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needed To the Editor: The laws governing the purchasing of credit in the NYS Retirement System should be changed. Because of New York’s proximity to other states, employees of this state should be able to purchase credit in this system for service they earned in the retirement systems of other states. I also think the 25/55 retirement option should be made permanent in New York state. Otherwise, this temporary early retirement option is just another discriminatory policy. BOB LIEB Hornell Editor’s note: PEF is already working on the issue of making the early retirement option permanent. Wants pay COLA in PEF contract To the Editor: As a state transportation engineer from Long Island, in September I attended a PEF Region 12 general membership meeting in Hauppauge concerning cost-of-living pay adjustments (COLA). I commend David Gibb and the COLA committee looking into this issue for doing an outstanding job researching COLAs in other states and preparing a fair proposal for our contract. I also thank Vice President Ken Brynien, chair of the PEF PS&T Contract Team, for addressing this much needed proposal during the meeting. I urge him and the entire negotiating team to make sure that a COLA is a part of our next contract. CHARLES MAASS Hauppauge Editor’s Note: Instituting the Rule of 80 would require changing state retirement law. It can not be changed via the PS&T contract. Don’t forget Attica victims To the Editor: Who kissed their loved ones, then said goodbye this morning, expecting to be killed by their employer or murdered by the people they went to work to serve? Imagine this: You’ve been dead 32 years. Your loved ones still don’t have all the answers about why you were killed in the Attica prison uprising. Why did the riot end like that? Why was your family never adequately compensated for your death? Why were state officials at your funeral, at your loved one’s most vulnerable time, pressuring, coercing them into signing away their rights to legal recourse? What gives the governor the right to deny the widows and hostage survivors the answers, the peace of mind and resolution they have been seeking? The 32nd anniversary of the September 13, 1971 riot has passed and still no resolution. Maybe there is still a need to protect some good old boys who, if all the details about the riot were out, would finally have to be held accountable. But they’ve already had a 32-year grace period. They’ve had time to see children grow, have grandchildren, enjoy their loved ones. What about the 11 employees who died and their loved ones? Don’t they deserve so much more than this? Nothing could be more just than granting the widows and hostage survivors the resolution they are seeking. The 5,000 people who have signed our petition had no problem knowing what the right thing to do is! If I have managed to stir any feelings of anger, frustration, or pain in your heart with this letter, live with it for just one day. Now, multiply that by the 11,680 days of loss, sorrow and pain the Forgotten Victims of Attica have lived with. New York state must do the right thing now. FRANK RANDAZZO Auburn 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: The Communicator Public Employees Federation P.O. Box 12414 Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414 email Denyce Duncan Lacy, Executive Editor The Communicator - Director of Public Relations dduncanlacy@pef.org Sherry Halbrook, Editor of The Communicator- shalbrook@pef.org |
