
? | to reflect and give thanks for the warmth and com^ forts of friends and family and to join with those
P around them in observation of this most special time
of year.
My hope for the coming year is that we may all
continue the spirit of joy and peace that we share this
S holiday season. With the support and guidance which
^ A you have given us in the past, I am sure that a peaceful
j S and prosperous new year is in store for us all.
From all of us at CSE A, we wish you and yours the
^ warmest of holidays and the happiest new year.
William L. McGowan
Vol. 1, No. 12
25(t
DOT contracting out case
resolved with major award
ALBANY — A class grievance filed in 1976
by the Civil Service Employees Assn. which
alleged that more than 800 Department of
Transportation employees were laid off as a
Stony Brook Local may strike
STONY BROOK — A proposal by
the State University of New York
at Stony Brook to institute a parking registration fee has SUNY
employees up in arms, and Albert
J. Varacchi, President of CSEA
Local 614 says members of his
Local are prepared to strike rather
than pay the fee.
The SUNY at Stony Brook says it
plans to institute a $2.50 parking
registration fee for teaching and
n o n - t e a c h i n g e m p l o y e e s and
students at the Stony Brook campus at the start of the spring
semester. "Our people are ready to
take whatever action is necessary,
including a strike if that's what it
takes, to prevent the university
from imposing this registration
fee," Varacchi stated.
The CSEA Local has received the
backing of the university faculty
and a c a m p u s - w i d e student
organization, POLITY, in its effort
to prevent imposition of the fee.
Varacchi said the fee is intended
to subsidize on-campus bus service, but that cost would rise rapidly and it could be expected the initial proposed fee would also increase. "We'll fight it here and
nowV he stated.
N e w pension fund raids possible
UTICA — The union's representative on the State Comptroller's
Pension Advisory Committee has
warned of a "clear and present
danger" that the funds of the State
Employees' Retirement System
will be the target of renewed efforts to bail out New York city
from financial difficulties in the
near future.
J a m e s H. Currier, President of
the CSEA Fort Schuyler Local 014,
in a letter of CSEA President
William L. McGowan, noted that
the IRS codes were modified as a
rider to federal loan guarantee
legislation, reducing the state's
fiduciary responsibilities fot the
plan and rnaking the pension plan
more vulnerable.
The following are excerpts of Mr.
C u r r i e r ' s l e t t e r to P r e s i d e n t
McGowan, updating activities surrounding the pension funds:
"I would direct your attention to
what could be a serious problem
with the ERS pension fund in 1979;
specifically the use of pension fund
dollars to bail our New York City in
its next round of financial crisis.
"During the last session of the
Wednesday, December 20, 1978
United States Congress, PL-95-339,
the New York City Loan Guarantee
Act of 1978, was passed and we as a
group concurred with Mr. Levitt's
p u r c h a s e of g u a r a n t e e d MAC
Bonds. What I have just learned,
however, is that in conjunction
with the loan guarantee legislation,
HR 12051, a modification of the IRS
codes, was also passed and this
reprehensible law permits a State
operated pension system to loan up
to 10% of its assets J;o the employer
and still keep harmless under the
plans fiduciary responsibilities requirement. In short, the Feds
authorized public plans to do what
they would j a i l p r i v a t e plan
managers for doing."
. . p a r t of M r . L e v i t t ' s
defenses rested on his fiduciarv
responsibilities under a number of
laws, not the least of which was the
IRS codes sanctioning the tax
position of the $10.5 billion ERS
fund. The modification of that IRS
code now m e a n s t h a t the
Comptroller could, and undoubtedly will, lose a substantial part of his
argument against making what he
would otherwise t e r m an im-
CSEA COUNSELING SERVICE — CSEA has been successful in greatly reducing
the number of Westchester county employees facing layoffs due to budget considerations. And to assist those who are facing that potential, the union has set up
a counseling service to assist the affected employees in several ways. In the adjacent photo, CSEA Southern Region Director Thomas Luposello, left, counsels
Bonato Ricozzi of the Westchester County parks department, as CSEA Southern
Region President James Lennon, center, observes. See pages 6 and 7 for latest update on the Westchester County situation.
prudent investment. I think we
should take immediate action to
look into this situation . . . and find
out what can be done to plug up this
loophole that could drain our
members' money and seriously
jeopardize their future."
"I recommend we take positive
action at the federal level, push for
enactment of our version of the
pension fund trusteeship, and keep
very close watch on the gyrations
we can expect from those who
would rob our retirees of a secure
future."
result of the State of New York "contracting
out" for goods and services, was settled late
last week for $500,000.
It is the biggest arbitration award of its
kind in the history of the collective bargaining relationship between CSEA and the
State.
While most of the employees laid off on
January 23 and May 14,1976 have returned to
state service and are working in their
original grades, 27 people still remain on
preferred lists. The settlement included a
commitment by the State to canvass the 27
employees for job placement.
Timothy Mclnerney, Department of
Transportation representative on CSEA's
Board of Directors and a key union representative in the successful class
grievance, said "this decision reinforces
the absolute importance of retaining the
protection of employees language contained in Article 22 of the union contract." He
also had praise for the cooperation of the
DOT employees originally affected and
assistance of CSEA's law firm, who handled the grievance under the union's Legal
Assistance Program.
It was alleged that the massive layoffs occurred in violation of the Protection of
E m p l o y e e s a r t i c l e in the CSEA-State
agreement which provides that layoffs of
permanent employees will not occur as a
result of the State's exercising its right to
contract out for goods and services.
Before determinations can be made for the
distribution of the $500,000 award, a thorough
r e v i e w of e a c h a f f e c t e d e m p l o y e e ' s
employment data must be conducted by
CSEA and the State.
Calendar
of EVENTS
Legislature expected
to pass court bill
ALBANY — The long-awaited contract for CSEA-represented state
court employees is expected to be approved by the state legislature next
month, according to CSEA Collective Bargaining Specialist P a t
Monachino.
He expects the legislature to vote in favor of the bill s o m e t i m e during
the week of J a n . 8,1979. He based his optimism on c o m m i t m e n t s f r o m the
legislative leadership.
The contract, which was negotiated with the Office of Court Administration (OCA) in July and ratified in the late s u m m e r , covers
employees of the f o r m e r county and city courts in Judicial Districts 3
through 8 (all of New York State except for Long Island, New York City
and the southern most counties of the state).
The contract calls for:
• The allocation of the f o r m e r county and city court employees to the
1978 state salary schedule.
• The guarantee of three increments in allocated grade to all
employees involved on April 1, 1978, 1979 and 1980.
• Retroactive pay f r o m April 1, 1977, to those employees whose pay
increased because of the allocation to the state salary schedule.
• A wage and benefits reopener in J a n u a r y 1979 for April 1, 1979.
CSEA represents the court employees in the six upstate judicial districts and in eight bargaining units in the ninth district (southern-most
counties). Those eight units a r e voting on the ratification of a separately
negotiated contract.
Monachino said the state legislature did not act on the contract during the two times Gov. Hugh L. Carey called the legislature back into
session in the fall because only the governor's agenda was considered.
The legislature, in 1976, passed a law merging the county and city
courts into the state court system. That law also allowed the 131 jurisdictions to m e r g e into larger bargaining units.
In 1977, CSEA v.on elections merging the individual units into six
s e p a r a t e bargaining units based on the six upstate judicial districts.
Editor
We encourage letters from r e a d e r s
p e r t a i n i n g to i t e m s which have
appeared in T H E PUBLIC SECTOR
or which a r e of interest to public
employees. Letters must contain the
n a m e , a d d r e s s and
telephone
number of the writer for verification
purposes. Telephone numbers will
not be printed, and n a m e s may be
withheld upon r e q u e s t . Send all
letters to T H E PUBLIC SECTOR,
Clarity Publishing Inc., 75 Champlain Street. Albany N.Y. 12204.
Cost-of-living
for
retirees
retired employees. In the period during which a New York State retiree
has received no pension increase, a
federal r e t i r e e ' s pension has almost
doubled through cost of living inc r e a s e s p a i d f o r by t h e s t a t e
retiree's taxes on his pension income.
But things will get even better next
year. Under the P r e s i d e n t ' s voluntary
wage control program, those private
sector employees whose collective
bargaining wage increases do not
keep pace with the r a t e of inflation
will be reimbursed by the government
for the excess of inflation over 7%,
subsidized naturally by the taxes paid
by the frozen pensions of the New
York State retirees. At this rate, with
continuing inflation the time will be
soon when their pensions will be supporting everyone but themselves.
J. L. Modell
Eastchester, N.Y.
Editor, The Public Sector:
The election year salary increases
to the state employees a f t e r a three
year hiatus, and promises of additional largesse for both civil service
and p a l a c e g u a r d e m p l o y e e s a r e
laudable, but as usual the governor
has forgotten one group who a r e
greatly in need of such generosity.
The retired employees of New York
State have received neither pension
or cost of living increases in the four
years of his stewardship and for many
years prior, and a r e now barely keeping their heads above the flood of
inflation.
