 ADDRESSING
TOP ISSUES — SEIU President Andy Stern alerts
members at the conference to the important challenges
facing labor today.
PEF’s internal network reaches higher level
Mobilizer
conference builds members’ survivor skills
STORY AND PHOTOS By DEBORAH A. MILES
PEF’s Mobilization and Education Department
sponsored its first “survivor skills”
conference for fully mobilized divisions to enhance
internal networking and develop plans to fight the
governor’s budget proposal.
The three-day March conference held in Albany attracted
nearly 100 members who benefited from workshops on
motivation, designing worksite campaigns and a panel
discussion by PEF leaders on the union’s statewide
budget plans.
PEF President Roger Benson saluted those who took the
lead in mobilizing and stressed the importance to unite,
communicate and embrace the next level of internal
networking.
“This is the time for our union to increase
communications among all our members, so PEF can speak
with one strong, loud voice,” said Benson. “In
order to be survivors, all of us have to work together
and fight back.”
Underscoring the importance of member mobilization to the
future of labor unions, keynote speaker Andy Stern,
president of the Service Employees International Union
alerted the audience to the challenges and concerns in
today’s labor movement.
“Our challenge is to make collective bargaining
work,” Stern said. “We have done our job by
getting to the bargaining table. Times have changed. We
can have all the best public relations and mobilization
efforts at hand, but we can’t ignore the financial
reality of the state.”
Stern said because of an anemic economy, 94,000
steelworkers lost their retiree health benefits in
February, and the pilot’s union accepted a 29
percent pay cut with no raises for seven years. He
pointed out that President Bush could eliminate 850,000
people in public sector positions by recently amending
the law to say “not inherently public sector.”
 Labor’s moment in
history
Other challenges facing workers according to Stern are
the disappearance of private sector unions, and dwindling
memberships in the steelworkers, auto workers and
machinists unions. “That these unions are growing
smaller is a threat to all our futures,” he said.
“For the first time in American history, there will
be more public sector union members than private sector
union members. And that’s terrible when you think of
how many private sector workers there are. This is not a
good moment in history.
PEF staff Denise
Young (above) assists members during the question
session.
“Can we set standards the way other people set
standards for us? Are we the future? Those are the
fundamental questions for the whole labor movement,”
he said.
Health care tops list
And Stern said all union members must become health care
experts in what will be a major part of bargaining during
the next 10 years.
“If we don’t have national relief for our
health care, I guarantee we will bargain for the rest of
our time here, not about wages, but how to keep what we
have,” he said.
He told PEF members the key is to win and not whine, and
that winning health care issues is achieved by strategy
and finding revenue resources that can bring enough money
to the table to make collective bargaining work.
Conference
sharpens skills
Members who attended the conference said it was a great
opportunity to bring together labor leaders and issues of
mutual concern.
 Survivor Conference Photos - Click
to view >
“We are already immersed in a variety of issues from
the workplace to the state level,” said Greg Case,
PEF chair of the Joint Office of Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities Labor-Management Committee.
“It’s clear that every participant at this
survivor conference has made a personal investment to win
the battles facing us. Being together, we sharpened our
communication skills and furthered our plans of action to
share with our members and other divisions.”
“It’s amazing to see the amount of work this
group accomplished,” said PEF Assistant Director of
Mobilization and Education Margaret Messer. “They
not only renewed and updated their networks of
communication, but actually walked away with rock-solid
plans to fight the budget problems facing the SUNY
hospitals, and the proposed closings of psychiatric
centers in the state.”
Division 256 Council Leader Don Kehoskie, from the state
Department of Transportation, added, “This
conference was a positive exploration of the concerns
that affect other agencies. We should all be involved and
lend support to each others’ issues.
 GO TO NEW Mobilization &
Education Homepage
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Inside This Issue:
Features
PEF fires back in budget
battles for state services
PEF fights to raise state
revenues
Budget cuts leave research
in tatters
Unions may unite in battle
over health benefits
DEC: Polluters’ lackies
can replace state monitors
Departments
President's Message: NYS
budget must be fair
You Said It: Member's
letters this month
Health & Safety:
Evaluating your safety risks
Member Mobilization:
Building Survivor Skills
Nurses' Station: Lobby Day
plans for May 5th
Retirees In Action: Fight
health insurance hike
PEF Membership Benefits
Program & Travel Corp
Members In Action
Union Matters
'Operation Enduring Freedom'
with state workers
DOH members ahead in
evacuation planning
Call for Delegates: Annual
Convention Rules
Member dons dress to raise
$$ for charity
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Professional Directory
Members' Classified
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