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Reach out and help Katrina victims
By SHERRY HALBROOK
PEF is joining its two international affiliates — the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union — in responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster with a generous donation for relief efforts and urges all PEF members to do likewise.
“We have all watched the catastrophic conditions that have resulted in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the breach of the levees in New
Orleans. Many of us have felt angry at the slowness of the federal relief efforts,” said PEF President Roger Benson. “It’s clear now, that those efforts require the help of all of us, including the labor movement.”
Approximately 15,000 AFT members and 2,500 SEIU members are among the many thousands of Americans who have been desperately affected by this tragedy.
Both AFT and SEIU have created relief funds for Katrina victims and PEF has donated to the AFT fund.
“We encourage all PEF regions, divisions and members to contribute,” Benson said, “and we are making a special fundraising effort at PEF’s annual convention in Rochester.”
How to help
The AFT Disaster Relief Fund is working with its local and state leaders to direct funds to the immediate needs of AFT members directly affected by the catastrophe.
Contributions should be made payable to AFT with “disaster relief” written in the memo portion of the check, and sent to: AFT Disaster Relief Fund, Attn: Connie Cordovilla, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001.
Donations to the SEIU Hurricane Relief Fund should be sent to SEIU, 1313 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. Indicate “Attention: SEIU Hurricane Relief Fund” on the outside of your envelope.
Local SEIU leaders in Louisiana have asked for volunteers.
“If your PEF division has members with this expertise who can assist them,” Benson said, “contact PEF nurse organizer Nancy Wolff at
1-800-342-4306, ext. 344. They seek members interested in assisting in any of the following ways:
• Nurses, doctors, EMTs and other health care professionals who wish to volunteer to assist in providing emergency care and services;
• Trained and experienced counselors who would like to volunteer to provide grief and trauma counseling; and
• Persons skilled in creating and updating Web sites to provide vital and timely information to the storm’s victims who are now scattered in shelters throughout
the country.
If you’re directed to go The Governor’s Office of Employee Relations has issued a memo summarizing the rules applying to NYS employees absent from work while providing relief assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
According to that memo to state agencies, employees given work assignments to provide assistance will receive full pay without charge to leave accruals, and they will be covered by workers’ comp if they are injured providing that assistance.
If you volunteer to go
If you are working as a certified American Red Cross disaster volunteer, you may get up to 20 workdays of paid leave without charging your leave accruals. However, the Red Cross must write to your appointing authority to request your services and the state could refuse to give you the time off.
“Unless assigned to duty status by their (NYS) agency, other emergency volunteers, including volunteer firefighters, volunteer ambulance squad members, Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) volunteers and other health care and relief volunteers must charge leave credits or be placed on authorized leave without pay,” according to the GOER memo. It adds, however, “individual situations are reviewable on a case-by-case basis.”
If you’re ordered to go
If you are in the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) or the NY National Guard, you may be ordered to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
If you are called for intermittent federal duty as a member of a NDMS Disaster Medical Assistance Team, you are entitled to unpaid leave from your state job, or you may charge the time to your leave accruals.
If you are part of a NYS National Guard unit ordered to assist with rescue and recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region, you will be treated under the same rules that apply for active military service in the “war on terror.”
For more details, go online to www.cs.state.ny.us/attendance_leave/spec_notes.
If it’s personal
If you were among the unfortunate visitors to the Gulf Coast who were stranded by Katrina and delayed in returning to work, you must charge your leave accruals or go on unpaid leave.
The same rule applies if you have to respond to a family emergency in the affected area.
GOER’s memo instructs agencies to “approve such requests for time off whenever possible.” | |
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