STANDING VOTE Delegates at PEF's 26th Annual Convention stand for a vote
count. Photo by John Epting
United to fight for members priorities
PEF delegates set unions agenda for 2005
By DARRYL MCGRATH and DENYCE DUNCAN LACY
A message of unity set the tone for PEF’s 26th Annual Convention in Lake Placid in October, with more than 800 delegates pledging their support for an action plan in the upcoming year that includes the union’s first-ever federal legislative agenda.
The convention’s theme was “Unite to Fight!” and PEF President Roger Benson pronounced the union’s 53,000 members more than ready to meet whatever challenges from the state lie ahead.
A solid front
With a new four-year contract and a war chest that will soon stand at nearly $2.8 million, the union presents a solid front, Benson told an enthusiastic gathering.
“We work, fellow delegates, for one hell of an employer, and I thank God we have a union that allows us to protect our employees and protect our fellow delegates,” Benson said. “The state knows we are financially strong. The state knows we are not reluctant to spend this money.”
PEF has a solid partner in its push for fair pay and better working conditions for state workers: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who spoke to cheering delegates about the need for dramatic shifts in the way the state does business, starting at the top. Spitzer is widely believed to be considering a race for governor in 2006, and in his keynote speech he seemed to hint he is ready for the challenge.
HEARTY WELCOME — PEF President Roger Benson, right, welcomes NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as keynote speaker to PEF’s 26th Annual Convention in October. Photo by Ken
Dischel
Time for a change
“Something has got to change in New York state, and we’re going to make sure it does,” Spitzer said. “There has not been clear thinking in New York state about where we’re going. We, together, have to begin to think where we move this state because this state is our home – it’s where we build our lives.”
The delegates responded positively to Spitzer. Among them was first-time delegate Charles Jeter, a vocational welding instructor in Region 9, Div. 195, at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility outside of Kingston.
“Listening to Mr. Spitzer, I came up with the impression that I need to do more for the union,” Jeter said.
Secretary-Treasurer Jane Hallum reported the union is financially sound, with revenues of $26 million and operating expenses that have actually decreased proportionately in the last six years, from 11.63 percent of the budget in 1998, to the current 11 percent.
WHAT’S NEXT? — Delegates to the 26th Annual PEF Convention in Lake Placid check the order of business at the October event.
Photo by Ken Dischel
Delegates tackle politics
Convention delegates also took time to engage in political action. PEF’s Legislative Committee staffed letter-writing campaigns and phone banks so members could reach out on behalf of John Kerry to undecided unionists in Pennsylvania.
Delegates approved, with minor amendments, PEF’s first-ever federal legislative agenda. It addresses topics including Medicare prescription drug costs and privatization of Social Security. They also adopted a state legislative agenda that continues to emphasize employee rights, the maintenance of a stable workforce, and the protection of retirement benefits.
After lengthy debate, a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would have changed the required percentage of petition signatures for PEF elections from 10 percent to 5 percent, did not pass.
Action on resolutions
Delegates adopted five resolutions as printed, including proposals to:
• Seek to improve dental insurance benefits;
• Press for the ability of members to convert unused vacation credits to cash;
• Support the use of alternative energy sources and energy conservation in the state;
• Recommend an increase in the limit on convention stipends to $100; and,
• Request a pay equity study among job titles within PEF, CSEA and the Thruway Authority.
Delegates adopted eight resolutions with minor amendments, including proposals to:
• Expand the state’s commuter benefits program;
• Improve the pension COLA;
• Improve the ability of veterans to buy back pension credits;
• Oppose the governor’s hiring freeze;
• List Executive Board constituencies on division membership lists;
• Fund a division-level training program;
• Let PEF assume the cost of division steward elections; and
• Seek a pay upgrade for all employees below pay grade 10.
Delegates defeated 11 resolutions, including proposals to:
• Move $1 million from the union’s contract “war chest” into a campaign against privatization (President Benson later announced that the Executive Board in November would consider a proposal to set aside $1 million from the union’s contingency fund to fight privatization);
• Advocate for risk-adjusted health insurance programs;
• Obtain a uniform definition of “workweek” for all state employees;
• Endorse George Bush for president;
• Revoke support for the 2003 “Immigrants’ Freedom Ride”;
• Tie convention stipend payments to delegates’ meeting attendance;
• Increase funding to PEF PACs;
• Recommend constitutional or by-laws changes to election of PEF trustees;
• Require regions and regional PACs to submit annual budgets by May 15;
• Engage in a policy of nuclear non-proliferation; and,
• Support a medical-industrial complex and oppose any efforts to force members to join HMOs.
Delegates also referred or postponed action on a handful of other resolutions.
The
Communicator Dec.04-Jan.05
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Delegates set union's '05 agenda
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