(OLEAN) – New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Southwestern New York Regional Director Anna Geronimo Has Been Elected as the New President of the Cattaraugus-Allegany AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Richard Lipsitz Tells WNYLaborToday.com.

“She is an Extraordinary and Outstanding Woman, as Well as an Extremely Competent and Professional Labor Leader,” Lipsitz Told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper Today (Tuesday, January 27th).  “I Cannot Tell You How Excited (the WNYALF is) to Have Such a Labor Activist in That Position of Leadership Who is Well-Informed and ‘Brings People Together.’  She Will Build a Program (in Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties) That ‘Mirrors’ the AFL-CIO’s Many Programs and Those in the Southern Tier are Going to ‘Want’ to Come to Their Meetings and Get Involved.  You Will Begin to See a Lot of ‘Good Things’ Come Out of That Council.”

Geronimo (Pictured Above), Who Serves as Director of NYSUT’s Southwestern New York’s Regional Office That is Located in Jamestown, Told WNYLaborToday.com she’s “Excited” by the Opportunity to Lead the Cattaraugus-Allegany Labor Council: “There are a Lot of Union Members in the Region and We Have a Lot of ‘Energy’ in This Group That Will Come Forward to Advocate for Those Issues That Benefit Working People.”

Geronimo Told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper That Her Own Union’s Base of 3,000 Members Will Mesh Nicely With the Affiliated Member Unions of the Cattaraugus-Allegany Labor Council, Which Include, for Starters, the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Southwestern Building & Construction Trades Council and the United Steelworkers (USW).

Due to “More Than a Full Plate,” Geronimo said Past Cattaraugus-Allegany Council President Karen Fenner of the USW Had Declined a Second Term as Council President, But is Staying On as Vice President.  “Karen’s a ‘Great Labor Leader’ in Her Own Union and I’m ‘Pleased’ She’s Staying On,” Geronimo said.

The Change in the Cattaraugus-Allegany Labor Council’s Leadership Position Came During the WNYALF’s Late December Meeting. 

Geronimo Chaired Her First Cattaraugus-Allegany Labor Council Meeting Earlier This Month.

“The General Feedback Has Been Positive,” she said.  “Our Goals are to Reinvigorate and Grow the Council and Raise Our Presence Across the Region, Become More High-Profile and Involved at County Legislature Meetings and Holding Our Industrial Development Agencies More Accountable When it Comes to (Doling Out) Taxpayer Dollars.”

“We’re Already ‘Reaching Out’ to a Number of Unions Across the Two-County Region to Get Them Involved.  We ‘Want’ Them to Tell Us ‘What’s Going On,’” Geronimo Continued.  “There are a Lot of Private and Public Unions Out There and Together, as a ‘Team,’ We’re ‘Formidable’ – and That’s Why We’ll be Reaching Out to So Many of Our Union Brothers and Sisters.  There’s ‘More Work’ to be Done.”

Starting With Those 3,000 NYSUT Members in the Two-County Area - Whose Union Has a “History of Activism,” Geronimo Told WNYLaborToday.com Unions and Their Members Need to be More Cognizant of Those Anti-Union Forces, Including Some in Elected Government, Who are Looking to Erode and Destroy Collective Bargaining. 

“The Threat to Collective Bargaining Here in New York State is Getting ‘Very Close’ to What it is in the States of Wisconsin and Florida,” Geronimo said.  “That’s Why We Need to Activate and Respond to the Needs of ‘All’ Union Members.”

Geronimo Has Already Hit the Ground Running, With the Labor Council’s Involvement in a Public Rally for Olean Teachers That Was Earlier This Month to Commemorate the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  “We Wanted to Show Them That, as a Council, We Strongly Support Them in the Issues That Impact Them,” she said.