The cruel hoax imposed on them as
an added injury is that from their
m e a g e r , frozen pensions they a r e required to pay federal income taxes
which in part pays for the consistent
cost of living increases which the
f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t g r a n t s to its
Page 10
About
those
pensions
Editor, The Public Sector:
I think the n a r r o w and discriminatory view expressed by the
Retiree Coordinator with regard to
the present State Tax E x e m p t status
of state and municipal employees is
unfair to the vast m a j o r i t y of retired
people with private and federal pensions. In many cases the retiree in the
private sector receives a much
smaller pension than the retired state
employee. Even though he or she paid
both federal and state taxes on his
contribution to his r e t i r e m e n t plan all
the time they worked the pension income is still subject to state tax a f t e r
retirement. Many State Employees
enjoy a non-contributory r e t i r e m e n t
plan today. Thus these employees
upon r e t i r e m e n t r e c e i v e dual
benefits. It is just this type of greedy
THE PUeilC SECTOR, Wednesday, N o v e m b e r 22, 1978
DECEMBER
29 — Tompkins County Locol 855, Holiday Party and Dance, 6 p.m. until 1 a.m.,
VFW Hall, West State Street, Ithaca.
29 — Syracuse Local No. 013, Happy Holidays Party, 5-8 p.m., Local Office,
second floor, 237 East Genesee Street, Syracuse.
JANUARY
—
West Seneca Developmental Center Local 427, Stewards and Effective
Grievance Handling Training Class, 9:30 a.m. V.F.W. Post, 299 Leydecker
Road.
Eligible lists printed in 'Sector'
based on size, space available
Although eligible lists a r e published
as space permits, it is not always
possible to print some lists simply
because of the number of people taking and passing certain exams.
F o r example, the following is a
s u m m a r y of s o m e e l i g i b l e l i s t s
r e c e n t l y e s t a b l i s h e d by t h e
D e p a r t m e n t of Civil Service.
A test for senior stores clerk, held
last May, a t t r a c t e d 2,912 persons, and
1,279 people passed the e x a m to
appear on the recently established
list. A. M. Gadbois of Clinton leads
the list with a score of 96.9, with Alice
Needham of Athol second at 96.4.
A recently established eligible list
for senior file clerk has 1,108 n a m e s
on it, headed by Carol Meloon of E a s t
Amherst with a m a r k of 95.2.
A total of 807 people passed the
exam for data e n t r y m a c h i n e
operator trainee, with Carl Johnson of
the Bronx heading the list with a
m a r k of 101.0 with 5 veterans credits.
An eligible list for senior mail and
supply clerk shows Dawn Lawson of
Voorheesville and Patricia Dawson of
Albany tied at 92.2 to lead the list of
628 people.
A senior payroll audit clerk/senior
u n d e r w r i t i n g clerk list has 1,020
names, headed by Dennis O'Rourke of
Flushing at 97.0.
attitude that spurs taxpayer
resentment and revolt. I think your
newspaper and Mr. Gilmartin could
m a k e this benefit m o r e just by sponsoring legislation that would limit the
non-taxable portion of all pensions to
say, ten thousand dollars, for all
pension income. This action would
e l i m i n a t e the d i s c r i m i n a t i o n now
practiced by the State among its
retired population. The taxes
collected f r o m the fat cats as you call
them could help keep the state financially sound. In my opinion Comm.
Dyson's recommendation did not go
f a r enough. I would like to see all
elected and appointed officials excluded f r o m any s t a t e financed
pension plans. Any b e n e f i t s the
legislators have granted to the lower
echelon employee have been outstripped by the benefits they have
granted themselves. Even a cursory
investigation of the benefits they enjoy would expose their greed. Is it any
wonder why Prop. 13 type legislation
is having such success? We, the taxpayers, need the right of initiative and
referendum in New York State to
check the greedy politicos.
John Keezer
Central Islip, N.Y.
Editor's Note: CSEA Retiree Coordinator Thomas Gilmartin recently
noted that Commerce Commissioner
Dyson proposed to exempt all pensions of retirees, private or public,
from s t a t e i n c o m e tax. P u b l i c
employment retirees are already exempt, but the newest proposal would
place a ceiling on the amount of pensions to be tax exempt. That means
that thousands of retired public
employees who now have tax exempt
status would be forced to pay state income taxes on a portion of their pension. Such a proposal at this time also
could cause problems with efforts to
gain a badly needed cost of living adjustment to retired public employee
pensions, Mr. Gilmartin pointed out.
A harmful
attitude
Editor, The Public Sector:
There seems to be a prevalent view
among public employee unions that
their m e m b e r s must necessarily be
opponents of any attempts to reduce
or limit government spending. Such
an attitude can only be h a r m f u l to the
already tarnished image of the public
employee that is found among the
general public.
It must be realized that the taxpaying private sector employee is
merely trying to gain control over the
current tax more, spend m o r e trends.
Rather than vicious direct attacks
against such a t t e m p t s , I feel ways
must be found to educate the public
along the following lines:
1. The public needs to be informed
of the specific e f f e c t s spending cuts
may have on vital services.
2. Some blame for high government
cost must be placed on the wealth of
political patronage jobs, many of
which may be only marginally usfeful,
but would probably not be eliminated
in the event of a budget reduction.
3. Inflationary e f f e c t s need to be
considered.
4. In m a n y c a s e s , p r o p e r administration may be able to provide
better service and hold down costs
without l a r g e n u m b e r s of public
employee layoffs. There a r e other
c o s t s i n v o l v e d in g o v e r n m e n t
operation besides worker salaries.
It is the right of the voters to m a k e
their choice.
Robert Jutton
Syracuse, N.Y.
Jamestown
raise set
JAMESTOWN - Workers of the
City of Jamestown, represented by
Chautauqua County Local No. 807 of
the Civil Service Employees Assn.,
will receive a raise of 11.2 percent
over two years, under t e r m s of the
new c o n t r a c t they approved this
month.
The union also negotiated agency
shop and upgrading in several titles,
as well as i m p r o v e m e n t s in all
longevity payments, in addition to the
new 25 year payment of $500.
A new vacation schedule will give
workers eighteen days a f t e r 16 years
of service, nineteen days a f t e r 17
years of service and twenty a f t e r
eighteen years of service, during the
first year. During the second year of
the pact, they will reach the nineteen
day level after 16 years and the
twenty days of vacation a f t e r 17
years,
CSEA Field Representative Samuel
Carmen was the Chief Negotiator for
the negotiating team which included
P r e s i d e n t Dfelores J a c k s o n ;
Secretary Bobbie Erikson; Frank
Kaluza, Delores Lee, Carrie Mazzone
and Vern Verberg.
Phoenix pact
gets approval
P H O E N I X - M e m b e r s of the
P h o e n i x C e n t r a l School Unit of
Oswego County Local No. 838 have
voted unanimously to ratify a new
contract that will affect 78 employees
in the bargaining unit.
The new one-year pact, retroactive
to July 1, 1978, includes wage increases of 6 percent for cafeteria
e m p l o y e e s , bus d r i v e r s and
mechanics. Due to an inequity in the
previous c o n t r a c t , custodial and
maintenance employees will receive
an increase of 7 percent. Other new
c o n t r a c t l a n g u a g e c a l l s f o r all
employees to hold step locations, a
guaranteed minimum of two hours
c a l l - b a c k pay f o r c u s t o d i a l and
maintenance employees and a bid
system for open and vacant runs for
bus drivers.
CSEA Field Representative Jack
Miller served as chief negotiator for
the unit team which also included:
Chairperson Mildred M c D e r m o t t ,
David Zogg, Sheldon Ford, Virginia
C a r r i o t i , William B r e c k e n r i d g e ,
Darlene Yerdon, Louis Beasley and
Beverly Clute.
The Phoenix Central School District
representatives a r e also expected to
ratify the new pact in the near future.
At that same meeting, unit elections ,were held and Mildred McDermott was elected President of the unit, Grant DeLohg, 1st Vice-President;
2nd Vice-President, Bob Ungleich;
S e c r e t a r y , Beverly Clute and
Treasurer, Margaret Wilkinson.
SHERMAN Non-teaching
employees of the Sherman Central
School, represented by Chautauqua
County Local 807, CSEA, will
receive raises of 6.5 per cent,
retroactive to July 1, 1978, in each
year of their recently-ratified new
two year pact.
Harassment alleged,
charges are dropped
SYRACUSE - An employee of
the Hutchings Psychiatric Center
who has beaten three previous arbitration cases has done it again.
The institution has dropped disciplinary charges against her and
backed out of an impending arbitration.
The Civil Service Employees
Assn. says charges against the
e m p l o y e e in t h e p r e v i o u s a r bitration cases were "trumped up"
and the latest charges amounted to
"harassment."
Eva J. Jones, a cafeteria aide at
Hutchings and a CSEA member of
Local 435 there for the past four
years, was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing on disciplinary
charges brought against her under
A r t i c l e 33 of t h e c u r r e n t Institutional Services bargaining unit
contract. But just prior to the
scheduled hearing, Ms. Jones got a
letter from the institution's personnel administrator, telling her
all charges were being dropped due
to "a marked improvement in your
work performance."
