The local leadership of the CSEA will be forcibly replaced after the union’s battle with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman over members’ healthcare plan.
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The Nassau County leadership of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), the union that represents more than 8,000 county workers, will be forcibly replaced after the union’s battle with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman over its members’ healthcare plan.
Mary Sullivan, president of the statewide union, has reportedly removed Local 830 President Ron Gurrieri and Executive Vice President Bob Arciello from their positions after their most recent negotiations with Blakeman resulted in a hit to the union’s health care plan. The new health care option, presented by Blakeman and accepted by Local 830 leadership, comes with unaffordable deductibles, union members say.
“Why would someone take a job like this for such a low salary?” Ann Mary Heaney, a police communications operator supervisor who often worked night shifts and weekends for $31,000 annually for the Nassau County Police Department, asked the Nassau County Legislature on Oct. 22. “The reason is the excellent medical benefits. The Empire Plan was priceless and helped my family get through hard times.”
Prior to August, CSEA members had been on the state-sponsored Empire Plan. Union members had until Nov. 1 to sign up for the new plan, which begins coverage on Jan. 1, or go without health insurance for themselves and their families.
The CSEA is one of the largest public employee unions in the state and represents a vast range of employees, from law enforcement officers and librarians to EMTs and school nurses. CSEA members like Heaney provide vital public services like dispatching 911 calls that keep the county safe and make leadership look good, Heaney said.
Heaney wanted to “put a face to the people” who are being threatened by the lower-quality health care plan that the county is offering, which forces people to pay initial costs of up to $5,000 before the health care plan kicks in. Such a plan would be devastating to families like Heaney’s, she said, who can’t afford to pay those kinds of deductibles on an already low salary.
State and regional CSEA representatives and Blakeman did not respond to the Press’ request for comment.
“Now it’s your time to help us protect our family and ourselves against sickness and disease,” Heaney said.