STOP OT — PEF President Roger Benson tells lawmakers making RNs work double shifts endangers patients. — Photo by John Epting

Our achievements continue as finish line draws closer


By ROGER E. BENSON
At the beginning of the year, I wrote that this administration would “sprint to the finish.” With just two months left, we continue to press on, reaching new milestones along the way.
 
We have again successfully fought against damaging gubernatorial budget proposals, succeeding on 10 of 13 of our priorities, including legislative restoration of positions at the state Department of Agriculture and Markets and funding for three group homes at the state Office of Children and Family Services, and rejecting authority to privatize SUNY hospitals and design-build and public-private partnerships at the state Transportation Department.

We have seen three of our four Go Public anti-privatization bills become law. We are pressing hard for the passage of our final accountability bill — Cost-Benefit Analysis. This bill, if passed and signed into law, would require the state to perform a cost-benefit analysis comparing public employees against private contractors and consultants before contracting out any state work. Ultimately, these laws will help make your job more secure by increasing transparency and public scrutiny of contracting out.

We have pressed hard, seeking passage of our workplace violence bills and have partnered with the Civil Service Employees Association to move this legislation along, appearing jointly at rallies and press conferences. Our bills would help improve workplace safety and reporting of injuries, and make your workplace safer and less violent.

Our nurse staffing campaign continues to raise the profile of our nursing issues in a way the public can understand. We have worked to raise nursing concerns, particularly mandatory overtime, and have strengthened our coalition with three other unions: 1199, NYS United Teachers and NYS Nurses Association, to help achieve our goal of safe staffing. The success of this year’s multi-union rally May 2nd is a testament to the efforts of PEF on behalf of our nurses.

These campaigns, combined with our focus on job security, stronger contracts, retirement reform and using member mobilization, legislative and public relations influence, have been the cornerstones of the past nine years of this PEF administration. Our achievements together mark a period of continuing salary advances, protection against job loss and significant retirement reform, while continuing our day-to-day representation and service responsibilities to the members.

Some said that many of these goals were unachievable, that it could not be done. However, each success and each milestone achieved has reinforced my belief in the strength of our union and that together we are our own best advocates. As the finish line draws closer, I am certain we will see continued success.

The Communicator June 2006

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