434 DAYS
’N COUNTING – PEF PS&T Contract Chair Eric
Miller tells reporters PEF has not been offered what CSEA
got. — Photo by John EptingGov.’s reps ‘don’t know’ if they’ll offer PEF the CSEA or MTA deal
Union demands end to contract stall
By DENYCE DUNCAN LACY
Flanked by members of the union’s negotiating team, PEF President Roger Benson in late March called on Gov. George Pataki to stop stalling on contract negotiations for the union’s 54,000 members and start moving the talks to closure.
“For 434 days, the governor’s representatives have stalled and stonewalled,” Benson told reporters at an Albany news conference.
“They have said ‘no’ to any wage proposal we have put forth, even though our proposals have been within the parameters of the MTA contract that they defined and agreed to.
“For 434 days, the governor’s representatives have disparaged our proposals, mocked our positions, questioned our motives, and held 54,000 professionals and scientific and technical employees in disdain.
“To this day, we continue to be told by the governor’s representatives, that they don’t know when, or even if, they will put the same offer on the table for us that they put on the table for 77,000 CSEA members or 32,000 TWU members at the MTA,” Benson added.
The union president said PEF is calling on the governor to direct his staff to move the negotiations to closure so the white-collar workforce can again focus on serving the needs of New Yorkers, instead of struggling for a fair contract.
To bolster that message, Benson announced the union would hold a “Stop the Stall Rally” in Albany on April 6 and would launch a statewide radio advertising campaign in early April. PEF will also continue running print ads in the Capital District as long as the stalemate continues.
Benson also said the union is concerned about the exclusion of PEF members from the proposed legislation to tie pension reform to new contracts for some union members.
“If we are not included in the pension reform, the Governor’s Office is putting us in a position to oppose something that is good for others. We should not, we cannot, and we will not be excluded from pension reform. We will take whatever steps are necessary to assure that our members are treated fairly.”
Union uses
governor’s own words to call for fair deal
PEF launches radio ad blitz for contract justice
By DENYCE
DUNCAN LACY
PEF launched a quarter-million-dollar radio ad campaign
last month featuring Gov. George Pataki, to press its
case for a fair contract.
The 60-second spot aired on 35 radio stations in 12 major
cities across the state.
“This ad campaign asks the governor to keep his
promises to the workers who serve all New Yorkers,”
said PEF President Roger Benson.
“We want him to honor his pledge to negotiate a fair
contract with us, now.”
The ad notes that PEF members have been working without a
new contract since April 1,
1999, even though Pataki promised nearly a year ago that
he would negotiate a fair contract with them.
“We have great state workers, who do a tremendous
job for us. I’m proud of them and we will have a
good contract with them,” Pataki says.
The governor’s remarks were excerpted from a
television interview in June 1999.
The governor’s comments last August, as PEF members
protested his appearance at the State Fair, are also
included in the ad. The governor is heard saying, “I
have enormous respect for our public employees. I think
they’re the finest in the country. I think they do
deserve more.”
A narrator then asks, “If the governor can’t
keep his word to the people who have dedicated their
lives to serving the people of New York, how can he be
trusted to keep his word to anyone?”
The ads aired from April 6 to 16 on the following
stations:
• Albany: WGNA-AM/FM; WGY-AM; WKLI-FM; WROW-AM;
WTRY-AM/FM; WYJB
• Binghamton: WHWK; WNBF; WYOS; WAAL
• Buffalo: WYRK; WJYE
• Elmira: WENY
• Long Island: WALK
• NYC: WCBS-FM; WLTW; WSKQ/WPAT; WFAN
• Plattsburgh: WOKO; WKOL
• Poughkeepsie: WCZX/WZAD; WRNQ/WKIP
• Rochester: WRMM; WHAM
• Syracuse: WYYY; WSYR; WBBS; WSEN
• White Plains: WHUD; WSPK
• Utica: WFRG/WRUN
Benson says the Pataki Administration is stalling on
negotiations with PEF.
Although the governor has already reached agreement on a
new contract with the state Civil Service Employees
Association (CSEA) giving their members raises totaling
more than 22 percent over four years, he is still only
offering PEF a contract providing raises of 3 percent
annually for four years. He is also demanding union
givebacks including increases in PEF members’ share
of health-care coverage.
On February 18, PEF made a contract counterproposal, but
the state has not responded to it.