BOARD DEBATES PACT — PEF member and health-benefits expert Todd Fryer answers questions from PEF E. Board members at a special meeting in June.
At left, Board Members Paul Shea pose
questions. — Photos by Bill Sachs
PEF
Executive Board OK’s sending proposed pact to
members
PEF, state reach tentative agreement on PS&T contract
By DENYCE
DUNCAN LACY
After 17 months of bargaining and dozens of statewide
rallies for contract justice, PEF President Roger Benson
announced on June 10 that the union had reached a
tentative agreement with the state on a new PS&T
contract.
The tentative four-year pact would cover more than 53,000
PEF members in the state’s professional, scientific
and technical (PS&T) unit, including Roswell Park
Cancer Institute in Buffalo.
“I’d like to thank the PEF membership and the
leaders of our union, as well as our international unions
— the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — who
stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us during these long
negotiations,” Benson said.
“Our hard work and determination have paid off. This
agreement meets the unique needs of our members,” he
added.
Two weeks later, the union’s Executive Board
approved the proposed pact by a vote of 85-10, clearing
the way for a ratification vote by all PEF members in the
PS&T unit.
Contract highlights
Some major
provisions of the tentative agreement include:
• Across-the-board salary increases of:
• percent, effective October 1999;
• percent, effective April 2000;
• 3.5 percent, effective April 2001;
• 3.5 percent, effective April 2002; and
• A $500 bonus for full-time employees (pro-rated
for less-than-full-time employees) payable as soon after
ratification as practicable.
• The agreement came after the major sticking point
in negotiations — use of electronic time-keeping
methods — was resolved.
The new agreement preserves members’ protections
against the use of such methods for time-and-attendance
purposes.
• Under the agreement, the governor will also
support legislation enhancing members’ pension
benefits by eliminating the 3 percent employee
contributions for Tier 3 and 4 members who have 10 or
more years of membership in the state’s retirement
system.
• This legislation, which has already been passed by
the Legislature, also will give PEF members in Tiers 1
and 2 one month of retirement service credit for each
year worked, up to a maximum of 24 months service credit.
• The proposed pact also includes enhanced dental
benefits and changes in health benefits.
• The co-pay for generic prescription drugs will
drop from $8 to $5, while the cost for brand-name
prescriptions will go from $8 to $15.
• Office-visit co-pays will rise from $8 to $10, and
later to $12 per visit.
Timetable for
ratification
Copies of the complete tentative agreement were mailed to
the members’ homes in late June.
Meetings will be held during July in each PEF region to
explain the terms of the tentative agreement and answer
members’ questions.
A meeting has already been scheduled for Region 8 at 6
p.m. Wednesday, July 19 at the Comfort Inn, 866
Albany-Shaker Road.
And the Region 5 meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday,
July 20 at the Binghamton Regency Hotel on Water Street
in Binghamton.
Check with your local PEF office for the time and place
of the contract meeting for your region.
Ballots will be mailed to the union’s members in
PS&T on July 26. The votes will be counted by the
American Arbitration Association on August 11 in New York
City.
If the agreement is ratified, the state Department of
Audit and Control will begin processing payments
immediately.
PEF expects that members would begin to receive the
raises and $500 signing bonus in late August or early
September.