Roger Benson PEF President speaking at Region 10 World Trade Center victims memorial service New year, new challenges By ROGER E. BENSON In the New Year PEF will be faced with many difficult challenges. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the recent economic downturn has sent shockwaves through the state’s economy, causing the potential of a $9 billion loss of tax revenue over the next 18 months. Our challenge, and our responsibility to the citizens of New York State, is to ensure that the services they rely upon, and that we provide, are not compromised. Even with the enhanced image of public employees resulting from our service and dedication during and after the September 11 attacks, the state’s economic condition has created an environment where our jobs and the services we provide will become targets for budget cutters. As the state’s budget planners prepare to address the shortfall, it will come as no surprise if their plans include additional cuts to the state workforce, and more short staffing. Some may even use the state’s fiscal environment as an excuse to roll back the gains we have made in our core priorities of job security, stronger contracts, retirement reform, civil service enforcement and full staffing. We are prepared for this challenge. We all understand that circumstances have changed significantly since September 11, but we will not let anyone use this tragedy as an excuse to weaken our workforce or our members’ rights and benefits. Challenges also bring opportunity. How we deal with our challenges in the year ahead will have a profound impact on our contract negotiations. We will deal with them by continuing to build our ability to mobilize around our issues and build our political strength. We will fight to protect the job security of our members, the integrity of our contract, and the quality of the services we provide. Next year’s challenges won’t be easy, but with your help we can meet them and continue to build our strength to succeed. The Communicator Home Page