Events
Meeting on the Miss Buffalo
Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Time: Boards, 5:30 p.m. Sails, 6 p.m.
Price: $5 per member, 25$ per non-member
Join us for 4 hours of fun on the Miss Buffalo. This is an adult only event with only 200 tickets for sale. Please RSVP by August 17, 2011 by calling (716) 628-6642.
View Flyer: PDF
Meeting Minutes - 7/13/2011
The CSEA union negotiators went over some of the items listed in the proposed CSEA "State Contract Tentative Agreement" (I have a copy if anyone needs it). When someone asked them what would happen if most CSEA members voted "no" on this contract, they said that besides a lot of layoffs, past history points in the direction that when they go back in to renegotiate, they would NOT be able to get us a better contract than what was presently negotiated. They also pointed out that layoffs mean high taxes and less service and is bad for the economy and it takes a paycheck out of the market and forces increased costs and demand for social services. When unemployment goes up, fewer taxes come in, people have less money to spend and the economy suffers even more. Needless to say, every time you talk about a layoff, you're not just talking about a person's job, you're also talking about a person's family and a person's life.
Just as important as voting for the tentative contract coming up is contributing a little of your time to help in the prevention of the possible repeal of the Triborough Amendment, to the Taylor Law. See the description of amendment below. Call Courtney Brunel, at our local union office, at 691-6555 for details on how to help with this new plan called the 2011 Regional Action Plan. Its more important than ever that we help because the New York Conference of Mayors (and other groups) are pushing HARD to have Gov. Cuomo AND State Legislators repeal this Triborough Amendment as part of their property tax cap legislation because, as you know, communities are facing rising property tax costs. Without this amendment, our state's approach to public sector labor relations could easily resemble that of Wisconsin or Ohio where collective bargaining was hugely changed. Nationwide, public employees are now facing restrictive bargaining processes and inequitable contribution demands (for more info on that, see attachment and/or go to this website: www.csealocal1000.org. This website also offers a lot of information on other like retirement info., benefit info., etc.
Description of Triborough Amendment: to refresh your memory, this describes the Triborough Amendment: Since public workers are prohibited from striking, the Triborough Amendment (to the Taylor Law) levels the field in negotiations by forcing our employer to negotiate in good faith and preventing them from unilaterally changing terms and conditions of employment if a contract has expired. This amendment merely continues the terms of an expired contract while the parties negotiate a new one. It does not give workers raises. Without a Triborough Amendment, employers could wait until a contract expires and then simply impose new terms: you could lose your increments and/or step increases, holidays, health insurance AND your employer could increase or decrease your work hours, as well as any and all negotiated benefits, except the minimum wage. To add insult to injury, if this amendment was abolished, the Taylor Law would remain in effect and CSEA members would still NOT have the right to strike! To help out with this 2011 Regional Action Plan, call Courtney Brunel out our of local union office, at 691-6555 and she will either mail you or fax the information.
Ballot cards: These are being mailed out to the members on 7/27/11 and must be returned by 8/12/11 by 5 pm to be counted. You must put your CSEA ID number on outside of envelope or ballot won't be counted (also NOTHING can be written on ballot or envelope). The CSEA ID number can be found on the CSEA ID member card you have. A new ID member card is presently being reissued and will be mailed on 7/15/11. The contract negotiations said that only about 14% of members bother to vote so it is very important that you vote this time around. If you don't receive your ballot card by August 5, 2011, you are to call 1-800-342-4146, ext. 1279 to obtain another one.
