TAKING LEGAL ACTION — PEF President Roger Benson and PEF Vice President Pat Baker walk to the state Supreme Court from Foley Square to file a racial discrimination lawsuit against the state Department of Labor and Commissioner Linda Angello in August. — Photo by Bill Sachs
Bad decisions by management affect more than just our members
By ROGER E. BENSON
Each and every day, our members face management decisions that threaten their ability to serve the public, threaten their employment, cost taxpayers more and often go as far as threatening the safety of the public.
Our job as union leaders and members is to protect the integrity of the services we provide, as well as protect the public from the vagaries of ill-advised management policies and initiatives.
PEF members — from engineers, to nurses, to labor service reps, to parole officers — suffer under management decisions that interfere with their ability to serve the public.
Whether it is protecting the services our members provide or protecting the public, mobilization, political action and public relations are the tools that are most effective in building pressure on our legislative and political leaders to correct these decisions.
This issue of The Communicator covers two situations that highlight what we, as a union, can do to fight to preserve the services we provide and protect the public against ill advised management directives.
Our members in the state Division of Parole face the practice of limiting the rearrest of parolees who violate the terms of their parole. The Division of Parole has knowingly let dangerous felons stay on the streets in our communities over the objections of parole officers who are diligently working to keep our communities safe.
The other situation involves the state Department of Labor’s decision to close its Manhattan Telephone Claims Center (TCC) and move the jobs upstate. This threatens the jobs of 150 PEF members, will impair the ability of DOL to respond to non-English-speaking claimants and cost taxpayers millions of dollars in translation fees, training and unrecoverable payments. All to pursue a decision that smacks of geographical patronage and back room deal making that unfairly discriminates against a racially diverse office in New York City.
PEF has acted to expose and prevent the implementation of these management decisions. We have raised these issues with management and, when this has failed, worked to raise awareness of these issues with the public through mobilization, public relations and political action. We will continue to expose waste and inefficiency our members observe.
Our success is not guaranteed on every issue, but the state will know that when a management decision adversely affects our members, to the detriment of our members and the public, PEF will take them on in a very forceful and public way.
The
Communicator September 05
Features
Keeping TCC in NYC:
- Fighting back against
DOL
- PEF testifies on minority workers
Members at AFL-CIO convention
Parole
officers call for Ellis' job
Departments
President's
Message
Member's
Mailbag
Legislative Update
Health Notes
Retirees In Action
PEF
Membership Benefits &Travel
Union Matters
OT money for Helen Hayes nurses
RN's get pay boost in Monroe Co.
Unions unite, boycott Wal-Mart
NYS School for the Blind
changes
PSTP Voucher& VALT Programs
PS&T contract has training grants
Members help U.S. soldiers in Iraq
Four E. Board vacancies filled
Civil Service shifts work
Other Links
Professional
Directory
Members'
Classified
Member
Communicator Feedback
Do You Prefer The
Online Edition?
How To
Advertise Here
The
Communicator Staff
Questions on
this site?
Email the Webmaster