| PEF
ready to get out and push for Transitchek By SHERRY HALBROOK If you live or work downstate and would like to save money on railway, subway or bus fares, be sure to sign the Transitchek petitions PEF began circulating in August. PEF has been negotiating for some time with the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations to establish a program that would allow PS&T members to use pre-tax income for their mass-transit costs. The savings would come at income-tax time, since they would have lower taxable income. Recently, those efforts reached a so-near-and-yet-so-far stage and threatened to stall dead in the water. That’s when PEF launched a vigorous campaign to push its negotiations with the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations through to a swift and successful conclusion. In May, state Acting Director of Employee Relations John Currier told The Communicator, “We’d like to do it (encourage use of mass transit with pre-tax savings programs) anywhere in the state that it’s possible.” But the state still seems no closer to acting on the issue. “GOER is backsliding on its promise to make providing state employees the opportunity to use the Transitchek program a priority,” says PEF President Roger Benson. “This program is one of the largest pre-tax transit-fare programs available in the Northeast and its vouchers are accepted by more than 70 transit operators in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.” It’s estimated that members who participate fully in the program could save up to $300 annually on their income taxes. The program would allow the state to save on its payroll taxes and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution by encouraging greater use of mass transit operations that the state subsidizes. Affected PEF regions are holding membership meetings to explain the situation and hand out petitions calling on the governor to make this program available to state employees as soon as possible. The union will collect the signed petitions in September and deliver them to the governor. “We hope an enthusiastic response to these petitions will convince GOER that thousands of PS&T employees will use the Transitchek program if it is made available to them,” Benson says. PEF is also building alliances with other unions, groups and community leaders interested in promoting use of mass transit, easing congestion on streets and highways and improving air quality to support the union’s efforts. |