SOLIDARITY — PEF President Roger Benson talks with Bruce Popper, executive vice president of SEIU Local 1199, Upstate at PEF’s May contract rally in Batavia. — Photo by Bill Sachs Standing firm for contract justice By ROGER E. BENSON Last month, we held rallies in support of our 291 members at the New York State Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Rome and Batavia. Our members at the schools have been working without a contract for three years. These members at the Schools for the Deaf and Blind are fighting for fairness and equity. Their struggle is to be treated the same as the rest of the state employees represented by PEF, and to be compensated fairly for their dedication and service to children with special needs. Despite attempts to divide and pit our members against one another, our members have stood firm throughout these negotiations. I am proud of our membership at the schools, and of our members who rallied to their support. This contract fight is a classic example of the union axiom “an injury to one is an injury to all.” PEF is a diverse union, representing more than 2,300 different titles in 255 different agencies, all with diverse interests, but we have matured as a union and understand that we are stronger together. The contract fight at these schools may have given us a taste of what the next PS&T contract negotiations may be like. But, we have also given the state a taste of what it may be facing in PS&T contract negotiations as well. Over the past two months we have mobilized nearly 2,000 of our members to rally on issues from nursing care to fair treatment of union representatives, and our power continues to build. We continue to mobilize, building our strength, fighting for fair contracts and our legislative priorities, and working to be a force in the upcoming elections. The results of our efforts will pay dividends for each of our priorities: job security; stronger contracts; and retirement reform.