CSEA F i e l d R e p r e s e n t a t i v e
T e r r y Moxley and Local 435
President Audrey
Snyder,
however, agree that there's more
to the story than meets the eye.
"I have a feeling the Office of
Mental Health in Albany finally
told Hutchings to stop harrassing
her," Moxley said. "They'd gone to
arbitrations three times against
her, and lost all three cases. They
were all trumped-up charges, and
everybody knew it. 1 think that,
when the Central Office heard
about it, they told Hutchings to stop
w a s t i n g t i m e a n d m o n e y in
harassing Ms. Jones."
Ms. Snyder added that previous
vendettas against Ms. Jones include a series of "counseling
memoes" that were put in her personnel file and resulted in an "unsatisfactory" evaluation of her
work, which the institution then
used to try to deny her a salary increment last year. CSEA took that
case to arbitration and won it, also.
Mr. Moxley noted that, while the
cost to the union in terms of time
and legal expenses may have been
high, the principle involved made
the effort well worth while.
"Ms. Jones was very persistent
and patient," he said. "She followed the procedure as the union instructed her, every step of the way.
It shows that when our union
members stick to their guns and
follow all the legal procedures correctly, they will win in the end."
Mr. Moxley speculated that the
real reason behind the history of
harassment
was a personal
p r o b l e m involving a p r e v i o u s
supervisor of Ms. Jones.
Legal assistance in the case was
provided by CSEA Regional Atty.
Earl P. Boyle of Syracuse.
New board member
ALBANY - Nancy J. Roark
of Elmira, president of CSEA
Judiciary Local 334, has won
election to the CSEA Statewide
Board of Directors representing
the Judicial Department.
The election was conducted by
the union's Special Election
Procedures Committee, to fill
t h e v a c a n c y l e f t by t h e
resignation of Ethel Ross.
Her term of office will run
through June 30, 1979.
Union files for
reclassification
of state nurses
ALBANY — An appeal to reclassify
state-employed P r a c t i c a l Nurses
(LPNs) from grade 9 to grade 12 has
been filed with the Division of
Classification Compensation, State
Civil Service Department.
The reclassification, if approved,
would effect LPNs working for the
State Health Department and in state
mental hygiene facilities.
The reason for the appeal is to bring
LPN's who are licensed and undergo
prior training, into salary grades
more commensurate with other state
employees with licenses and training,
T h o m a s Coyle, CSEIA a s s i s t a n t
research director, said.
The actual appeal was filed by Alice
Pope, LPN, of CSEA Local 404, an
e m p l o y e e of t h e C e n t r a l I s l i p
Psychiatric Center.
Declare impasse in Cattauraugus County
Characterizing Cattauraugus County's continuing failure to move from
the original two percent pay offer as
"unconscionable and incredible," Lee
Frank, regional director. Region 6 of
the Civil S e r v i c e E m p l o y e e s
Association, (CSEA), which represents the county's workers, say
the union has declared an impasse in
negotiations and asked that the Public
Employment Relations Board,
(PERB), name a mediator.
"Coming as it does on the heels of a
38% raise which the legislators gave
themselves, that puny two percent
raise shows that the county has no
conscience," Mr. Frank continued.
"And it's unbelievable that they
would hold to that position for the
duration of the negotiations," he said,
explaining that t h e r e have been
eleven meetings between the county
and the union with no progress.
"Because of the impact of inflation
the county really wants the workers
to have less than they started with."
" O t h e r issues which constitute
stumbling blocks in the negotiations,"
he said, " a r e job security, a no sub-
contracting clause, agency shop and
contract language."
A l s o p a r t i c i p a t i n g in t h e
negotiations a r e Field Represent a t i v e , S a m C a r m e n , Local 805
P r e s i d e n t , J e a n F r e e m a n ; Olean
Nursing Home Unit President, Ann
Timme; Negotiating Team Chairman, Tom Bruno; Patsy Howard,
representing clerical workers; Eileen
Marsh and Joe Finn, Social Services;
B a r b a r a Hastings, public health
nurses; Claire Charberlin, highway
and alternates Tim Anderson and
Judson Spring.
Union lobby effort helpful in passage of library bill
ALBANY - A $3.7 million library
funding
bill
was
passed
overwhelmingly by the New York
State legislature in the wee hours of
the morning on Dec. 7, 1978.
The inclusion of the bill on the
legislature's limited agenda was due
in part to lobbying efforts by CSEA,
the union's Director of Legislative
and Political Action Bernard Ryan
said.
The legislature only considered
those items on Gov. Hugh L. Carey's
agenda when it met during the first
week of December.
The bill provides the payment of
funds for school, college and public
libraries, which can be used for book
purchases, salaries or other library
expenses.
Ryan said CSEA became involved
with the bill because in .some cases
CSP2A members would have lost their
jobs without the state funds.
CSEA members and staff who were
involved in the effort to have the
legislation passed were:
Joseph M c D e r m o t t , Region IV
president; Ryan; J a m e s F'eathers t o n h a u g h , a t t o r n e y for CSEA;
M a r t i n L a n g e r , l e g i s l a t i v e and
political action c h a i r m a n ; Mary
Jarocki, CSEA SUNY Albany; Harold
Cropsey, CSEA Albany County; Jean
Myers, Region IV political action
chairman; and Dick Evans, Ernie
Strobel, Carol Bedore and Mary
Leggett, Region IV political action
committee.
Ms. Leggett, an employee of the
Clinton, Essex, Franklin Library
System, said: 'CSEA worked for a
public s e r v i c e , keeping a g r e a t
resource for the people of New York
State."
Cutoff set on NYC blackout
credit
NEW YORK CITY - Victor S. Bahou, president of the state Civil
Service Commission, has announced that New York City-area state
employees affected by the July 14, 1977 power outage will receive the
previously announced vacation credit for that day, but in order to be
eligible emplovees must have been in service on the state payroll as of
October 12, 1978.
"No vacation may be credited to persons who separated, for any
reason, prior to that date," Bahou said in a November 30 memorandum to all state departments and agencies.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday,N o v e m b e r29, 1978
Page 11
REGION 1 — Long Island Region
Region
" (516) 6 9 1 - 1 1 7 0
Irving F l a u m e n b a u m , President
F:d Cleary, Regional Director
U
P U B L I C EMPLOYEES: Where Would We Be Without Them?
REGION 2 — Metro Region
(212) 9 6 2 - 3 0 9 0
Solomon Bendet, President
George Bispham, Regional Director
REGION 3 — Southern Region
(914) 8 9 6 - 8 1 8 0
J a m e s Lennon, President
Thomas Luposello. Regional Director
REGION 4 — Capital Region
(518) 4 8 9 - 5 4 2 4
Joseph McDermott, President
John Corcoran. Regional Director
REGION 5 — Centrai Region
(315) 4 2 2 - 2 3 1 9
J a m e s Moore, President
Frank Martello, Regional Director
REGION 6 — Western Region
(716) 6 3 4 - 3 5 4 0
Robert Lattimer. President
Lee F r a n k . Regional Director
Need pension fund safeguards
It is a human characteristic to
slip into a feeling of relief and
security with the passing of a
crisis. It has been quite some time
since the financial problems of
New York City have been page one
items, .so the reality of that continuing problem has diminished.
But CSEA's representative on
the State Comptroller's Pension
Advisory Committee. J i m Currier,
has j a r r e d us back to reality with a
flatly stated warning — " T h e r e is a
clear and present danger of renewed efforts to bail out New York City
finances through the State
operated pension f u n d . " A
modification of the IRS codes by
the federal government tied in with
NYC loan guarantee legislation,
Mr. Currier warns, makes it much
easier to force a sizeable amount of
the State Employees' Retirement
System funds to be used to help
New York City in another fiscal
crisis, a crisis Mr. Currier warns is
present and growing.
His w a r n i n g s of a p p r o a c h i n g
danger, and his recommendations
on how to f u r t h e r safeguard the
pension funds must be considered
carefully, for his position on this
important and sensitive committee
places him in a place to view conditions f r o m within. The hundreds
of thousands of CSEA-represented
public employees whose pensions
a r e involved can be assured the
union is already taking necessary
steps to counteract the dangers
outlined by Mr. Currier. (R.A.C.)
Mass layoffs more costly
The wholesale layoff of public
employees, a bi-product of the
Proposition 13-meat ax approach to
government financing, is an expensive way of cutting government expenses. A SUNY professor explained that layoffs a r e more costly
t h a n a t t r i t i o n in r e d u c i n g a
government's payroll. (See P a g e
9.)
Layoffs were found to be 20
percent m o r e costly than attrition
gPublic—
SSECTOR
Otticial publication of
The Civil Service
Employees Association
33 Elk Street,
Albany, New York 12224
Page 10
because of a number of reasons, including:
• The public employer must pay
back the unemployment insurance
fund dollar-for-dollar of payments
made to the laid off worker.
