Benson
pledges: No more zeroes
Union better
prepared than ever for coming challenges
By SHERRY HALBROOK
In his State of the Union address, PEF President Roger
Benson spoke of both the union’s failures and
successes to delegates gathered in Buffalo last month for
the union’s 24th Annual Convention.
“Many would counsel me to ‘soft sell’ our
failures,” he said, “but self delusion and
wishful thinking have never been my strengths. This past
year, we’ve had several failures and it’s my
duty to report them to you.”
 Benson cited “lack of
sufficient political clout” as the reason PEF fell
short of its goals in achieving changes in state law and
policies to:
• End short staffing of state services;
• Make the 25/55 retirement benefit permanent and
year-round;
• Rein in shadow agencies and contracting out;
• Make parole officers’ heart attacks
automatically work-related for Workers’ Compensation
purposes;
• Ban mandatory overtime for nurses; and
• Mandate safe staffing levels for nurses.
“We fail when only 49 percent of our stewards are
fully trained, only 5 percent of our members contribute
to COPE and only 39 percent of our political action
liaisons’ (PALs) lobbying visits are
completed,” Benson told the delegates.
“That’s the bad news. The good news is we know
about them, we acknowledge them and we have an active
plan that addresses them,” he said.
Vanquishing layoffs
Celebrating PEF’s successes is just as important as
facing its failures, Benson said, and he had many
achievements to report.
“While layoffs in the private and public sector have
become almost everyday announcements,” he said, only
one PEF member has been laid off in the past five years.
That member, an employee at Roswell Park Cancer
Institute, was laid off December 28, 2001, but went back
on the state payroll four weeks later at the University
of Buffalo “and never missed a paycheck, thanks to
intensive action by our political and labor-relation
staff and our elected leaders at Roswell.”
Not only has PEF’s emphasis on job security paid off
for individual members, it has strengthened the union as
a whole.
“Last year at this time, there were 54,461
dues-paying PEF members,” Benson noted. “Today,
there are 374 more. In fact, PEF has grown every year
since its low of 51,600 in January 1998.”
Benson pledged job security will continue to be
PEF’s top priority and he will continue to take
personal responsibility for any layoffs in the next 12
months.
PEF ready for contract fight
Stronger contracts remains the union’s second
priority, he said, and PEF will be better prepared than
ever to enter negotiations this winter for a successor
agreement to the PS&T contract which expires April 1,
2003.
The union is financially prepared to deal with protracted
negotiations if necessary, Benson said, and it’s
efforts at building vigorous communication and mobilizing
networks are showing impressive results.
“Our side of these negotiations will be told as
never before. And if TV is not enough, we have networks
of more than 7,000 home e-mail addresses, 3,700 member
mobilizers and 108 fully mobilized PEF divisions ready to
back up our negotiators at the work site and in the
street,” Benson reported.
And despite massive state budget deficits and a
struggling economy, “The leaders of this union
believe we may have the best alignment of the planets for
a positive contract outcome in PEF’s 24-year
history,” he said.
PEF’s recent handshake agreement with the state to
give members hired after April 1, 1982 sick-leave parity
with members hired before signals the end of an inequity.
“Restoring sick leave parity is a $25 million annual
benefit to 35,000 PEF members. Combined with the partial
elimination of the pension co-pay, it finally brings our
Tiers 3 and 4 members to nearly first-class
benefits,” he said.
“However, all of this contract planning does not
mean we can ignore a tanked stock market and a looming $8
billion state deficit. The economic environment does not
favor big gains. But I pledge the days of zeroes at PEF
are gone.
“We will not submit a contract to the Executive
Board or membership that has zeroes.”
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COMMUNICATOR HOMEPAGE
Inside This
Issue:
Features
Union sticks with Pataki,
Hevesi
Benson pledges: No more
zeroes
Hallum: Strict fiscal
controls, methods paying off
UFT leader shares
negotiating tips
Convention delegates adopt
eight resolutions
Delegates amend PEF
Constitution
Departments
President's Message:
Standing together
You Said It: Member's
letters this month
Member Mobilization: Div.
240 awards
Legislative Action:
Delegates give thumbs-up
Nurses' Station: Convention
roundtable on OT
Health Notes: Flex
Spending/Dependent Care
Member Mobilization:
Divisions testing system
PEF Membership Benefits
Program & Travel Corp
Union Matters
PEF brings tough new outlook
to contract talks
Early retirement window
opens at Mental Health
PEF to launch new ad
campaign
Arbitrator overturns
member’s suspension at DOH
Multi-union program mentors
future leaders
Member honored for her
unique role
PEF endorses 7 more
candidates in Nov. 5 election
Financial Statement
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