Applauds PEF’s election effort
To the Editor:
I want to thank PEF for the special party honoring its political heroes who worked on the national presidential campaign. It was a wonderful evening for me, especially meeting so many union people.
Truly, it was PEF and the other involved unions that are the real heroes. 

Collectively, you organized a program that established union ideals as a factor in the presidential campaign. Plus, you funded the program that enabled people to participate at a level many of us would not have been able to contribute without that support.

You deserve applause and admiration. I hope PEF will continue to support such programs in the years to come.
MEG DANIELS
Albany

Upset by choice of speaker
To the Editor:
I was happy to see a notice on our office PEF bulletin board announcing an upcoming Division 205 membership dinner. These annual dinners are a nice “perk,” considering the low cost for members. 

Then, I noticed who the guest speaker would be — (NYS Senate Majority Leader) Joe Bruno.
Why would PEF invite Mr. Bruno to speak at a PEF function? Joe Bruno was behind the displacement of hundreds of state workers from Albany to Troy. Isn’t Albany the capital of New York state? 

I believe this was done purely to reward his Rensselaer County political cronies who owned dilapidated buildings in downtown Troy. This use of state workers as pawns in his political game is unconscionable.

I would not attend this dinner.
RICHARD JOHNSON
Coeymans

Editor’s note: While the Senate Majority Leader’s reasons for supporting the transfer of state jobs into his district may be debatable, his support of countless PEF issues is not. 
Without his support, virtually no legislation PEF has sought in recent years could have been passed. 

Furthermore, Sen. Bruno courageously led the Senate in overriding the governor’s budget vetoes in 2003, saving many PEF members’ jobs and services.

Outsourcing U.S. security threat
To the editor:
This country has no clear policy to produce the engineers and scientists it will need in the years ahead to maintain its scientific edge. Nobel laureates have already taken issue with the Bush administration’s lack of priority for this problem. A vast number of the students in our graduate schools in science and engineering are coming from abroad, especially China and India and other Asian countries, and returning to their countries with the expertise to start high tech firms competing with American companies. 

If this country is not producing enough scientists and engineers to do research on the intellectual frontiers, it is hardly the fault of American businesses that seek that expertise abroad. But that has the effect of strengthening foreign preeminence in these innovative technologies while conferring only a short-term benefit to the companies here that contract for this research work abroad. 

The Bush administration seems indifferent to the lack of interest of so many Americans in pursuing careers in science and engineering. This has grave implications for the country's future well being. The scientists who will produce breakthroughs of the future are in school today. 

Loss of world preeminence in science, fueled by a Bush administration policy that provides tax relief to corporations without demanding that they invest in research here to produce the technological innovations we need to maintain our competitiveness and security, will translate down the line into high inflation, low growth, and other profound economic ills that the monetary policy instruments of the Federal Reserve Bank will be unable to undo.

These are the real dangers in the outsourcing that is occurring. Unfortunately, the Bush administration is seemingly indifferent to its underlying causes.
ROBERT FISHER
Albany.

The Communicator Letters policy
We welcome letters to the editor about union issues and events relevant to PEF's diverse membership.

All letters are subject to editing for space, fairness and good taste.

Please keep them brief (up to one page, double-spaced or a maximum of 250 words), and please include your name and phone number for verification.
Send letters to:
The Communicator
Public Employees Federation
P.O. Box 12414
Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414

Acting Director of Public Relations, and Editor of The Communicator Sherry Halbrook, - shalbrook@pef.org

The Communicator May 2005
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