State trims parking fee demand PEF’s campaign to preserve Capital District-area members’ terms and conditions of employment bore some fruit in June, as the state backed off on all but one of the sites on which it wanted to begin charging employees to park. “The Governor’s Office of Employee Relations has removed from the bargaining table its proposal to impose parking fees on employees at 44 and 84 Holland Avenue, 50 Wolf Road, and at the new Department of Transportation Offices in Schenectady,” said PEF Labor Relations Director Roger Scales. “Negotiations on parking fees are now limited to the Harriman State Office Building Campus.” The state proposed charging employees $3 bi-weekly for parking on lots that had been free for more than 40 years. The union has been aggressively mobilizing its members to defeat the proposal, and distributing leaflets and stickers to co-workers who would be affected by the contract change. PEF is urging members to call the governor’s office at 474-1041 or 1-877-255-9417 to voice their opposition to the parking fee plan. PEF Region 8 Coordinator Jeff Satz applauded the progress, but said members must accelerate the pressure on the governor’s office until the threat is completely removed — especially since the state has plans to move so many employees. “This fight is about protecting our members’ terms and conditions of employment,” said Satz. “We believe the state’s true agenda here is to change our contract, and implement a modest parking fee now so it can charge employees whatever the market will bear whenever employees are relocated.” — Denyce Duncan Lacy The Communicator Home Page