WCB ignoring eligible lists
To the Editor:
Why hasn’t PEF said anything about the state Workers’ Compensation Board disregarding civil service test results and eligible lists in making promotions to the position of senior workers’ compensation referee?

No one has ever been promoted from the civil service list to that position. All promotions to that job title have been made through lateral transfers.

If PEF is not going to say anything, or if nothing can be done, it would be better for PEF to recommend the civil service written test no longer be given.

BOB ANDERSON
Levittown

Editor’s Note: For at least six years, PEF has supported state legislation to prohibit transfers in the face of an eligible list. This year, the bill number is S.4821/A.8138. However, it continues to be opposed by another public-employee union that contends such transfers expand its members’ career opportunities. The bill has never been passed by both houses in the same year. This year, it was passed by the state Assembly, but not by the Senate.
PEF also has objected through the labor-management forum.

Appreciate what Republicans do
To the Editor:
I feel compelled to respond to the letter titled “Appreciate what progressives do” published in your July-August issue.

Decades before liberals adopted environmentalism, it was a Republican who created the U.S. Forestry Service, the national park system and began the nation’s greatest effort at conservation and wildlife protection. Teddy Roosevelt also was famous for busting up monopolies and beginning labor reform.

It was another Republican who created the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality. Yes, it was Richard Nixon. He also was the strongest proponent of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act and signed those two pieces of historic legislation into law.

What about recent liberals? President Bill Clinton came to Washington with one of the worst environmental records of any governor. Arkansas’ water quality was nearly the worst in the country. Although Clinton and Vice President Al Gore complain about climate change, what did they do about it during their eight years in office? Did they sign the Kyoto Accords? No.
Pressure from environmental groups halted Clinton in his tracks when he attempted to get rid of the Council on Environmental Quality.

When Gore campaigned for president in his private jet, he proposed a federal tax that would bring the price of a gallon of gas to $5. He said the tax was to fund environmental endeavors in the U.S. and abroad.

The left’s “no-drill policy” is one of its most elitist efforts. Those who are most burdened by it are the working poor, who can ill afford to change to a hybrid vehicle and who usually drive old, fuel-inefficient vehicles.

But do those progressives care? No, because they value animals more than the poor masses.

ROY TORRES
Westbury


The Communicator Letters policy
We welcome letters to the editor about union issues and events relevant to PEF's diverse membership. All letters are subject to editing for space, fairness and good taste.

Please keep them brief (up to one page, double-spaced or a maximum of 250 words), and please include your name and phone number for verification.
Send letters to thecommunicator@pef.org:
The Communicator
Public Employees Federation
P.O. Box 12414
Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414

Email to Sherry Halbrook,  Editor or Darcy Wells, Editor-In Chief