PEF mourns Region 8 leader

By SHERRY HALBROOK
PEF members are mourning the loss of their Region 8 coordinator, Jeffrey Satz, 55, who died November 27 after being stricken with a pulmonary embolism at his home in Schenectady.

“Jeff did a lot of important things for this union. His influence on PEF goes way beyond Region 8,” PEF President Roger Benson said.

A grants management specialist 3 at the state Labor Department, Satz had 30 years of service at that agency and helped found PEF in the 1970s. He had been PEF’s Region 8 coordinator since 1990.

Satz was PEF’s statewide labor-management chair at DOL and was PEF chair of the Joint Parking Committee, leading the union’s successful efforts last year to preserve free parking at the Harriman Campus and other state worksites on Holland Avenue in Albany. He also chaired the union’s Statewide Civil Service Committee.

And Satz served 20 years on the Region 8 Political Action Committee, working successfully with the late Congressman Jerry Solomon and Congressmen John Sweeney and Mike McNulty from the Capital District to help get improvements in the tax law governing the state’s deferred compensation program.

Unforgettable impression
Satz clearly made a memorable impression on Sweeney and other political figures who attended a PEF memorial service in Albany on January 13.

Sweeney said he was state labor commissioner when he first met Satz, PEF’s L-M chair at DOL.

Sweeney said. “I learned that if you wanted to move the agency forward in some way, you called Jeff.”

Sweeney described Satz as someone who “held strong beliefs, had a great deal of ardor in pursuing those beliefs, and was an unusual dresser (a reference to his penchant for wearing T-shirts with provocative messages).

“I’m going to miss him a lot,” Sweeney added. “He was always a sounding board for me — a trusted friend and ally.”

Among other political figures who came to pay tribute to Satz were state Assembly Minority Leader John Faso and Assembly Members Pat Casale, Robert Prentiss, Paul Tonko, and James Tedisco. State First Deputy Comptroller Bruce Feig also spoke on behalf of Comptroller H. Carl McCall.

“Jeff made certain I never forgot my roots as a former state employee and PEF member, and my duty to fight first and foremost for working people,” Tonko said. “He ... made us better legislators.”

“It was always fun when Jeff came in to see me,” Tedisco recalled. “We always had a lively discussion, and I always learned something I didn’t know before.

“Jeff represented everything good and great about the work force of New York State,” Tedisco said.

Defender of democracy
“Jeff was a tireless advocate for the interests and needs of the PEF membership,” said PEF Secretary-Treasurer Jane Hallum. “We will remember him most for his writing ability and verbal flourish. He was especially proud of this and established various newsletters including “Heartland,” the Region 8 newsletter, and the “Union Bug,” the divisional newsletter for the Department of Labor.”

Benson said Satz’s courage in saying what he thought and his unwavering loyalty to his principles gave him “enormous credibility.”

Former PEF Division 258 Council Leader Bob Hanson at the state Transportation Department in Albany recalled working with Satz as far back as 1978 on the campaign to organize and found PEF. But Satz, he said, had been part of an even earlier, unsuccessful first attempt to found PEF in 1975.

Hanson was impressed with Satz’s commitment to giving the union a truly democratic constitution and structure.
“Jeff had a hell of a sense of humor, and a good sense of what the union was about and what it should be about,” Hanson said.

“He was never the type of guy who would make things personal,” Hanson recalled, “but he was always controversial. I can remember seeing him go toe-to-toe with Gov. Mario Cuomo at a PEF demonstration on the contract or the state budget.”

Ungrudging advocate
PEF Region 7 Coordinator Bill Crotty admired Satz’s ability to separate issues from personalities.

“You and he could be on opposite sides of an issue during a meeting, but when it was over, he was ready to forget and forgive,” Crotty said. “You can’t say that about everyone.”

George Goldsmith said he worked with Satz in the early years of PEF, “but we didn’t become close friends until we ran against each other for Region 8 coordinator in 1990. We appeared at functions together and debated, and we found out how much we really had in common. I felt I had a great deal of influence with Jeff after that campaign.”

Satz was also known for his fiscal conservatism.
“Jeff absolutely believed in getting as much as possible and keeping as much of it as possible,” Benson said.

“When Jane and I sat down to develop PEF’s budget, we knew that he was the one guy who would go through it with a microscope. PEF elects three trustees to watch out for the members’ interests, but it really had a fourth trustee in Jeff.”

Satz also had a “giving side” that caused the bachelor to help found the Wee Care Day Care Center and serve on the boards of two others. He lead Region 8’s many charitable endeavors, including its annual collection of toys for needy children and cash for area food banks, among others.

And Satz was renowned for his keen appetite.

As PEF Region 9 Coordinator Neila Cardus said in announcing the belated luncheon after hours of remarks and reminiscing about Satz at the memorial service, “Jeff understood that you should never come between PEF members and their food.”

The speeches ended and the feasting began, but the fond reminiscing goes on and on.

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