Keep PEF focused on core issues
To the Editor:
I was deeply troubled by the amount of time spent at the 2005 PEF convention
debating a position on the Iraq war. While delegates, as individuals, may
consider the issue important and take a principled personal stand on it, it is
not a core union issue.
The convention was not the right forum for the debate and the resolution
certainly did not merit the plenary session time spent on it.
It is not unreasonable for PEF members to expect elected convention delegates to
prioritize the convention agenda so actions that could support improvements in
the terms and conditions of our employment would be considered before peripheral
issues.
At best, PEF’s effect on this highly divisive national issue is minimal. Future
PEF convention resolutions should be prioritized so these expensive diversionary
debates are relegated to whatever time remains after the bread-and-butter
PEF-member interests have been addressed.
What our members expect from their PEF convention delegates is effective action
to produce positive results in the workplace. A “feel good” position statement
on one of the most divisive national political issues of the day is a very poor
substitute for real action to help PEF members.
DENNIS E. ANDERSON
Ballston Lake
Help pass organ donor extension
To the Editor:
I’m writing regarding bill S.436 which is sponsored by state Sen. William
Larkin. This same legislation also was submitted in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
It would grant up to 30 days sick leave to state employees who donated an organ
prior to Gov. Pataki’s signing of the Organ Donor Bill. The Larkin bill would be
retroactive to August 29, 2001, and would extend to state employees who made
organ donations up to one year earlier.
I’m asking PEF to take an active role in getting this bill passed this year.
I retired in March 2003, from the state Transportation Department after 35.5
years of service. I was a living liver donor to my sister on May 2, 2001. I had
planned on being out for six weeks, but the recovery was tougher than I
anticipated, and I used 12 weeks of sick leave.
I checked with the state Retirement System before I retired to see if I would be
eligible to get this sick time back (if the bill passed) and they assured me I
would.
I’m already contributing to my health insurance premiums and I need to get this
passed, so I can use the cash value of this sick leave toward paying my
premiums.
I appreciate all efforts by PEF to help me and others who missed the boat in
2001. Please get this bill passed this year.
PAULINE A. SNYDER
Kingston
PEF should fight PTB changes
To the Editor:
How ironic that in an issue of The Communicator with a cover touting PEF’s past
“accomplishments” (the ones that affect — or might have affected — me seem to be
redress of earlier givebacks) is a story with the headline: “Union questions
state’s changes to Promotion Test Battery policy.”
The state Department of Civil Service announces it is going to renege on its
terms of the PTB, and the best PEF can do is “question?” Why isn’t PEF
protesting and fighting this change? It seems to me PEF’s reaction should not be
the passive response described, but an aggressive advocacy on behalf of the
members who will be affected (which it completely failed to do when this bizarre
testing system was first instituted).
As a longtime member, I would really prefer to see PEF be less involved with
national politics and issues. Instead, it should be more active in issues such
as this, which affect PEF members in the workplace and are at the very core of
what the union is supposed to do.
LORI BALAKLAW
Great Neck
Editor’s note: See a related article on page 10 for how PEF is fighting the
PTB changes. State civil service law and regulations are not mandatory subjects
of bargaining or negotiation with labor unions.
The Communicator
Letters policy
We welcome letters to the editor about union issues and events relevant
to PEF's diverse membership.
All letters are subject to editing for space, fairness and good taste.
Please keep them brief (up to one page, double-spaced or a maximum of 250
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Send letters to:
The Communicator
Public Employees Federation
P.O. Box 12414
Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414
Email to Sherry Halbrook,
Editor or Darcy Wells, Editor-In Chief
The Communicator April 2006
Features
Agencies wastes $ on
consultants
Members
work to stop bad budget
DOT members
meet lawmakers
PEF gets
support in stopping cuts
DOT members
tell all at hearing
New program
addresses grievances
Battle for
accountability heats up
Departments
President's Message
You Said It
Retirees In Action
Membership Benefits &Travel
Union Matters
PEF political
endorsements...
Probation
officers want fairness
Parole
officers caseload is murder
Nurses must mobilize
to pass...
Performance
award checks coming
Progress: Stop Workplace Violence
Promotion Test
Battery update
PS&T
Contract Survey
2006
Conv. Delegate Information
State must
re-bid Rx contract
New web site
shows benefits
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