STOP THE STALL – PEF President
Roger Benson, flanked by Contract Chair Eric Miller and
Contract negotiation team member Arlea Igoe, calls on the
state to stop stalling PS&T contract talks. —
Photo by John EptingPS&T contract fight over?
Think again
By Roger E. Benson
Because the Civil Service Employees Association has
reached a contract agreement with the state, many PEF
members assume that our contract fight is over.
To the contrary, however, the state has given no
indication that it is ready or willing to offer PEF
contract terms that we consider acceptable.
What we have gotten from the state are excuses and
stalling tactics that beg the question of why PEF
hasn’t received contract terms similar to what was
offered CSEA. Simply put, they don’t have to.
The state has an enormous advantage over unions, because
of the limitations imposed on us by the state Taylor Law.
The state’s method of operation in the past has been
to use one bargaining unit against another, set a pattern
and then make the other units work simply to achieve the
established pattern.
The state attempted to do that with the agreement it
reached with United University Professions, but PEF
resisted, mobilized and pushed the state to improve
subsequent contract offers.
Our mobilizing efforts are responsible for driving the
state to improve on its contract offers from the original
proposal made to CSEA more than a year ago. This same
mobilizing effort must now be used to ensure that we,
too, get a fair deal.
This will not be easy. The state has clearly indicated
that we will not be just handed an offer. The
spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Employee
Relations has said repeatedly that PEF will not just be
handed an agreement similar to CSEA’s.
To break the governor’s stall, we must exert as much
political and public pressure as we can. Some members
have questioned the value of being militant and
mobilizing for a fair contract, saying, “Be nice to
the governor and he will treat you well.”
But if our experience over the last few months, as well
as the last few years, has taught us anything, it’s
that you must work to get what you deserve.
The governor is now counting on us to lose our resolve
and accept an onerous concession to get the same economic
package as CSEA.
We will not be bullied. Our militancy has paid off for
UUP and CSEA.
Now, it’s time to finish the job and let the
governor know we will not give up and he will not rest
until we get the contract we deserve.