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Looking Back

Last Updated: December, 2009
Each Quarter, Looking Back takes you into the Reflections' archives for a look at the stories making news 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years ago.

1st Quarter, 1985

Assistant managers named

Leslie Calder

Tony Costanza

Nick Delvecchio

Joint Board manager Leslie H. Calder has appointed two assistant managers — Anthony “Tony” Costanza and Nick DelVecchio. Calder said the appointments will help better handle the headquarters workload and give him an opportunity to devote more time to his duties as an international vice president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU).

Costanza is a 33-year ACTWU member and is general shop chairman of Local 14-A. Delvecchio, a 34-year ACTWU member, is business agent for a number of clothing Locals, including Hickey-Freeman.

1st Quarter, 1990

Business rep named

Gary Bonadonna

Gary Bonadonna, who helped influence and guide some of the most historic and innovative employee involvement activities for Local 14-A during the 1980s, has been appointed business rep for the Local. He had been a shop rep for 14-A members who work in assembly operations, as well as those in off-site warehousing operations.

Joint Board manager Anthony “Tony Costanza, who made the appointment, said “Gary really showed his leadership qualities as a shop rep by always looking for any opportunity that would help the people he represented.” Bonadonna joined Xerox in 1973.

1st Quarter, 1995

Retirees club liaison named

Paul Leuzzi

Paul Leuzzi, one of the Joint Booard’s best-known members, has been appointed as a liaison between the Board and the Amalgamated Retirees Organization.

Board manager Gary Bonadonna said he made the appointment as a way for the Board to help the retirees group. “Our retirees are the ones who made this union what it is today. We would not have this great union if it weren’t for them and what they did to build this organization. I have great respect for them,” Bonadonna said. Leuzzi had a long career with Local 14-A, serving in many capacities including in posts as shop rep and general shop chairman. He also served on the Joint Board’s executive board and as sectretary-treasurer of the Board.

1st Quarter, 2000

Jeannie Reitz (For photo caption)

Jeannie Reitz

Rehab program improved: Local 14-A’s rehabilitation program — already hailed as perhaps the best in the country — just got better. That’s because new pilot programs have been added for those on long term disability and those recovering from cardiac problems, according to business rep Jeannie Reitz.

She noted that 14-A members will potentially be eligible for the programs “for the first time ever.” Under the one-year pilot projects, members placed in either program will earn their full pay and benefits. The long-term disability rehabilitation program is aimed at members who have been out as long as 36 months. The cardiac rehab project seeks to place members within 12 weeks of the time the cardiac problem began.

1st Quarter, 2005

14-A ratifies new contract

Local 14-A members working at Xerox have overwhelmingly ratified a new, four-year contract featuring a job guarantee, annual wage hikes, COLA, and the retention of current dental and medical benefits.

Joint Board manager and chief negotiator Gary Bonadonna hailed the pact as “a significant victory for our members and our Union.” The key contract provisions include:

- A job security guarantee for all active members on board at ratification

- Wage increases and COLA totaling approximately 19% over the life of the agreement

- Taking all the COLA from the old contract and folding it into the new base rate before the general wage increase is applied

- Retention of the current HMO medical plans, including an improved 50-50 cost sharing on any increase in premiums; the dental plan remains unchanged.