• Lower productivity f r o m layoff
anxiety.
• Cost of operating the preferred
hiring system.
The conclusion reached was that
planned attrition eliminates many
of the extra costs of layoffs while
keeping most of the savings of
layoffs.
These findings demonstrate that
government financing is not a simple situation that can be adjusted
with simpleton solutions. The best
way for a government to cut its
costs is not by simply laying off
workers. (G.A.)
Published every Wednesday by Clarity Publishing, Incv
Publication Office. 75 Cliamplain Street. Albany, N Y. 12204 (518) 465-4591
Thomas A. demente—Pubhsher
Roger A. Cole—Executive Editor
Dr Gerald Alperstein — Associate Editor
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Deborah Cassidy-Staff Writer
Arden D. Lawand—Graphic Design
Dennis C. Mullahv-Production Coordinator
THE PUeilC SECTOR, W e d n e s d a y , N o v e m b e r 22, 1978
in our
Opinion
Union taps
its potentir'
Sincere congratulations to all
those CSEA m e m b e r s and staff
who combined their efforts to help
save approximately 200 jobs in
Westchester County (see pages 6
and 7).
The combined e f f o r t s by the
Westchester County Unit of CSEA
Local 860, by CSEA Region III, by
CSEA in Albany and by AFSCME
in Washington, D.C., reduced a
proposed layoff of more than 200
CSEA m e m b e r s in 1979 to between
30 and 40 employees.
The individuals who met with the
county, researched the county's
budget and/or helped counsel laidoff employees, demonstrated the
great strength of CSEA.
The union has tremendous, unharnessed potential. The situation
in Westchester is just an example
of that potential. (G.A.)
The Public Sector is published every
Wednesday except January 3, July 4,
August 8 and November 28,1979, for $5.00
by t h e C i v i l S e r v i c e E m p l o y e e s
Association, 33 Elk Street, Albany, New
York, 12224.
Second Class Postage paid at Post Office, Albany, IVew York.
Send address changes to The Public Sector, 33 Elk street, Albanv, New York
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Price 25 .
School employees set 1979 goals
0 -CSEA
COORDINATOR
FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT AFFAIRS Arne Wipfler, who told
t h o s e in a t t e n d a n c e t h a t
"contracting out is a tremendous problem, t h a t ' s getting
worse day by d a y . "
( D - M A R Y M. BROUTY of the
Watertown City School system
asks a question about the status
of unemployment benefits for
non-instructional
school
employees.
(D-CSEA
FIELD
REP
THOMAS D U P E E m a k e s a
point during
Watertown
workshop earlier this month.
( D - C S E A CENTRAL REGION
P R E S I D E N T JAMES MOORE
addressed those attending the
workshop, and told the participants that non-instructional
school district employees a r e
i m p o r t a n t people p e r f o r m i n g
important duties.
(D-HUGH
E.
CRAPSER,
chairman of CSEA's statewide
non-teaching school employees
committee.
WATERTOWN - The CSEA statewide nonteaching school employees' committee has
t a r g e t e d the agency shop, u n e m p l o y m e n t
benefits for part-time non-instructional
employees and equity for public employees as
legislative priorities in 1979.
The priority list — which now goes to the
statewide political action committee — was announced in Watertown at a workshop held on
December 2.
Other priorities singled out by the c o m m i t t e e
include revisions in the state's Taylor law, and a
resolution in 1979 of the issues of state aid for
school districts, and more specifically, aid for
the small city districts.
Arne Wipfler, the CSEA's coordinator for
school district affairs, said the issue of equity encompasses two other m a t t e r s targeted by the
committee, protection f r o m the contracting out
of busing and of cafeteria services.
Ms. Wipfler called contracting out " a tremendous problem, that's getting worse day by d a y . "
Most of the workshop dealt with the unemployment question and agency shop. It was
attended by over 40 union m e m b e r s from J e f f e r son, St. Lawrence and Oswego counties.
The Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Oswego noninstructional workers present unanimously went
on record as supporting legislation making
agency shop mandatory for all employees in all
of the state's political subdivisions and school
districts.
Wipfler also said the full Public Employment
Relations Board ( P E R B ) cannot be expected to
act on a request to overturn a hearing officer's
ruling on u n e m p l o y m e n t until the end of
January.
On N o v e m b e r 22, P E R B h e a r i n g o f f i c e r
Robert J . Miller ruled against the CSEA and
a n o t h e r union, in a c a s e involving notiinstructional employees in three school districts.
CSEA charged the districts had violated the
Taylor Haw by giving the employees notices of
continuing employment, effectively blocking the
employees from drawing unemployment
benefits. CSEA contends that a notice of continued employment, be it written or oral, does
not constitute a contract.
Wipfler warned the group that districts a r e using letters of continued employment to "circ u m v e n t " the law.
She also predicted that several union test cases
now pending before the state's unemployment
appeals board will be appealed to the courts,
regardless of who wins.
Wipfler also had some harsh words for school
districts on the topic of agency shop, contending
school districts "want to prevent you f r o m having an agency shop because they a r e fearful of
the growing effectiveness of the union and believe stopping agency shop will lessen your
growth and strength."
Committee chairman Hugh E. Crapser added
that many school board m e m b e r s a r e opposed to
agency shop, because they don't want to be seen
a s " a i d i n g and a b e t t i n g " public e m p l o y e e
unions.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday,N o v e m b e r29, 1978
Page 11
CSEA scores victory in Westchester layoffs fight
For the past several weeks Westchester
County has been a battleground of sorts, pitting the
Civil Service Employees Assn. against the county
over a proposed 1979 budget that would have required laying off 192 people immediately and more
later.
The victory here is shaping up as decisive, but
not absolute, in favor of the union and its
employees.
These articles and photos illustrate the
current activities in the continuing battle.
WHITE PLAINS - Efforts by the
Civil Service Employees Assn. to
lessen the impact of scheduled layoffs
of Westchester County employees
caused by purported budget considerations have resulted in a lowering of the anticipated number of
layoffs to between 30 and 40 as of this
time.
The 30 to 40 figures is considerably
below the number of layoffs originally
proposed in County Executive Alfred
D e l B e l l o ' s proposed 1979 budget,
which projected 192 layoffs as of
January 1 and an undetermined additional number of layoffs later in the
year.
According to Raymond J. O'Connor,
president of the Westchester County
Unit of CSEA Local 860, the county
has opened 35 vacant job titles during
almost continuous discussions with
the union over ways to reduce the impact. Thus, he said, while the county
is officially laying off 62 employees,
as many as possible will be fitted into
the 35 positions being opened up. The
county Personnel Department interviewed those scheduled to be laid off
between December 11 and 14 to see
how many could qualify for the vacant
spots.
O'Connor said he expects about 25
of the vacant lines to be filled, based
on the qualifications of the laid-off
employees.
At the interviews, the employees
were a c c o m p a n i e d by O'Connor,
Chief Shop Steward Carmine DiBatt i s t a . R e g i o n III s t a f f e r B r u c e
Wyngard or the head shop steward
from the employee's department.
To prepare the employees for the
m e e t i n g s with the P e r s o n n e l
Department, the 62 were urged to
attend a counseling session on Dec. 6.
(See related story)
About 50 of the employees showed
up. and they w e r e instructed on
p r e p a r i n g r e s u m e s and t h e i r
qualifications were matched to the
vacant lines, O'Connor said.
The restoration of the positions in
the 1979 proposed budget came about
after a number of meetings by the
Union with DelBello and his key
staffers and by Union appearances at
budget hearings of the county Board
of Legislators.
Those representing the county unit
at the meetings with the executive
branch w e r e O'Connor; Battista;
Wyngard; and Ron Mazzola and
Manny Vitale, CSEA staff.
O'Connor c r e d i t e d the new
cooperation by the executive branch
and the board to the political strength
e x h i b i t e d by L o c a l 860 in t h e
November election.
"We hope we delivered the message
that we are politically active," O'Connor said.
In that election, the local heavily
supported a victorious Assembly candidate who defeated a DelBellobacked candidate.
O'Connor also reported that the executive branch backed off its plan
for additional layoffs later in 1979
from not funding all of the contracted
pay raise.
He said the county expects attrition
and funds for vacant job lines to make
up the difference.
In addition to the 30 to 40 layoffs,'
the 1979 budget also will abolish 375
job lines, he said.
A key f a c t o r in the m e e t i n g s
between the union and the executive
branch was information on the budget
supplied by the research departments
of CSEA and of AFSCME.
Their analyses revealed additional
funds available to the county.
LAYOFF THREATS CREATE TENSION, and CSEA Southern Region
President James Lennon, right, and Tom Kelly of the parks department,
are engaged in a heated discussion over the situation.
Page 6
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, December 20, 1978
Threatened employees
assisted by CSEA
WHITE PLAINS While talks
between the Civil Service Employees
Association and Westchester County
have yielded impressive reductions in
the n u m b e r of county w o r k e r s
originally slated for layoff, those
Westchester County Unit members of
CSEA Local 860 who did receive "pink
slips" last week participated in a unique workshop designed to inform
them of their rights and assist them in
their search for reemployment.
