Scroll down to read this
month's member's letters.
Accountability
lost on dues vote
To the Editor:
At the recent PEF convention, the delegates passed the proposal
for a dues increase.
I hope the delegates voting for the dues increase truly voted in
their constituents’ best interests. But they can not be held
accountable, because there is no individual record of how each
delegate voted. If asked, they can just say that they voted no.
This reminds me of the story of a perfect game pitched in
baseball before a capacity crowd of 60,000 people. Two years
later, by all accounts, more than a million people said they were
there at the game.
Next year, if a count of all delegates to the 2000 PEF Convention
who claim to have voted no was tallied, I’m guessing that it
would have been enough to defeat the dues increase (which
required a two-thirds majority for approval).
Without accountability or a lie-detector test, we will never know
who or how many really voted against the increase.
MICHAEL IZZO
Albany
Was
election comparison fair?
To the Editor:
The July-August Communicator failed miserably in presenting an
unbiased synopsis of US Senate candidates Hillary Clinton’s
and Rick Lazio’s positions on Social Security and Medicare.
The article indicates that the AFL-CIO reported Lazio voted with
the interests of “working people” on key issues only 34
percent of the time.
How does the AFL-CIO define key issues and working people?
PEF endorsed Lazio for Congress in 1994, ’96 and ’98.
Must we now believe that he has turned his back on the working
people of New York state?
RICK FLISNIK
Marcy
Editor’s note: The AFL-CIO reports voting records and
evaluates all members of Congress on the same key pieces of
legislation which the AFL-CIO considers most crucial to the
interests of its members and their families. This information is
available at www.aflcio.org/vrecord.
In making its political endorsements, PEF considers how a
candidate’s voting records, positions, effectiveness and
electability compare to their opponents’ in a given race.
PEF’s endorsement of candidates for the US Senate is based
on how well the union believes they are likely to serve the
interests of all PEF members in the state, not just those in a
single congressional district.
PEF has endorsed Hillary Clinton in this year’s US Senate
race.
Workplace
abuse all too common
To the Editor:
Your item in the September issue concerning senior parole officer
Janice Smith and the trouble she encountered while testifying on
behalf of a fellow PEF member is an example of the intimidation
and harassment that are widespread throughout the state workforce
and need to be addressed by PEF.
Probably several thousand PEF members, at any given time, are
suffering in silence while working under supervisors who are
doling out a daily dose of verbal and psychological abuse.
How many of these people are suffering physical symptoms from
this abuse and are seeking medical help?
Your insert in the article to contact a union rep if a member is
being harassed or threatened is much welcome. But what will
happen afterward? How will the union attack the problem? Will a
steward intervene?
In my case, two years ago, I went to my steward for help and
advice in dealing with an abusive supervisor, but was told to
wait it out. I waited and suffered more until I went to the union
again and no action was taken.
I eventually handled things myself, but I suffered. Because of
this, I became a steward; and I turn no one away with this type
of problem.
This problem is widespread, and I challenge PEF to survey the
entire membership to find those suffering in silence.
Bob Miller
Staten Island
Letters policy
The Communicator welcomes
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
or email Denyce Duncan Lacy,
Executive Editor The Communicator - Director of Public Relations mailto:dlacy@pef.org
or Sherry Halbrook, Editor of The Communicator- shalbrook@pef.org