Tell
legislators, governor to resolve budget crisis now
By Kenneth Brynien
This past month has been a tumultuous one for PEF members. Gov. David Paterson has delayed the implementation of our negotiated raises until a final state budget is adopted, attacks on our raises and benefits have appeared almost daily in the media, and state employees have been portrayed as greedy and unwilling to shoulder our fair share of the state’s fiscal crisis.
Rather than work constructively to address the budget crisis, the governor has sought to score political points by vilifying the state work force, appealing to the worst nature in people by promoting an us-versus-them attitude to provide cover for what is a contract violation and an illegal act.
We believe the savings the governor has demanded can be achieved without impairing agreements that have been negotiated in good faith by the state’s unions.
The state work force has sacrificed throughout this fiscal crisis. Zero growth has been allowed in state agency budgets since the fiscal crisis began. The budgets have been pared to the bone year after year, and our members are doing do more with less as the need for state services grows.
We have and are sacrificing, doing our part to lessen the state’s fiscal crisis. We continue to offer constructive solutions to address the state’s budget shortfall that will more than accommodate the cuts the governor is seeking from the state work force.
As I have said in many of my messages to you, you are our best advocates; an active and informed membership is vital to our success. I encourage you to get informed, and contact your legislators, which you can do online through the PEF Action Center at www.pef.org.
Urge your legislators to act as swiftly as possible to address the budget issues affecting the state work force.
You have my promise: We will take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the state lives up to its obligations under our contract.
