Resolutions range from members in Iraq to murder
Be it resolved: . . . .

By SHERRY HALBROOK
It was tough sledding with lots of debate, proposed amendments, votes and re-votes, but delegates to the PEF convention in Lake Placid in October managed to act on 26 of the 40 resolutions presented to them before they adjourned at noon on October 18.

Only six were adopted as they were originally presented.

These included a late starter, introduced from the convention floor by Region 10 delegate Paul Stein from the state Health Department in Manhattan. It calls for PEF to organize a campaign to convince the state not to move any state agencies into the Freedom Tower planned for Ground Zero, which is adjacent to Stein’s own worksite at 90 Church Avenue, and to work with other labor and community groups to ensure the wellbeing of all those who are similarly affected.

The other resolutions adopted without amendment were those calling for PEF to:
• Work to bring state shadow agencies under state Civil Service Law, block the transfer of state operations to shadow agencies and require annual audits of the agencies;

• Work with other concerned organizations and individuals to end partisanship in the drawing of the state’s election districts following the 2010 Census, and report to future PEF conventions on how this effort progresses;

• Work to get state managers to adopt a policy requiring mandatory testing of air quality during and after the demolition of old buildings in and around state worksites;

• Strive to avert voter confusion in PEF elections by making model or sample ballots available to the Executive Board for review at its March meeting so it can approve or amend them prior to their mailing to the membership; and

• At future conventions, relegate to last consideration of resolutions dealing with domestic and world affairs.

The delegates adopted 11 more resolutions after amending them.

Among these was another late-starter submitted from the floor by another Region 10 delegate — Ben Gamoran of the State Insurance Fund. As adopted, it calls for PEF to press the New York City Police Department and Queens County district attorney to “use all available resources” to find and prosecute the murderer of PEF Region 10 member Lewis Shayne who was slain outside his Forest Hills apartment building November 21, 2005.

The resolution also calls for PEF to make every effort to publicize the lack of an arrest in the case and to send copies of this resolution to a host of public officials, including the governor, New York city mayor and police commissioner and state lawmakers, as well as judge and guardian of Shayne’s ailing mother.

And it calls on the PEF president to report on the union’s progress at the next convention, or to the Executive Board if major developments arise sooner.

Other amended resolutions adopted called for PEF to:
• Try to negotiate for a provision in the next PS&T contract establishing a new category of compensation called an “Institutional Memory Award” which would add pay to base salary for employees working at the tops of their pay grades for 15 years, and again for 20 years of service;

• Try to negotiate a higher ceiling on the accrual of sick leave specified in the PS&T contract;

• Try to negotiate an additional date for payment of annual performance awards in October;

• Try to achieve in any way possible the option for state retirees to use the value of their accrued sick leave at the time of retirement to cover medical expenses incurred during retirement;

• Notify the PEF chairs of the appropriate state and local labor-management committees before PEF statewide officers or PEF staff meet with management, and brief those PEF L-M chairs following the meeting;

• Request a meeting of the Joint PEF-NYS Affirmative Action Advisory Committee to immediately develop a plan to further examine the status of African-Americans, Latinos and other protected classes in the state PS&T unit, and PEF recommend incorporation of appropriate goals and specific strategies in each agency’s work force management plan to achieve equal employment representation of protected classes, and PEF reaffirm its own commitment to affirmative action both in its policies and employment practices, and include affirmative action as a topic for mandatory training of all officers and stewards;

• Seek legislation to require, when appropriate, fingerprinting and background checks of state contract employees;

• Seek passage of legislation giving relief to members in Tiers 3 and 4 who contributed to their pensions for more than 10 years;

• At future PEF conventions, display the “resolved” section of each resolution on the video screens prior to debate and during voting on the resolution, except if the screens aren’t operating because of technical difficulties; and

• Develop a comprehensive training plan to prepare local PEF leaders to respond in a consistent and coordinated manner within the appropriate agency statewide-labor-management process to any plans or proposals for the work force inconsistent with the civil service merit-and-fitness system, and PEF help local PEF leaders to proactively recognize and anticipate agency work force planning and succession issues and needs and advocate for plans to achieve them, and PEF seek the help of its international affiliates in researching such issues, and PEF develop legislative and political actions to help these plans succeed, and PEF include in its annual Legislative Agendas specific recommendations for laws to proactively address trends adverse to attracting, retaining, training and professionally developing workers in both the public and private sectors.

After considerable debate, the delegates also voted to refer to the trustees of the PEF Membership Benefits Fund a resolution requiring PEF to pay the dues of its members called to active military duty.

Vice President Lou Matrazzo, who moved to refer the resolution to the fund trustees, assured the delegates, “We are committed to doing this. It’s an obligation, a trust. We cannot do enough when these people are called to duty. The problem is we don’t know why they dropped off the state payroll, unless you tell us.”