Rochester Pride Parade

Rochester– On Saturday, July 15, CSEA union activists marched with their labor brothers and sisters in solidarity at the Rochester Pride Parade that weaved down the Park Avenue neighborhood to Culver Road.

Official Rochester Pride organizers report more than 100 Units participated in the walk while thousands of marchers and parade onlookers took to the streets to spread the message of solidarity, love, non-violence, peace and community pride. This year’s parade theme was in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the “Summer of Love.”

After the parade, the community gathered at Cobbs Hill Park for the annual festival. CSEA sponsored a vendor table while sharing resources and relevant information about current events happening in our working world.

Bess Watts, CSEA Monroe County President said, “Once again, the parade and festival were awesome. The Rochester Pride Parade and Festival are a great opportunity to share labor’s message. The exceptionally warm reception we received as we walked down the avenue gave me chills down my spine.”

CSEA, the Teamsters, Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, NYSUT, Pride at Work AFL-CIO, Coalition Labor Union of Women, the Federation of Social Workers (CWA), AFT, UUP, UAW and many additional labor unions attended the event.

CSEA is an Official Sponsor of Rochester, NY Pride 2017.

Photos and story by Ove Overmyer, CSEA ©2017.

Constitutional Convention is Not a Solution

On Nov. 7, 2017, New York state voters will decide whether to hold a state Constitutional Convention. The New York State Constitution mandates that every 20 years, voters must decide whether to approve a convention.

A state Constitutional Convention is a meeting of three delegates from each of the state’s 63 Senate districts, plus 15 at-large delegates. During this meeting, delegates would have the ability to amend any part of the state’s constitution. Any changes agreed to by a majority of delegates will then go to the voters for approval. Any approved changes will then become part of the state constitution.

In 1997, voters rejected a convention largely based on strong opposition from CSEA and our allies. In recent years, some elected officials, voters and interest groups have expressed support for holding a constitutional convention because of frustration with recent political scandal and misguided state policies.

We are again strongly opposed to a convention, which could potentially open the door for losing many of the rights and protections that help secure our futures, including our pension benefits, collective bargaining rights, contract rights, civil rights and social welfare and much more.

A convention would also be expensive; it would likely be controlled by special interests that want to reduce your protections and could cost taxpayers millions.   Protect our future and vote 'NO' on November 7th.