COUNSELING EMPLOYEES on their contractual rights, CSEA Field Representative Ron Mazzola,
right, discusses the layoff situation in Westchester County with Bob Turner, Iqwer left; Donald Hunt,
standing, and John Nyahaig.
SHOP STEWARD DON BALLOU, right, of the county
parks department, and Vince Allison, also of parks
department, discuss the proposed 1979 county budget
calling for layoffs of some employees. The parks
department is among the hardest hit.
SOCIAL SERVICES would be hardest hit of county
departments under the county's projected layoff
schedule. Ray O'Connor, center. President of
Westchester County CSEA Unit, d i s c u s s e s the
situation with department employees. At left is CSEA
Field Representative Laura Woolis, and Bill Smith is
at right.
The sessions were held for some 60
county employees at the Westchester
L o c a l 860 o f f i c e a n d C S E A ' s
Westchester Satellite Office, both in
White Plains. CSEA staff, led by
Thomas J. Luposello, Field Director
for the CSEA Southern R e g i o n ,
apprised the workers of their contractual rights in regard to bumping,
retreating and transferring to vacancies as well as provisions of Civil Service Law as it might apply to their
situation. CSEA officers and shop
stewards, including Unit President
Raymond J. O'Connor, CSEA Local
860 President Raymond G. Cassidy,
and Regional President James J. Lennon, helped to instruct the workers on
w r i t i n g job r e s u m e s for reemployment, and advised them of
social
services
programs
(unemployment
insurance,
Comprehensive E m p l o y m e n t and
Training Act) available to them.
Continuous pressure by CSEA also
led the County to open 67 vacancies
for which employees would be eligible
and an additional 35 openings where
eligibility is as yet undetermined. The
County is also scheduling interviews
wi{.h laid off workers to assist in their
reemployment and make possible
"matches" between the applicant and
the existing vacancy. CSEA union
representatives are present at each
interview between the County and its
employee.
"It's one of the many ways CSEA is
saying to these workers. 'We're with
y o u ' , " s a i d J a m e s J. L e n n o n ,
Southern Region President. "We
fought for their jobs and, though
we're not done yet, should anyone
have to be laid off, they're now walking with a resume in one hand, their
contractual and social services rights
in the other, and, for many, heading
directly for a CSEA-arranged interview
with
the County
for
reemployment. This is a total, maximum effort," Mr. Lennon said.
in our
Opinion
Affiliation
JOHN NYAHAIG of the Westchester County parks department speaks out during meeting
held by CSEA to inform members of latest developments and offer special counseling
services.
CHIEF STEWARD CARMINE DEBATTISTA gestures to make a
point during a recent meeting of Westchester County CSEA unit
members.
helped
Thanks in part to efforts in Albany and in
Washington, the impact of scheduled layoffs in
Westchester County is considerably less than it was
just a few days ago. When members ask what benefits
d e r i v e from a f f i l i a t i o n with AFSCME, the
Westchester situation is just one of many examples
that occur without fanfare.
Only one month ago, the unit was facing the possibility of more than 200 layoffs in 1979. Today that
number is approximately 35.
Part of the reason for an 85 percent reduction in
the number of layoffs by Westchester County is the
assistance given the unit by AFSCME's research
department.
Both AFSCME's researchers and CSEA's
researchers studied the proposed Westchester budget
and found discrepencies in estimated expenditures and
revenues and uncovered poor accounting practices.
From what we have seen in a number of important
areas and situations, Westchester County being but
one of them, CSEA members are receiving, directly, a
wealth of benefits since CSEA expanded its horizon
through affiliation.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, December 20, 1978
Page 7
Board ballots mailed
Part of the
A biweekly column for and about
the thousands of non-instructional
e m p l o y e e s of school d i s t r i c t s
t h r o u g h o u t N e w York S t a t e
represented by the Civil Service
Employees Association. Comments
and/or questions concerning noninstructional school
district
employees should be directed to Ms.
Arne Wipfler, Coordinator of School
Affairs, CSEA, 33 Elk Street,
Albany, New York 12224.
At a recent gathering of noninstructional employees the guest
speaker related to the audience his
e x p e r i e n c e s as a grade school
student. One story went something
like this:
"I was a rotten little kid. I
remember being thrown out of
class on several occasions. One
time while I was spending time admiring the concrete and cinderblock construction of the school,
the principal approached me.
"Knowing I would be chastised
for being naughty again, I quickly
pulled out my hanky and started to
clean a nearby door window. 'Could
I pass myself off as a custodial
helper?' was my only thought.
"Needless to say, the ploy to
avoid punishment failed and I was
marched to the main office. After
sitting in the office for what seemed like an eternity, the truth of who
wheel
runs the school popped into my
head. It was the school secretary
who kept a watchful eye over the
problem children like myself."
The message from the speaker
was clearly defined. The noninstructional employee is an integral part of the educational community.
Parents rely on you to deliver
their children safely to the school.
They know their children will be in
clean surroundings.
Teachers rely on you to provide
them with the extras: dealing on an
individual basis with the child experiencing difficulty in math;
cleaning up the spilled paint of an
o v e r l y z e a l o u s group of f i r s t
graders.
Principals rely on you to ready
the auditorium for an evening conc e r t ; p r e p a r i n g l u n c h e s on
schedule.
And, of course, the children know
you are their friend. How many
children have said to their parents,
"I want to be like Mr. Smith when I
grow up. He sweeps the floor and
runs the school."?
Each and every non-instructional
employee provides an important
service to the school community.
Remember: your importance must
be felt by you. You are a part of the
wheel.
ALBANY — Ballots have been
^ mailed out to all CSEA members of
i public corporations locals, for voting
to fill the vacant seat on the union's
Board of D i r e c t o r s representing
public corporations employees.
The deadline for return of the
ballots is Jan. 6, 1979 at 6 p.m. Any
CSEA member who does not receive a
ballot, or who misplaces it, can obtain
a r e p l a c e m e n t by calling Kathy
Barnes at CSEA headquarters, (518)
434-0191, after Dec. 26. Ballots will be
counted on Jan. 8th.
The name of Jo Ann Lowe, of the
Region III court employees
ratify new coalition contract
ALBANY — Court employees in
e i g h t d i f f e r e n t j u r i s d i c t i o n s in
CSEA s Southern Region have ratified
a coalition contract with the state's
Office of Court Administration.
The contract is retroactive from
April 1, 1977, extends through April 1,
1980, guaranteeing three incremental
raises for the 200 employees involved.
The employees who accepted the pact
by a vote of 64 to 7, with three void
ballots, are employed in courts in the
cities of Newburgh, Middletown, Port
Jervis, New Rochelle and Poughkeepsie, and in the counties of Orange,
Putnam and Dutchess. All of these
jurisdictions are within the Ninth
Judicial District of the State of New
York.
Local 010 hits Koch plan
CSEA, Fulton
reach agreement
FULTON — Following a
marathon negotiating session
lasting more than 18 hours,
CSEA and the City of Fulton
have reached a two-year contract e f f e c t i v e Jan. 1, 1979
through Dec. 31, 1980.
New contract language includes an agency shop clause, increase of $500 over basic salary
for salaried employees in 1979,
followed by an increase of $700
over basic salary in 1980.
Other b e n e H t s include:
equitable distribution of overtime, City of Fulton to pay 100%
of employee's family cost of
h e a l t h i n s u r a n c e and n e w
language covering bereavement
leave, personal days leave, sick
l e a v e , p o s t i n g of
nonc o m p e t i t i v e p o s i t i o n s and
vacancies.
J a c k M i l l e r , CSEA F i e l d
Representative, served as chief
negotiator for the unit which is
part of Local 838, Oswego Coun-
NEW YORK CITY - The executive
committee of CSEA Local 010 has
voted unanimously to "vigorously oppose" passage, if submitted, of a
suggested proposal by New York City
Mayor Edward Koch dealing with civil
service reform.
According to Local 010 President
Solomon Bendet, the m a y o r ' s
proposals included widening the
definition of managerial employees to
excluded "hundreds of additional
workers out of their unions" since
managerial employees are excluded
from union m e m b e r s h i p . Such
workers would be subject to a higher
possibility of dismissals, it was noted.
Other reform proposals call for
employees hired within a 2 year
period to have equal seniority and the
use of new evaluation procedures in
choosing workers for dismissal. Local
OlO's executive committee voted unanimously for a resolution to advise
CSEA that "when and if Mayor Koch
s u b m i t s h i s p r o p o s a l s to t h e
legislature CSEA should vigorously
oppose its passage."
Mechanic exam set Jan. 23, 24
The State Department of Transportation has announced it will hold exams
for two continuously open positions during late January and has set January 5
as a cutoff date for interested individuals to submit applications.
