Fight
harder for tier reform
To the Editor:
I was very distressed at your circular and dismissive response to the “Tier 3, 4
members deserve more” letter in the September issue of The Communicator.
Like myself, many Tier 3 PEF members fall into the category presented in that
letter.
We had made pension contributions well in excess of the 10-year requirement when
it took effect October 12, 2000, with little hope of ever seeing any of this
excess contribution returned.
Your accepting attitude and reference to future retirement system trends does
little to make me believe my union is fighting for tier equity.
What was equitable about a provision granting Tier 1-2 members up to two years
additional years of service credit at retirement? Why in the name of tier equity
did my union allow special treatment and additional compensation to members
never harmed by a contribution provision? That certainly doesn’t seem fair or
equitable to me.
The legislation referenced (S.4514B/A.7445C), inadequate as it is, has
languished for years, never making it out of committee for a vote. PEF’s support
of these measures does little for members and is too convenient an excuse for
the union efforts.
As a dues-paying member, I would prefer (no, demand) that PEF not be so
accepting of these inequities and more vigorously pursue the equal treatment so
many of us have been denied.
To quote the authors of that letter, “All we are asking for is equal treatment
for something we paid for and others did not.”
MICHAEL E. ZOSTANT
Albany
PEF scholarship aids her career
To the Editor:
I want to thank PEF for the final installment of my Joseph Scacalossi
Scholarship.
Your financial assistance is very much appreciated and has helped make it
possible for me to attend a first-class university.
I am very proud of the work I have done at Syracuse University. I will graduate
in 2007 with a degree in advertising as well as political science.
The NYS Public Employees Federation has helped me on my way to a successful
career.
Thank You!
Carmen J. Barber
Albany
Thanks for four years of help
To the Editor:
I have received the final installment of the Joseph Scacalossi Scholarship from
the NYS Public Employees Federation.
This scholarship has helped pay for my tuition and books over the past four
years.
I greatly appreciate this financial assistance.
Again, thank you very much for awarding me this scholarship.
Sarah G. Barnes
Albany
Appalled by low PEF vote count
To the Editor:
PEF’s recent statewide elections revealed an appalling and disturbing truth
about PEF members: They don’t care about their union.
Of approximately 50,000 members, barely a third (Yawn....) took the little time
and trouble that it takes to review their ballot, make their choices, lick the
envelope, and stick it in the mail.
If marking a ballot, putting it in an envelope, and mailing it is too much work
for two out of three PEF members, I wonder if they think having a union is worth
all the bother.
After all, the many benefits we enjoy now would have been granted to us anyway
by our benevolent employer. Right?
If you say, “yes,” you deserve a few months of working for a non-union employer,
as I did two years ago while suspended without pay for two months from my state
job. (Only the benefits and due process of Article 33 of the PS&T contract kept
me from getting fired.)
You have no idea how good you have it — None.
If ever there was a wake-up call for this union, it is this. Apathy is a virus,
and a very dangerous one at that. PEF ignores that virus at its own risk.
JAMES E. CLOSE
Mechanicville
The Communicator
Letters policy
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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
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Public Employees Federation
P.O. Box 12414
Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414
Email to Sherry Halbrook,
Editor or Darcy Wells, Editor-In Chief.
The Communicator Oct. 2006
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