Letter: Suffolk college union battle

Regarding "College needs its own local" [Letters, July 6], although the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees believes in the sanctity of all union-management negotiations, we must also remind the representative of the Civil Service Employees Association that AME broke away from the exact CSEA Local 852 that is now raiding our members -- back in 1984! AME's successful disconnect from CSEA, a vote overwhelmingly approved by our membership then, brought AME to its current level of successful independence.

My members remember the hard fight to gain our independence. Our executive board has direct representation at the union table at all sessions of negotiations with Suffolk County management; that is, we did until CSEA effectively stopped those negotiations for Suffolk County Community College by filing its petition to represent members already represented.

It is typical of a bully to cry foul when he gets a punch in the nose. AME members are not clamoring to join another union, so CSEA must try to defend itself by asserting that AME is holding up an election.

Unfortunately, when one union seeks to steal members from another union, that despicable behavior just adds to the long spiral downward that America's unions have suffered since the end of World War II.

Cheryl A. Felice, Bohemia

Editor's note: The writer is the president of the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees.