To the Editor:
I, too, have applied for retirement with the severance pay package, but was denied. I’m in pension Tier 1 with more than 39 years of service. I’d like a chance at that kind of perk after all the years I’ve served the state.
I’ve also been a union member, first CSEA and then PEF, since November 19, 1970.
Why can’t I and those like me be afforded the same treatment as those with less service?
When and where has anyone heard of someone being denied retirement?
They want us out. Then they should be doing more to help us get there.
After all the years and governors and legislators I’ve seen come and go, they still don’t seem to get it. The budget’s still a mess.
Since I started my career with New York under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, I’ve seen layoffs, the tiers introduced, and reduction by attrition, but those of us who have remained continued to work hard and get the job done.
I know life’s not fair, but come on!
Shame on them. Shame on all of them.
LINDA S. MARGISON
Albany
Members’ paltry effort shocking
To the Editor:
If ever there was a cognitive disconnect in The Communicator, it was this statement in the April 2010 issue in the article headlined “Members doing the ‘Write’ Thing.”
Without so much as a raised eyebrow, the article shamelessly states, “So far, more than a dozen members have participated in PEF’s ‘Do the Write Thing’ campaign by writing to editors of their local newspapers.” As if that were a number to be proud of.
Think about it for a minute: a dozen PEF members out of approximately 55,000 (PS&T) members statewide. A mere 0.022 percent cared enough about their jobs and the threats posed to it by the current fiscal crisis to tap out a few paragraphs defending our jobs and the public service we do.
Frankly, I have trouble finding the words that convey my disappointment – nay, anger – at the vast majority of members who, collectively, seem to say: “Ask me if I care.”
If you cannot do something as simple as participate in a letter-writing campaign to defend the job that keeps your house warm and you and your family fed, then perhaps you do, indeed, deserve whatever the governor and the Legislature dish out to you. If it’s dog food, you earned it.
JIM CLOSE
Mechanicville
Editor’s Nozte: Hundreds, if not thousands, of PEF members have written to state legislators and the governor in defense of their jobs. Those in danger of losing federal funding for their positions also have written to their federal representatives in the House and Senate. Many members also have met with their legislators.
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 words), and please include your name and phone number for verification.
Send letters to thecommunicator@pef.org:
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
