PEF VP Lou Matrazzo updates delegates on PS&T contract talks.
PEF conventioneers ‘powerful, effective, focused’ in tackling work of the union
By SHERRY HALBROOK
Photos by Richard Dillard, Ken Dischel and Eric Granger
The 29th Annual PEF Convention in September was the first ever held by PEF in New York City and was characterized by a down-to-business style in keeping with the convention’s theme: “Powerful, Effective, Focused.”

Gov. Eliot Spitzer found a packed house and a warm welcome when he arrived to receive an honorary award for his efforts to turn the tide on profligate privatization and contracting out of state work.

In presenting the award (another first), PEF President Ken Brynien said Spitzer “in a short time as governor has proved to be a friend of PEF who understands the value of public employees and their service to state taxpayers. He has practiced what he preached and has reduced the number of state contractors.” (See page 10 for related article.)

Can you hear us now?
The delegates also adopted the union’s federal and state agendas of legislative issues for the coming sessions.

At Brynien’s request, the delegates paused to call their state senators to urge them to take up and pass S.6342 when they next convene. The bill would restrict mandatory overtime for state nurses. The bill has been passed already by the state Assembly.

And, before time ran out, the delegates also managed to wade through half of the 28 resolutions submitted by members prior to the event.

In addition to the busy plenary sessions, delegates met for departmental caucuses to organize their labor-management leadership and issues for the next year.
 
And seven PEF committees — Health and Safety, Nurses, Veterans, Women, Hispanics, Indo-Americans and the Jewish Committee — took advantage of the opportunity to meet during the convention.

They also made time for a Division Treasurers’ Workshop.


What’s fair? What’s not?
Among the most significant matters before the convention’s 826 delegates were two proposed amendments to the PEF constitution. Following vigorous debate, the delegates approved one and defeated the other.

Amendment 1, which passed, separates the PEF membership at the state University of New York (SUNY) from the membership at the state Education Department (SED) for purposes of apportioning representation on the PEF Executive Board.

The split will not require any additional seats on the board. At the time of the 2006 Triennial Elections, when the board constituencies were set, the combined SUNY-SED constituency was assigned 10 seats. If it had been split at that time, six seats would have represented SUNY members and four the members at SED.

Ron Goldstein, who represents the Labor Department on the board, warned, “You are opening Pandora’s Box. If you pass this, you will have an endless parade of proposed splits in the future.”

And delegate Debra Samuels said, “I agree the SUNY members do not belong in SED, but neither do we at Higher Education Services Corp (HESC). We have nothing to do with educating. We are only a finance agency, but this amendment leaves us out (of the split).”

She was told that any further split of the constituency base would require a separate amendment and that could not be brought up for a vote until 2008.

The delegates voted to approve the amendment splitting the SED and SUNY constituencies.

Amendment 2, which was ultimately rejected by the delegates, would have had a much more far-reaching effect.

This amendment was proposed by petition of the delegates to the 2006 PEF Convention and would have cut by half the signature requirements for nomination of candidates for statewide PEF offices, trustee positions and for Executive Board seats. The requirement that candidates gather the signatures of at least 10 percent of the constituents for the office sought, would have been reduced to a 5 percent requirement.

Wayne Bayer, a supporter of the amendment, said, “PEF is one of the most democratic unions in the nation, if not in the world, but with one exception.”

Bayer said the 10 percent signature requirement for nominating petitions discourages the development of PEF leaders from among newer members and those from less populous agencies and regions.

But PEF Secretary-Treasurer Arlea Igoe was resoundingly applauded when she responded that anyone who wants to be a PEF leader “needs to get their butts out there and get signatures. If they can’t get 10 percent of the signatures, they don’t belong on the ballot.” The amendment failed.

No ducks in line here
Former PEF President Roger Benson also pointed to the strong democratic protections built into PEF’s constitution and policies when he exercised his right to address the delegates.

Benson told them to appreciate their opportunity because PEF is one of “very few large unions whose conventions are not rigged, pre-scripted and the outcome established in advance.”

“I can say with absolute certainty the voting is fair and the union has the ability to count every vote,” Benson said.

The former PEF leader showed the delegates a Dilbert cartoon projected on large screens depicting contract talks in which the management negotiator confessed he could agree to anything and everything labor proposed, but he had no authority to change the contract. His strategy, he said, was to wear the union down until it accepted the same old deal.

Someone knows your pain
PEF’s PS&T Contract team was introduced and Vice President Lou Matrazzo, who chairs the team, told the delegates they are well represented.

“Whoever you are, when we talk about your issues, we have somebody on the team to represent them,” he said. “When we have differences, we talk it out. And, invariably, the team wisdom is the right way to go.”

The state’s negotiators, he said, keep harping on the need to cut the cost of employee health insurance.

“It’s all health care, health care, health care,” Matrazzo said. “Gov. Spitzer said the days of balancing the state budget on the backs of state workers is over. Well, he’d better tell his negotiators.

“If we make a decision to fight a bad deal, we will not be alone. The state unions are all talking and working together,” he said.

Bottom line, Matrazzo said: “We will not sell out our unborn (future members) and we will not sell out our retirees.

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