E x a m s will be held January 23 and 24 in Poughkeepsie for the positions of
motor equipment mechanic, a grade 12 position with a salary of $10,024 (exam
number 20-568); and maintenance assistant mechanic, grade 8 with a salary of
$7,997 (exam number 20-578).
Interested persons should immediately complete the standard XDIO
application form and forward it to the Civil Service Department.
ty.
Local 8 5 0 elects new officers
NEW YORK STATE ELIGIBLE LIST
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Attociate Landtcap« Architect
(Exam No. 3 6 3 0 0 )
Test Haid Jun« 2 4 , 1 9 7 8
Nagel, Charles J., Pine Plains
McCready, Roy V., Clarence
LewencJon, John S., Albany
McCoy, David P., Poughkeepsie
Edwards, R. K., Point Jefferson St
Lewthwaite, G. W., Voorheesville
Vroomon, Jan B., Castile
Maciejak, Daniel, Brooklyn
Page 10
88.5
87.7
86.9
84.5
83.0
80.1
79.3
71.8
WATERLOO - Members of Seneca County Local No. 850 of the Civil Service Employees Assn. have elected new officers to represent the 250 County
employees.
Following the election. Jack Miller, CSEA Field Representative, swore in
the following new officers: Rino Piagentini, Seneca County Highway
Department, President; Merlin Brignall, Seneca County Sheriffs' Department,
1st Vice-President; Sharon Irland, Skoi-Yase School, Corresponding Secretary;
Joan Swarthout, Motor Vehicle Bureau, Treasurer; Brian Dombrowski, Health
Department, Representative.
THE PUeilC SECTOR, Wednesday, N o v e m b e r 22, 1978
union's Teachers' Retirement System
Local, has been placed in nomination
for the position. Ms. Lowe, of Albany,
has served several times as proxy for
Richard Helmes, the board member
who has vacated the public corporations seat because of a transfer to
another department.
Although Ms. Lowe's name will be
the only one to appear on the ballot, a
space will be provided for write-in
candidates.
The election is being conducted by
the CSEA Special
Election
Procedures Committee.
The financial portions of the contract are retroactive to April 1, 1977,
and the time and leave provisions to
April 1, 1978, a c c o r d i n g to P a t
Monachino, the union's collective
bargaining specialist assigned to the
court employees. In addition, there is
a wage re-opener clause in the pact,
allowing talks to begin soon on the
1979-80 salary hike for the employees.
Also, the court employees of the
city of New Rochelle will receive a 6
percent location-pay differential,
with a maximum of $1,020, as a result
of the new contract.
"I was gratified to see that some 75
percent of the members involved act-ually v o t e d on t h i s c o n t r a c t
ratification," Mr. Monachino said.
"It shows there was a great interest,
as well as overwhelming approval,
for this contract."
Carol Dubovick, acting president of
CSEA's Court Employees Local 332,
had strongly urged ratification.
False statement
on application
leads to firing
An appeals court has rules that even
though a State employee completed
his probationary period before it was
discovered that he made a false
s t a t e m e n t on his e x a m i n a t i o n
application, he can still be fired
without a hearing.
The c a s e involved a f o r m e r
employee who contended that since he
had acquired permanent status, he
had a "constitutionally protected
property interest" in the job under
the due process clause and, therefore,
could not be discharged without a
hearing. In a recent decision, the
Appellate Division of State Supreme
Court rejected his argument.
The court unanimously ruled that
the New York State Civil Service
Department "may
terminate
employment without a hearing where
post-appointment
investigation
reveals facts which, if known prior to
appointment, would have warranted
disqualification."
The employee was fired following a
C i v i l S e r v i c e D e p a r t m e n t investigation concerning his answer to
an application question about the
reasons for his separation from
previous employment.
Study
shows
Layoffs more costly than attrition
BUFFALO B a s i n g his conclusions on the October, 1978 report of
the Continuity of Employment Committee, Dr. Walter L. Balk told a
productivity forum sponsored by the
Erie County L e g i s l a t u r e , that
"layoffs are a more costly strategy
than attrition."
D r . B a l k , c h a i r m a n of t h e
department of public administration
at the State University of New York,
at Albany, also suggested that any
campaign to increase productivity
"has got to be a joint effort, between
management and workers," with a
stress on maintenance of morale to
keep workers until they are retrained
for new tasks, if their jobs are found
to be no longer as important as
previously.
He also pointed out that while civil
servants are sometimes stigmatized
as "unproductive," they are frequently victims of the "system." For instance, he said, "social workers must
waste time in defining a juvenile
delinquency case and coming up with
the appropriate remedy because
there are five state laws which
govern." The Legislature, Dr. Balk
said, could reduce the response time
by consolidating the laws and the
definitions into one statute so that the
workers wouldn't have to go to five
laws before they could take action.
Dr. Balk said that the Continuity of
Employment Committee, headed by
Dean Robert B. McKersie of the New
York School of Industrial and Labor
CSEA backs arthritis telethon
NEW YORK CITY - The Civil
Service Employees Assn. has announced that, for the fifth consecutive year, it will lend support
to the annual Stop A r t h r i t i s
telethon of the New York Arthritis
Foundation.
The telethon will be broadcast on
WOR-TV (Channel 9), beginning at
10 p.m. Saturday, February 10 and
continue through 6 p.m., Sunday,
February 11.
CSEA' P r e s i d e n t W i l l i a m L.
McGowan has accepted chairmanship of a special VIP Panel to
announce contributions from CSEA
m e m b e r s during the televised
program, and CSEA Long Island
Region President Irving Flaumenbaum has again been named coordinator of the union's fund raising
e f f o r t in c o n n e c t i o n with the
telethon.
Both Mr. McGowan and Mr.
Flaumenbaum have co-signed a
letter being mailed to CSEA's
more than 300 Locals and their
units calling for statewide supjx)rt of
the fund raising effort. Advance
gift cards are being sent out to encourage contributions in advance
of the telethon to be credited to the
union effort.
Mssrs. McGowan and Flaumen-
baum are also appealing in general
to all CSEA members and their
families to help support this important telethon effort "to help
fight what is truly our Nation's
NUMBER
ONE
Crippling
Disease." Proceeds will go to support program s e r v i c e s of the
Arthritis Foundation in behalf of 2
million arthritis sufferers, young
and old, in our own area as well as
many more millions throughout the
country.
The CSEA has participated in the
four previous telethons and as Mr.
Flaumenbaum put it, "we intend to
once again show everwhelming
support in behalf of arthritis sufferers here and everywhere during
this fifth annual telethon. We are
determined to provide the Arthritis
Foundation, the only organization
dedicated to finding a cause and
cure for this disease, with the
m e a n s for c a r r y i n g on their
programs of research and patient
services."
They stressed also the tremendous impact that crippling arthritis
brings to bear on the worker and
his family. "Arthritis is not just a
minor ache or pain, it is a serious
and devastating problem that has
reached epidemic proportions in
our country and we must continue
to do whatever we can to help
eradicate it.""'
Early scheduling indicates that
entertainers from Broadway,
WATCH fHE
SATURDAYHI6HT
Hollywood and Las Vegas will take
part in this star-studded telecast.
CSEA leaders from across the
state will also appear on the
telecast to acknowledge support
g e n e r a t e d by the CSEA pretelethon arthritis campaign.
Relations at Cornell University found
that layoffs are about 20% more costly than attrition.
In the committee's conservative
calculations were, he said, such factors as unemployment insurance
charge-backs, insecurity-induced
quitting of valuable employees, the
lower productivity which a c c o m panies layoff anxiety, lost state
revenues, the cost of operating the
preferred hiring system and many
more items not calculated because of
the statistical methods used.
First, he said, there is the obvious
cost that public employers must pay
the total cost of unemployment insurance payments since the public
employer must reimburse the unemployment insurance fund dollar for
dollar payments made to the laid
off worker.
Private employers, on the other
hand, he explained, prepay their
share of unemployment insurance by
a certain percentage of their payroll,
depending on prior unemployment insurance claims history.
The report, s u m m a r i z e d in a
newsletter of the committee which
came to the attention of Erie County
Legislators Leonard R. Lenihan, (D)
Tonawanda and Joan K. Bozer, (R)
Buffalo, prompted the form for the
legislature which may be forced to
reduce spending levels following the
adoption of new tax limits in the
November elections.
Dr. Balk called the attention of the
legislators to the conclusion, "planned attrition programs represent one
way of eliminating many of the costs
of (the) side effects, while maintaining most of the savings of the layoffs."
Also in attendance at the forum
were John P. Eiss, President of Erie
County Local No. 815, Steve Caruana
its Medical Center Unit President and
CSEA Western Regional President,
Robert L. Lattimer, a member of the
Continuity of E m p l o y m e n t Committee, which was formed following
the lay-offs in recent years.
Civil Service Department turns dov\^n suggestion
ALBANY - The State Department
of Civil Service, which was recently
highly criticized for its handling of
civil service examination situations,
has turned down a detailed suggestion
from a public employee which may
have within it the seeds of a workable
r e v a m p i n g of c i v i l s e r v i c e examination situations which could
result in the State saving money and
time in administering civil service examinations.
