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To the Editor:
Concerning Robert Fisher’s letter in the March issue of The Communicator about choices in our Deferred Compensation plan, I agree the options should be re-examined periodically, although the long-term prospects of most choices seem sound.
For example, the only “small-cap” fund choice offered is a company known for “momentum” investing — a style which basically chases “hot stocks.” This is generally regarded as the worst possible way to invest in the long run, because when hot stocks go cold, the last one in is left holding the bag.
Given that this fund has earned the lowest possible three-year rating from Investor’s Business Daily, should it be our only small-company choice?
Our plan also has no small-cap value-fund choice at all. Value funds invest in companies that most fund managers are ignoring — sound companies that aren’t current stock-market darlings. Small-cap value stocks have outperformed small-cap growth stocks over the last 20 years — the most important kind of time frame for deferred-comp investors.
The choices for mid-cap funds (those investing in middle-sized, fast-growing companies) are also weak. The highest-rated fund here was loaded with NASDAQ tech stocks.
The Communicator should provide more coverage of deferred-comp issues in general, such as the progress of federal (and state) legislation to put our 457 plans on a par with 401 K plans.
You also might want to investigate why new employees receive so little orientation about the program. At Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center, we in the education and training department have added employee training on it.
JAMES M. KELLER
Orangeburg
Letter to the Editor:
Jill Dangler is a nurse 2 at Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center and a member of PEF Division 183 in Utica. The many dedicated PEF employees who work there have been fighting to resolve many issues and concerns about the safety and security of employees and patients.
In 1997, Jill was put on worker’s compensation after she was viciously attacked while working on a unit at MVPC. This unit was short-staffed that day, even though a patient on the unit had a history of violence.
Jill has become a champion of this cause — pleading with policymakers and putting her own personal and tragic experience on statewide display by way of an article in The Communicator and testimony at legislative hearings on workplace violence.
She has made her story public, wherever and whenever she was approached, in the hope of ensuring that all PEF members and other state employees can work in a safe and healthy environment.
As PEF Region 6 coordinator, I publicly and officially thank Jill for her tremendous efforts on behalf of all state employees, but especially her fellow PEF members in this region.
Thank you Jill, you are the greatest!
MICHAEL DEL PIANO
Utica
To the Editor:
A letter in the March issue of The Communicator addressed the issue of “Clock Watching.”
I would like to ask the nurse from Ogdensburg who wrote that letter questioning PEF’s need to defend members against timekeeping, “Should I be concerned about patient violence at the workplace or about Workers’ Compensation for nurses?”
Neither of these issues affect me as a person working in the field for the state. However, PEF tries to defend my professionalism, integrity, and honor — issues that directly affect my ability to perform my duties in the best possible way.
Should we, as a union, be concerned about clock watching? Yes. Absolutely. Just as we should be concerned about other issues that affect specific groups in our union. This union should be supported when it deals with nursing issues, correctional services issues, investigator issues or any problem which effects some or all of the members of PEF.
Remember: “United, we stand. Divided, we fall!”
ED BORKOWSKI
Campbell
The
Communicator welcomes 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:
The
Communicator
Public Employees Federation
P.O. Box 12414
Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414
or email Denyce Duncan
Lacy, Executive Editor The Communicator - Director of
Public Relations dduncanlacy@pef.org
or Sherry Halbrook, Editor of The
Communicator- shalbrook@pef.org