New York’s Lifespire Workers Win First Contract with CSEA

December 20, 2006

December 20, 2006

Lifespire workers and their family members held numerous events and rallies, including this one in Brooklyn, until they succesfully joined CSEA.

Photo Credit: Dave Galarza

Twelve-hundred employees of Lifespire Inc., a New York City human services agency that provides services to the developmentally disabled, overwhelmingly approved their first contract this month with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000.

After a months-long campaign to build support from community groups and elected officials throughout the city, Lifespire’s employees successfully reached a card check and neutrality agreement with management in early December, 2005. In February 2006, they became the largest private-sector group of workers ever to join AFSCME’s biggest affiliate. Their decision to join CSEA through a card-check campaign paid off: Under their new contract, the members – mostly direct-care workers – will see their paychecks rise quickly over the three-year agreement with cost-of-living increases totaling 10 percent, retroactive to July 1, and pension and health insurance coverage for employees who work more than 20 hours a week.

Says Norma de Guzman, a senior developmental aide at Lifespire who also was a leader in the effort to form a union with CSEA, “We love our consumers and the work we do and this contract will allow us to continue providing the kind of care they deserve.”

In addition to improved wages, the contract provides longevity pay and commits CSEA and Lifespire to work together to improve the quality of the state’s developmental disabilities system through additional resources.

CSEA president Danny Donohue said the union “is committed to keeping New York’s care for individuals with developmental disabilities, the model for the nation. We are so proud of our members at Lifespire and their management's recognition that fairness and respect for the workers goes hand in hand with quality care for the individuals they serve.”

“Lifespire looks forward to partnering with CSEA to bring improvements to New York's service delivery system," said Mark van Voorst, Lifespire’s chief executive officer. Bob Krakow, chairman of the Lifespire Board, added, “We are particularly pleased that CSEA has joined Lifespire as a partner” in advancing its mission.