Teresa M. Nenni is a stenographer
in the Department of Transportation,
R e g i o n 1 D e s i g n at 84 Holland
Avenue, Albany. Recently she had an
unfortunate experience in taking a
series of civil service examinations in
conditions which were far from ideal.
Based on her personal experience and
her desire to contribute a worthwhile
idea to help with the needed solution
to the problem, she developed a sixpoint suggestion to improve the civil
service examination procedure which
i n c l u d e d t h e p r e p a c k a g i n g of
materials needed for each of the
various examination
candidates.
Her idea contained the following
points. First,_when the Civil Service
Department receives an application
for an examination or a series of
related examinations to be given on
the same day at the same location it
should then replace an examination
folder with all required materials for
the applicant. This would eliminate
unnecessary last minute shortages of
essential materials, tests, answer
sheets, finger print cards, and scrap
paper which seems to plague the
present system. This pre-packaged
folder could then be sealed and serve
as a roster of scheduled candidates.
Secondly, the employee suggested
that the outside of the folder be
designed so that it could contain the
general examination instructions, the
candidates name and established
identification number and a series of
signature and time lines which would
allow the proctor to identify the individual candidate, the candidate to
verify the contents of the sealed
folder and the completion of the examination.
Nenni pointed out in her suggestion
that if implemented this idea could
save time, cut the number of proctors
needed for an examination, and save the
State money by stopping the number
of objections to an examination which
seem
to arise following the administration of examinations under
the present procedures.
H o w e v e r , the D e p a r t m e n t ' s
Suggestion Committee has reviewed
the employee suggestion and has rejected it as not being realistic, especially for the large amount of work
it would take to prepare such exam
packages and the cost that would
result.
After reviewing the. suggestion
made by the employee and the answer
from the Department of Civil Service, the Civil Service Employees
A s s n . s e e s no r e a s o n w h y the
Department should ever object in the
future to CSEA requests that an examination be re-run since apparently
it costs little for management to do a
haphazard job.
John D. Corcoran, Jr. CSEA Capital
Region Director indicated some disbelief in the attitude of the Civil Service Department towards an idea
which reflects the concern of public
workers to see that the Department of
Civil Service functions in an effec-.
tive, efficient manner in tlie area of examination administration.
Corcoran c o m m e n t e d
"State
Regent examinations go off like clock
work, numerous scholarship and competitive achievement tests are also
run s m o o t h l y b e c a u s e of b a s i c
preplanning by the a p p r o p r i a t e
m a n a g e m e n t level. Civil Service
should review its procedures in light
of this suggestion and see if it could be
of use and value. Mistakes are costly
in both the long and short run.
Suggestions to improve such mistake^
riddled procedures should not just be
evaluated on paper, but possibly by
use in an actual testing situation.
Then the evaluation will be valid."
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, December 20, 1978
Page 11
OPEN CONTINUOUS
STATE JOB CALENDAR
Patricia
Robins
wins
award
POUGHKEEPSIE — Patricia Robins, formerly president of the
Dutchess County Unit of the Civil Service Employees Assn., has been
presented an Award of Merit for her dedication and service to the Dutchess
County Unit.
Ms. Robins, who resigned her position because of a promotion, is shown
receiving the Award of Merit from CSEA Southern Region President J a m e s
J. Lennon. Looking on, right, is Regional Director Thomas J. Luposello.
The special award was given at a dinner held in honor of Ms. Robins by
members of the Dutchess County CSEA Local and Unit.
More problems reported
to Civil Service Commission
NEW YORK CITY Problems
with scheduled Civil Service exams
continue to mount. One of the latest,
involving an examination for senior
stenographer given at Julia Richman
High School in Manhattan, causedmore than 50 angry employees of the
Downstate Medical Center to write a
formal letter of protest to Civil Service C o m m i s s i o n ^ Victor Bahou.
The e m p l o y e ^ protested what they
termed "the d ^ j j r a b l e conditions"
to which they ^y^e^ subjected.
In their l e t t e t f ä dopy of which was
sent to Gov. Carey, the employees'
charge they were testructed to appear
for the test at 9 ^ . m . , but that some
of them had to wait till noon, some till
1 p.m. for the arrival of dictating
equipment used in the test. The
employees also complained of confusion among proctors regarding instructions and the poor quality of the
testing equipment.
The Downstate employees call their
treatment at the test "a perfect example of Civil Service's lack of unders t a n d i n g of e m p l o y e e s ' h u m a n
rights" and said they were treated
like "a herd of sheep rather than
qualified, experienced and responsible adults". The shabby treatment,
protested the e m p l o y e e s , caused
"much anxiety and tension" which
affected their performance in the
test.
STATE OPEN COMPETITIVE
JOB CALENDAR
.The f o l l o w i n g jobs ore open. Requirements vary. Apply with the state Civil Service Department, 2
W o r l d Trade Center, M a n h a t t a n ; State Office Building Campus, Albany, or 1 West Genesee St., Buffolo.
FILING ENDS JANUARY 2, 1979
rpijlg
Principal Account - Audit Clerk (NYC Area Only)
Campus Security Specialist
Medical Laboratory Technician 11
Laboratory Technicians 11
Bacteriology and Microbiology
Biochemistry
Biology
Biophysics
Chemistry
Food Chemistry
Nucleonics
Physiology
Sanitary Bacteriology
Assistant Sanitary Engineer (Design)
Principal Rail Transportation Specialist
Assistant Railroad Engineer
Senior Railroad Engineer
Associate Rail Transportation Specialist
Coordinator of Substance Abuse Federal Relations
F?rm Manager
FILING ENDS JANUARY 22, 1979
Coordinator of Uniform Reporting and
Accounting Systems
Salary Exam No.
$11,450 No. 20-935
$13,511 No. 20-937
$10,024 No. 24-880
$10,024
$10,024
$10,024
$10.024
$10,024
$10,024
$10,024
$10,024
$10,024
$14,850
$27,842
$14,850
$18,301
$22,623
$26,420
$11.904
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
24-881
24-882
24-883
24-884
24-885
24-886
24-887
24-888
24-889
24-890
27-834
27-848
24-849
27-851
80-020
80-028
$25,295 No. 27-835
You con also contact your local Manpower Services Office for examination information.
Page 10
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, December 20, 1978
Title
Pharmacist (salary varies with location)
Assistant Sanitary Engineer
Senior Sanitary Engineer
Clinical Physician I
Clinical Physician II
Assistant Clinical Physician
Attorney
Assistant Attorney
Attorney Trainee
Junior Engineer
(Bachelor's Degree)
Junior Engineer
(Master's Degree)
Dental Hygienist
Licensed Practical Nurse
Nutrition Services Consultant
Stationary Engineer
Senior Stationary Engineer
Occupational Therapy Assistant I
Occupational Therapy Assistant I
(Spanish Speaking)
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Trainee
Medical Record Technician
Histolo^ Technician
Professional Positions in Auditing and Accounting
Computer Programmer
Computer Programmer (Scientific)
Senior Programmer
Senior Computer Programmer (Scientific)
Mobility Instructor
Instructor of the Blind
'
Health Services Nurse
(salary varies with location)
Senior Heating and Ventilating Engineer
Senior Sanitary Engineer (Design)
Senior Building Electrical Engineer
Senior Building Structural Engineer
Senior Mechanical Construction Engineer
Senior Plumbing Engineer
Assistant Stationary Engineer
Electroencephalograph Technician
Radiologic Technologist
(salary varies with location)
Medical Record Administrator
Food Service Worker
Mental Hygiene Therapy Aide Trainee
Mental Hygiene Therapy Aide Trainee
(Spanish Speaking)
Associate Actuary (Casualty)
Principal Actuary (Casualty)
Supervising Actuary (Casualty)
AssisUnt Actuary
Nurse I
Nurse II
Nurse II (Psychiatric)
Nurse II (Rehabilitation)
Medical Specialist II
Medical Specialist I
Psychiatrist I
Psychiatrist II
Social Services Management Trainee
Social Services Management Specialist
Social Services Management Trainee
(Spanish Speaking)
Social Services Management Specialist
(Spanish Speaking)
Industrial Training Supervisor
(salary varies depending on specialty)
Physical Therapist
Physical Therapist (Spanish Speaking)
Senior Physical Therapist
Senior Physical Therapist (Spanish Speaking)
Speech Pathologist
Audiologist
Assistant Speech Pathologist
Assistant Audiologist
Dietician Trainee
Dietician
Supervising Dietician
Stenographer
Typist
Senior Occupational Therapist
Senior Occupational Therapist
(Spanish Speaking)
Occupational Therapist
Occupational Therapist (Spanish Speaking)
Salary Exam No.
