Today’s fight honors yesterday’s heroes

By KENNETH BRYNIEN
The holiday of Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer. To many people the holiday isn’t much more than an extra day of vacation.

Most of us don’t think much about Labor Day or even what we are celebrating, either having forgotten or never having learned about our brothers and sisters in labor and the sacrifices they made — sacrifices that led to many of the benefits and working conditions we take for granted. Many union brothers and sisters gave their lives working to make our lives better, through their work and through their service to each other.

We, too, have members who died in noble causes, ensuring that the work of the citizens of New York was done. On September 11, 2001, we lost 34 members, and over the years before and since we have lost even more. Their heroism and sacrifice must never be forgotten.

One of the best ways for us to honor the memory of our lost friends and colleagues is by working to protect and improve the working conditions of our members and all workers.

Unfortunately, many of the draconian management tactics and styles that our union brothers and sister resisted and fought against years ago still exist in many workplaces across the state.

Our members are being threatened, intimidated and punished by managers for exercising the contractual and legal rights that we have earned as public employees.

Nowhere has this become more acute than in many of the state facilities of the Office of Mental Health and Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and in the state prisons.

Often, management behavior is a manifestation of a deeper problem such as short staffing that has led to mandated overtime, as well as lapses in worksite safety which often result in violence against workers from clients and inmates. Many times, the dangers of short staffing are compounded by management with an anti-worker, anti-union bias. And, many times, rather than make decisions that will address the problem, management denies and ignores the issue.

We are working to put an end to these abuses and the conditions that allow them to flourish across the state at facilities such as Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, Sunmount Developmental Center, and Arthur Kill Correctional Facility.

We will hold management accountable for their actions and work to address the underlying causes wherever they may occur. We will use any means possible to fight these problems, including legal action, public relations, legislative action, political action and mobilization, and will not stop until our members’ needs are met.

This is what the founders of the union movement fought and sacrificed to achieve. This is why we celebrate Labor Day, and there is no better way to honor their memory than to fight and work to improve the lives of our members and all of our fellow workers.

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