UNITED - Presidents Danny Donahue of CSEA,
Denis Hughes of NYS AFL-CIO and Roger Benson of PEF clasp
hands in solidarity. - Photo by J. Putrock, photo below
by C. Brescia
Members tell governor: We
want our fair share
Demand
for fair contract sweeps over Capitol
A sea of yellow and red swept over the capitol on January 5, as some 20,000 members of PEF and CSEA donned their unions' colors and raised their voices to a roar in demanding a fair contract.
But instead of meeting the governor, they came nose-to-nose and knee-to-knee with a hard grey line of police, billy clubs and iron barricades.
Freedom of speech and assembly were challenged, cramped and compromised, but they prevailed, nevertheless.
"Our members refused to be intimidated by an army of state and local police who were clearly under orders to try to muzzle us," said PEF President Roger Benson.
"Our members came to personally deliver their own message - 'Give us a fair contract now!' - to the governor while he was presenting his State of the State address at the Capitol," Benson added.
Rocking the arena
More than 200 buses from
throughout the state slowly delivered 13,000 irate state
employees to Albany's Pepsi Arena. There they joined
7,000 more state workers, mainly from the Capital
District, to hear speakers and watch video tapes of their
10-month struggle for contract justice.
The members of PEF and the Civil Service Employees
Association along with delegations of members from trade
unions and other well-wishers from around the state
cheered state AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes and the
leaders and members of PEF and CSEA who addressed them.
"We're here today because George Pataki doesn't
believe the PEF and CSEA contract teams speak for
members," PEF President Roger Benson told the packed
arena. "The governor has said that our teams are
'unreasonable' and that the workers would accept his
'very fair contract offer' if just given the chance.
"PEF and CSEA
workers, this is your chance! This is your chance to
speak directly to George Pataki. And we believe he can
hear us today.
"What do the workers say about the current contract
offer?" Benson asked the protestors.
"Get real! No deal!" was the thunderous
response.
No 'whipping boys' here
Denis Hughes pledged:
"All the labor unions in this state recognize this
fight and will be with you until you get a fair
contract."
PEF Region 8 Coordinator Jeff Satz told the workers they
held the key to making the governor respect them and the
rights of labor.
"We are not going to be the whipping boy of
political mismanagement,"
Satz vowed.
PEF Vice President Jean DeBow said the governor and
legislators need to understand their livelihoods are at
stake too.
No way to win votes
"We want our fair
share now," she said. "We don't just work for
the state, we vote in this state. And we'll remember on
Election Day. Gov. Pataki, show us the money!"
PEF members Michelle Burchett, a deafness counselor with
a caseload of 300 hearing-impaired New Yorkers in the
Bronx, 
and Jim Frye, a nurse at the SUNY's
University Hospital in Syracuse, also addressed the
crowd, telling how understaffing is eroding the public
services they provide and how difficult it is to get by
on their state pay.
"The governor's raise was more than my yearly
salary," Burchett said. "I live and work in the
Bronx and I am unable to pay my bills and eat. This is no
joke.
"I came from North
Dakota to New York, thinking I would get a fair shake.
But where is my fair shake?" she demanded. "I
give 150 percent and all I expect is to receive 100
percent back. I call the governor every day, but he never
answers me."
Frye said state pay for nurses is so low and working
conditions so demanding that recruitment and retention
are chronic, serious problems at University Hospital
where patients and staff alike suffer from the effects of
understaffing.
Fair raises for all state workers would be a good start
on fixing these problems, he said.
PEF SPIRIT At left,
members follow President Roger Benson to the Capitol.
Into the
fray with whistles
Wearing bright yellow-and blue-knitted PEF caps and armed with whistles and placards and pennants the workers began their march to the Capitol where they would face an army of state and Albany police.
The police insisted they travel through a long, narrow, succession of enclosed passageways, escalators and stairs that connect the arena to the Empire State Plaza.
It proved to be a
bottleneck that effectively delayed the arrival of
thousands of protestors to the outdoor rally.
Eventually, PEF Region 12 Coordinator Ruth Gaines led a
line of hundreds of frustrated members out a side door,
over the protests of the troopers, and they walked all
the way to the south end of the concourse, where they
were finally allowed to come out onto the frigid,
wind-whipped plaza.
But in spite of every obstacle, the members made their
statement loud and clear. They chanted, they whistled,
they shouted and waved their arms. 
One member, dressed in a bright yellow rally shirt and
hat, beat a drum.
"In Nigeria, this is how we communicate with
stubborn people," said PEF member Ayotunde Adewunmi
of Delmar.
The members climbed onto ledges, terraces and pylons.
They climbed into trees. Finally, they even broke down a
plastic fence aimed at keeping them out of Capitol Park
on the west side of the Capitol.
A cordon of state police still blocked their entry to the
Capitol, but the demonstrators were close enough to be
sure their message was heard by the governor and
legislators inside.
Why so hard?
As the sun sank quickly in
the cold, clear, winter sky and the members turned to
look for their buses for the long ride home, many
wondered why it had to come to this - the acrimony, the
struggle, the governor hiding behind denials and police
barricades and the members laying siege with whistles and
signs.
"It doesn't have to be like this. Clearly, the state
can afford to treat us fairly," Benson said.
"It has surpluses enough for huge raises for the
politicians and their appointees. Apparently, they just
can't bring themselves to share it fairly. But we've
earned our share, and we won't give up or give in without
it."