$14,388-$15,562 20-129
$16,040 20-122
$18,301 20-123
$27,942 20-118
$31,055 20-119
$25,161 20-117
$14,850 20-113
$12,397 20-113
$11,723 20-113
$12,890 20-109
$13,876 20-109
$8,950
$8,051
$13,404
$10,042
$11,250
$9,029
$9,029
20-107
20-106
20-139
20-100
20-101
20-174
20-174
$14,142
$11,983
$9,481
$8,051
$11,250
$11,250
$11,250
$14,075
$14,075
$11,904
$11,250
$11,250-$12,025
20-140
20-140
20-143
20-170
20-200
20-220
20-222
20-221
20-223
20-224
20-225
20-226
$18,301
$18,301
$18,301
$18,301
$18,301
$18,301
$7,616
$7,616
$8,454-$10,369
20-227
20-228
20-229
20-230
20-231
20-232
20-303
20-308
20-334
$11,904
$6,148
$7,204
$7,204
20-348
20-352
20-394
20-394
:
$18,369 20416
$22,364 20-417
$26,516 20-418
$10,714 20-556
$10,624 20-584
$11^904'- <20-585
$11,904 20-586
$11,904 20-587
$33,705 20-840
$27,942 20-841
$27,942 20-842
$33,705 20-843
$10,824 20-875
$11,450 20-875
$10,824' ^0-876
$11,450 20-876
$10,624-$12,583 20-877
$11,337
$11,337
$12,670
$12,670
$12,670
$12,670
$11,337
$11,337
$10,118
$10,714
$12,670
$6,650
$6,071
$12,670
$12,670
20-880
20-880
20-881
20-881
20-883
20-882
20-884
20-885
20-888
20-887
20-886
20-890
20-891
20-894
20-894
$11,337 20-895
$11,337 20-895
You may contact the following offices of the New York State Department of Civil Service for announcements, applications, and other details concerning examinations for the positions listed above.
State Office Building Campus, First Floor, Building I, Albany, New York 12239 (518) 457-6216.
2 W o r l d Trade Center, 55th Floor, New York City 10047 (212) 488-4248.
Suite 750, Genesee Building, West Genesee Street, Buffalo, New York 14202 (716) 842-4260.
Legal assistance protects you
EDITOR'S NOTE: As this article
on C S E A ' s L e g a l A s s i s t a n c e
Program was going to press, the
major settlement involving the
union and the State Department of
Transportation, which appears on
page one of this issue, was announced. That legal proceeding, interestingly enough, was handled by
the union's law firm of Roemer and
Featherstonhaugh under the Legal
Assistance Program. Every penny
awarded under the settlement goes
to the affected employees; there is
no d i m i n i s h i n g of the a w a r d
amount for legal services, which
would be the case if private attorney were involved. In a followup
article, "The Public Sector" will
d i s c u s s the L e g a l A s s i s t a n c e
Program in greater detail through
i n t e r v i e w s with t h o s e p e o p l e
closest to the administration of the
massive membership assistance
program.
ALBANY — Despite its better
than 80% success rate in thwarting
efforts by the State of New York to
terminate CSEA members involved in disciplinary actions, the union's massive Legal Assistance
Program remains one of its least
known services.
L a s t y e a r a l o n e , the L e g a l
Assistance Program averaged a
better than eight out of ten success
rate in preventing the state form
firing employees that it accused of
wrongdoing. Think about those
numbers for a moment. The state
proposed firing about 200 state
workers, but could only impose
that penalty on 37.
While this type of activity is only
one of the many functions of the
Program, it is the clearest example in the complex world of labor
relations as to how a union can
effectively protect its members.
In d i s c i p l i n a r y p r o c e e d i n g s ,
grievätnce arbitration or appeals
matters, and in litigation revolving
around law, contract doctrine and
r u l i n g s by the s t a t e ' s P u b l i c
Employment Relations Board, the
Program is working every day to
make justice in the working place a
r e a l i t y for public e m p l o y e e s
employed by the State of New York
or its political subdivisions and
represented by CSEA.
Last year alone more than $1.5
million was spent by CSEA on
Legal A s s i s t a n c e for public
e m p l o y e e s represented by the
state's largest public employee
union. Through a complex formula of
direct assistance from the unions
statewide headquarters and shared
grants with its Locals, the Legal
Assistance Program is frequently
all that stands between justice and
the wrongful destruction of a working man or woman's career.
During the 1977 calendar year,
the State of New York filed 2,559
n o t i c e s of d i s c i p l i n e a g a i n s t
employees represented by CSEA.
While most of these disciplinary
actions involved relatively minor
infractions and are settled in the
early stages of the disciplinary
proceedings established by CSEA's
contracts with the state, more than
500 e n d e d up in a r b i t r a t i o n
proceedings. Still more fights occurred in the political subdivisions.
The cost of fighting these actions
is enormous, but there is no practical alternative. There are, of
course, cases where a disciplinary
action is justified, but there are
also many cases where no discipline is justified. In order to
protect employees both directly
and indirectly involved in such
proceedings, the union created its
L e g a l A s s i s t a n c e P r o g r a m to
oversee the complex areas of disciplinary
and
grievance
proceedings as well as to fund
related court action and P E R B
proceedings where necessary.
t o the thousands of public employees faced with a disciplinary
charge, the need and Value of the
Program is obvious. But to the
many thousands more who are fortunate enough never to face such
proceedings, the need is still very
real.
The need for the L e g a l
Assistance Program is similar to
the need for a police force. While it
certainly serves » real value in
handling wrongdoings which do occur, it serves an equally important
value as a deterrent to potential
wrongdoing.
CSEA carefully built up strong
contractual protection for the
public e m p l o y e e s it represents
through y e a r s of n e g o t i a t i o n .
Stronger protections for CSEArepresented employees not only in
state service but also in political
subdivisions is still being won, but
the complex procedures involved in
these protections still varies from
contract to contract.
Generally, however, all seek to
build upon the protections provided
by state laws for public employees
and expand those protections to
assure real job security and what is
increasingly becoming known in
the labor movement as the "law of
the working place."
CSEA's Legal
Assistance
Program is the vanguard of the
union's committment to bringing the
"law of the working place" to
e v e r y public e m p l o y e e work
location in the state.
ATTORNEYS FROM CSEA'S LAW
FIRM, R O E M E R A N D F E A T H E R STONHAUGH, are constantly involved
in various phases of legal proceedings
on behalf of union m e m b e r s under the
L e g a l A s s i s t a n c e P r o g r a m s . Atty.
J a m e s R o e m e r , second from left, goes
over legal matters with s o m e of the
firm's lawyers. Attorneys shown are
Marge Karowe, Richard Burstein,
Stepnen Wiley and Michael Smith.
TONY CAMPIONE is Administrator of
Legal A s s i s t a n c e P r o g r a m s for the
Civil Service E m p l o y e e s Assn. He is
located at CSEA Headquarters, 33 Elk
Street, Albany and spends full t i m e on
the m a s s i v e legal a s s i s t a n c e programs.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, December 20, 1978
Page 11
AFSCME holds
leadership panel
in Region VI
BATAVIA - The first in what
will be a series of Leadership
Training seminars conducted for
Civil Service E m p l o y e e s Assn.
l e a d e r s by t h e t r a i n i n g and
education staff of AFSCME was
held recently here.
Local CSEA officers, stewards,
grievance chairpersons and other
local officers and members from
CSEA's Western Region attended
the day-long s e s s i o n . CSEA
Western Region President Robert
Lattimer called the workshop a
s u c c e s s f u l venture, and CSEA
statewide President Wi41iam L.
McGowan, who attended the
program, said it was an excellent
example of a benefit of the affiliated relationship of CSEA and
AFSCME. It is expected that a
followup session will be scheduled
next spring, according to Mr. Lattimer.
AFSCME Director of Training
and Education Dave Williams and
several members of his staff out of
A F S C M E h e a d q u a r t e r s in
Washington conducted
the
program.
CSEA P R E S I D E N T BILL McGOWAN, r i i h t ; Western Region President Robert
Lattimer, center, and AFSCME Director of Training and Education D a v e
Williams, left, discuss the initial Leadership Training workshop conducted tor
CSEA leaders and m e m b e r s by AFSCME.
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOP SESSIONS w e r e conducted throughout the day-long program. Here E v e l y n
Rieder of the A F S C M E staff conducts a group s e s s i o n as part of the overall program.
(Above) R O C H E S T E R A R E A e m p l o y e e s participating in training session are L. Jean Smith from
Rochester P s y c h i a t r i c Center CSEA Local 420, and
C h a r l e s F l e t c h e r and F r a n c i s H e a d , both f r o m
Department of Transportation Region 4 CSEA Local
506.
(Above right) AFSCME S T A F F M E M B E R John
Dowlinger is shown conducting one of the many
workshop s e s s i o n s held throughout the day.
( B o t t o m R i g h t ) C S E A LOCAL 607 f r o m S U N Y
Fredonia w a s represented by Mary Ann Bentham, left,
Local President Sara Sievert, center, and Barbara
Saletta.
Page 10
THE PUBLIC SECTOR, Wednesday, December 20, 1978
JOANNA WILLIAMS actively participates in a
workshop session. She is f r o m Monroe County Local
828.