{"id":6501,"date":"2025-01-16T13:40:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T18:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=6501"},"modified":"2025-01-30T10:18:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T15:18:05","slug":"union-leader-spotlight-keith-browne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-1\/union-leader-spotlight-keith-browne\/","title":{"rendered":"UNION LEADER SPOTLIGHT: Keith Browne"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UNIONHow long have you been a PEF member?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nSince 1989, so 36 years. Time flies when you\u2019re having fun!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Briefly, what do you do in your state role?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nI work for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, which is known as the DEC or Encon. I\u2019m an environmental engineer. My first 12 years I worked in the Hazardous Waste program, managing cleanups of hazardous waste sites in PEF Region 9. The remainder of the time has been with Spills Response, where I respond to environmental emergencies, including petroleum and chemical spills and other significant environmental impacts. I manage<\/span> cleanups, which includes<\/span> petroleum spills in people\u2019s homes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What positions do you hold in PEF?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nCurrently, I\u2019m chief shop steward of the Mid-Hudson Valley DEC office. I\u2019m also Division Leader for Division 169 PEF\/Encon; I sit on the PEF Executive Board representing DEC PEF members in the Albany, Mid-Hudson Valley, NYC and Long Island areas; and I am part of the DEC Labor\/Management committee and DEC Health and Safety committee. Recently, I became chair of the Caribbean-American Committee.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you get involved in the union and as a leader?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nI was fortunate to be in an office with a great union leader, Jonah Triebwasser. He was the PEF Shop Steward (later became Chief Shop Steward). We met my first week on the job. He introduced himself and then he asked are you in the union? I said no and then he said come to my office for a talk. And I was in PEF from that time on. A few years later I became a shop steward, and several more years later management offered a promotion to Jonah but with one catch – he had to give up union activities. He took the promotion, which I understood with two kids, a mortgage and all the financial burdens of being a state worker. I told him I would be the Chief Shop Steward. I have been the Chief Shop Steward ever since.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please comment on the value of public employees.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nIt is service to the community. In my position, it\u2019s service to both the people and the environment of New York State. My degree is in Chemical Engineering and after graduating, some of the companies I was seeking employment with didn\u2019t have the best environmental records and some of the plants had high risks to my health. My mother guided me to civil service – instead of being the issue, try to fix the issues. So, I applied and took tests for NYC, EPA and NYS. DEC was the first to respond and that\u2019s where my life with DEC started.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anything else you want to include?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nMy father was in a garment union. He worked long, hard hours and as jobs dried up in NYC, his commute got longer and longer, until it was subways, trains and buses for him to get to work. I didn\u2019t see the point of the union. My father always said the union is helping us fellow brothers and sisters against the boss. When I started working with the state, I finally understood what he meant. Sitting in meetings with Jonah, seeing how some managers\/supervisors treated employees, literally throwing the contract out the window. That is why I\u2019m part of PEF – to stand up against the bosses for fair treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How long have you been a PEF member?\u00a0 Since 1989, so 36 years. Time flies when you\u2019re having fun!\u00a0\u00a0 Briefly, what do you do in your state role?\u00a0 I work…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-6501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-43-no-1"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUNION LEADER SPOTLIGHT: Keith Browne - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-1\/union-leader-spotlight-keith-browne\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNION LEADER SPOTLIGHT: Keith Browne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How long have you been a PEF member?\u00a0 Since 1989, so 36 years. 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