Month: June 2016

CSO has a new bargaining chair, Rosemary Louissaint, from CTA’s Concord RRC. Rosemary is no stranger to union work.  She comes from a unionist family where union work has always been held in high esteem.  Her Mom was a dedicated shop steward for Kaiser and her Dad, who is now deceased, was part of the Vallejo Unified School District’s classified union.  Rosemary grew up with four sisters, so her bargaining skills began to sharpen at an early age!

Rosemary learned about advocacy at her mother’s knee and recalls their many phone conversations over the years. She learned how to represent those who could not advocate for themselves.  Rosemary quickly realized that fighting for workers’ rights is about having working conditions that provide opportunities to maximize professional and personal excellence.

In addition to what she gleaned from her mom, Rosemary affectionately re

members the many conversations with her mentor, Ted Bynum. Ted showed her how important it is to take care of the whole person. He taught her to be ever-mindful of those who are beneficiaries of every hard-fought collective bargaining agreement won.

Rosemary finds great joy in working with her five local chapters.  She believes that within the brother and sisterhood of the union, each person has value; the union is made more successful by the contributions each member makes. Recognizing the importance of supporting her members in many innovative ways, Rosemary makes certain that they have opportunities for enhanced and meaningful membership engagement.

As the CSO Bargaining Chair, Rosemary wants to ensure that the best bargaining agreement is negotiated. She leads a team who aspires to reach an agreement that provides for members’ needs through a process that is transparent, accessible and promotes unity.  Rosemary believes that the best bargaining year is not only when we gain and improve working conditions, but when we build stronger internal relationships amongst ourselves.

Away from the office Rosemary enjoys reading, traveling, spending time with her family, and sharing a great meal with friends.  Rosemary is married to her wonderful husband, Rosemond and they have a 13-year-old daughter, Rosie. Rosemary and Rosemond have been dedicated to their transformative Haiti Mission, Brother Helping Brother (www.brotherhelpingbrother.org).  They are doing their best to help impoverished children of Haiti become educated in hopes of building a better and stronger Haiti.

Rosemary is very pleased and excited to be working with her new team:  Penny Upton, Frank Wells, Susan Midori-Jones, Norma Ortiz, and Jane Robb.  Together they plan to do their best for CSO!