Be
it resolved...
By SHERRY HALBROOK Delegates to PEF’s 2007 Convention dealt with 17
of 28 resolutions submitted before the convention had to adjourn.
Two resolutions were adopted as proposed and eight
others were adopted after they were amended. The other seven were defeated,
ruled out-of-order or withdrawn.
The adopted resolutions call for PEF to:
• Continue to work for safe staffing levels for
PEF nurses, restrictions on mandatory overtime, and improved pay
differentials and title reallocations for nurses;
• Reaffirm its commitment to achieve equity in
purchasing power for all PEF members by obtaining improved pay adjustments
for members working in areas with higher costs of living;
• Encourage its PS&T Contract Team to support
adding special benefits for members who are peace officers and/or police
officers, including a pay differential, hazardous duty pay, and a standard
training program comparable to the peace officer certification program of
the Municipal Police Council;
• Propose and seek enactment of legislation to
bring the state’s legal definition of military veterans into agreement with
the federal definition;
• Make one of its highest priorities to seek the
enactment of legislation (S.4554/A.7128) which would grant additional
pension service credit to members of pension tiers 3 and 4 who contributed 3
percent of their salaries to the state pension fund for more than 10 years;
• Lobby for legislation to give one month of
additional service credit to members of pension tiers 3 and 4 for each year
they worked and that this should be in addition to any and all other
provisions to make up for the 3 percent of salary contributed to the pension
fund;
• Seek introduction and enactment of legislation
to allow any state employee who takes time off from work to raise a family
to be allowed to buy back pension credit for time lost from state service;
• Undertake a strategic plan to educate, nurture
and develop the next generation of PEF members, activists and leaders and
establish a curriculum to educate newer members about the history and
importance of the labor union movement to their lives and well-being, and
develop a new leaders’ program to identify and mentor them in developing the
necessary skills;
• Make available in a searchable format, online to
PEF members the transcripts of PEF Executive Board meetings and conventions
through a protected, members-only Web site; and
• Conduct and video record debates among
candidates for statewide PEF offices — president, secretary-treasurer, vice
presidents and trustees — in the triennial PEF elections and then post those
recordings on the PEF Web site and publicize their availability to members.
Be
it resolved...