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| Civil Service Employees Association: A Centennial Celebration |
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| Written by Ashley McGown | ||
| Friday, 01 January 2010 00:00 | ||
“When CSEA began, life expectancy was only 50 years, radio was in its infancy, there was no TV or Internet, and automobiles were just starting to be mass produced,” said CSEA President Danny Donohue, putting the organization’s centennial into perspective. “Back then, life was hard for all working people, but public employees in particular didn’t get a lot of respect, and they didn’t get paid very much either.”  The world has changed significantly since CSEA was established in 1910, and although the organization remains true to its founding purpose, its team’s efforts now run deeper and reach a much wider population than in years past. Today, with a team of 540 employees and annual revenues of approximately $134 million, CSEA is New York’s leading union. “Over the decades, we have done a good job representing our members, and we have made New York a better place to live,” said Donohue. “We have accomplished a lot, but there is no end to the work that needs to be done. A benchmark like this provides us with an opportunity to look back and appreciate all that has gone before us, but more importantly, it’s an opportunity to build on our success.” To capitalize on this opportunity to use self-evaluation as a method of improvement, CSEA executives talked extensively with members, employees, staff managers, and activists about their thoughts on the organization’s past and the direction in which they’d like to see it move in the future. According to Donohue, the organization’s team is ultimately going to try to better itself on every level, poised to enter its 101st year with a revitalized sense of purpose. Sticking to their guns With a global recession impacting local and national economies in the US and abroad, 2009 was a tough year for businesses and organizations in the nonprofit sector. When business revenues across several industries suddenly dropped, many of these entities rolled out staff layoffs in an attempt to reduce operational costs; others proposed the renegotiation of worker contracts. Fortunately for its members, CSEA refused to renegotiate its more than 1,100 worker contracts. Instead, the organization worked with employers to generate alternative cost-saving ideas. “The past year was dominated by challenging times in Albany and beyond,” said Donohue. “When others folded, CSEA stood strong against a nearly overwhelming assault on the integrity of our contracts and preserved our hard-fought rights, benefits, and values. It was not easy, but we held together, stood up for what was right, and did not flinch.” As a result of the full support it shows its members in the most difficult of situations, CSEA has developed a strong reputation over the years, and as a result, organizations in the private sector have begun to take notice. Earlier this year, CSEA secured a statewide contract on behalf of 25,000 home-based childcare providers. Donohue said CSEA’s emergence into the private sector is something he and his team have been working toward for some time now. “It took years of dedicated focus to make this a reality. It represents a bold new area of advocacy for us along with an energetic new membership across the state. It’s an exciting and fitting way to start our next century,” he said. A wide scope With nearly 300,000 members, CSEA is one of the largest unions in the US. In addition to traditional union services, such as grievances, disciplinaries, and contract negotiations, CSEA secures or provides health, dental, and optical insurance; child and elder care assistance; employee benefit funds; home, life, and car insurance; legal services; scholarship programs; and career development services, among other things. As the largest affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest public employee union in the country, CSEA lobbies for its members through an assortment of wide-reaching platforms. In addition to his role at CSEA, Donohue serves as international vice president at AFSCME; the dual roles allow him to more seamlessly transfer ideas from one organization to the other. CSEA has tackled many challenges throughout the years, and looking to the future, its team is sure to face more. For the most part, however, its story has gone untold. Now, in honor of its centennial anniversary, Donohue and his team are focused on telling that story. CSEA put together a number of informational displays that depict key milestones in CSEA’s history. The displays are being hosted in various public venues and are traveling throughout New York. Additionally, CSEA has invested in radio and TV ads, and its team is preparing to publish a video documentary and a book that details its development, history, and goals for the future. “These projects stem from the invaluable work performed during the last 10 years and are an effort to preserve and protect our history,” said Donohue, who added that the CSEA team works closely with the University at Albany to maintain the union’s official archives, located at the school’s Grenander Special Collection. “We have worked with graduate students from the university to review and organize our materials and make them more accessible,” he added. “Today, a significant part of the CSEA materials are available on the Web, and more are being added regularly.” |