2005 CONVENTION
Photo by Ken Dischel
NOTE: The 2005 Convention was held in Rochester, New York on September 18-21
By SHERRY HALBROOK
The lights went down and the sound came up. Slowly words began to form,
projected onto three huge screens behind the dais. The music was “Time” from
Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and the words that appeared said,
“Fighting for Our Future 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,....”
It was the high-tech opening to PEF’s 27th Annual Convention and the 800-plus
delegates gave it a standing ovation.
From their arrival in Rochester Sunday, Sept. 18, through their departure
Wednesday afternoon, the delegates were swept along in a fast-paced series of
caucuses, meetings, workshops, luncheons, receptions, blast faxing the governor
and other events — deliberative, instructive and political.
But, as at all of the 26 conventions before it, the plenary sessions were the
heart of the event, where delegates met the new PS&T contract team, heard
speakers and reports, debated issues and voted on policies and plans to guide
the union in its fight for their futures and those of the 53,000 members they
represent.
And while no one stayed in the hall voting and wrangling over those issues until
2 a.m. as their predecessors had done in the union’s early years, democracy
was clearly still alive and well in the best PEF tradition.
Benson: Keep reserves full;
PEF will need them
By
SHERRY HALBROOK
In his report on the state of the union, PEF President Roger Benson
credited Secretary-Treasurer Jane Hallum for keeping a tight rein on PEF’s
spending and cautioned the future leaders of PEF to continue building the
union’s financial reserves to make it strong and self-reliant.
“PEF’s financial strength is quite solid and (in an emergency) our net
assets of $6.2 million could allow us to cover a quarter of our expenses without
any income at all,” he said.
PEF receives about $26.4 million annually in dues and fees, the president
reported, and that income base is steady.
“PEF membership levels have been amazingly stable over the last three years
— reaching a high of 55,000 in June 2002. It is currently 53,000 which is
1,200 more than when I took office (in August 1997).”
PEF has had to fight constantly to protect its members’ jobs and those fights
continue today, he said.
In New York City, members working at the state Labor Department’s Telephone
Claims Center “have fought back valiantly” against plans to close the
center.
And the state Education Department’s decision this summer to shift more than
40 PEF members working in direct care at the state School for the Blind to the
payroll of another state agency where they are no longer represented by PEF
holds an important lesson, Benson said.
“It was neither illegal, nor a contract violation,” Benson said. “By
waiting until the state Legislature had left town, the state left PEF with no
way to stop it.
“Every other union has been silent on these issues. Only PEF has fought
back.”
While PEF respects the power of the governor’s office, that respect has become
mutual, Benson said.
“The governor’s office has confided to me that it usually gives up on budget
cuts when PEF defends (the jobs and services).
No PEF members in permanent, classified, state civil service positions have been
laid off in the eight years he has held office, Benson said. However, the
threats to members’ jobs from shadow agencies and privatization “are still a
problem” Benson cautioned, adding the state “Legislature even created a new
(public authority) this year.”
Benson, who along with Hallum has
decided not to seek re-election in 2006, told the convention delegates they
should focus PEF’s fight for the future on two or three key goals, such as the
three — job security, stronger contracts and better retirements — that have
driven his administration.
He also recommended continued reliance on PEF’s three most potent weapons —
mobilizing its members, shaping public opinion and lobbying.
Benson said he has also learned another tough lesson as president of PEF and its
representative at the state and national levels of the labor movement — “We
have no permanent friends, only permanent issues.
“Loyalty in the labor movement is non-existent, and divide-and-conquer is
management’s most basic tool against us. So, keep PEF’s war chest and
contingency fund full, because you will need them.”
Proud to be partners
PEF delegate Richardeen Agard greets state Comptroller Alan Hevesi. — Photo by John Epting
“There’s no union like PEF,” state
Comptroller Alan Hevesi told the delegates when he addressed them Monday. “My
office has 2,500 employees and about half of them are PEF members. Since I took
office, we’ve added 550 PEF positions to our staff and promoted 338 PEF
members.”
It’s largely the skill and expertise of those PEF members, Hevesi said, which
allows him to discover and crack down on fiscal and other abuses in the
Hempstead School District, as well as in Erie County, NYS Canal Corp, the NY
Racing Association and many other governmental bodies and public authorities
throughout the state.
“If no one is watching, you’ll have far more corruption and scandal,” he
warned.
Hevesi also said he stands with PEF in its Go Public Campaign and efforts to get
tougher laws to protect New Yorkers.
“It really has been a remarkable partnership between my office and PEF on the
broader issues of governance,” Hevesi said, and that includes protecting the
state pension fund.
“Our pension fund is under assault all the time. We have to stand up to
threats to underfund it, and my office, along with PEF and other state employee
unions and retiree organizations have stood up to those threats.
“I’m very proud to be PEF’s partner,” he said.
New team named to negotiate 2007 PS&T contract
MEET THE TEAM — The new PEF PS&T Contract Team is announced to convention delegates in Rochester: L-R are Bill Wurster, Lou Matrazzo, Kathy Darminio, Mike DeVoe, Jemma Hanson, Todd Fryer, Gail Noble, Jim Blake, Giselle Castro, Bill Holthausen, Germaine Greco, Meghan Allen (staff), Bob Reynolds, Carolyn Willson, Deborah Stayman (staff), Karen Spotford, Adam Sumlin and Ken Brynien. Team members Kathy Sweeney and Bill Cruz are not shown. — Photo by Richard Dillard
By SHERRY HALBROOK
Focusing on PEF’s fight for the future, PEF President Roger Benson
presented the union’s new PS&T contract team to the convention on its
opening day in Rochester.
The team, chaired by PEF Region 8 Coordinator Lou Matrazzo, will negotiate a
successor agreement to the current PS&T contract, which expires April 1,
2007.
The keys to success, Benson said, are a militant and mobilized membership to
support a skilled and well prepared team that’s focused on goals all of the
members understand and support.
Delegate Mike Keenan questioned why Benson, who has said he will not run for
re-election, was appointing a team now.
Benson said PEF usually announces and begins preparing its PS&T-unit team at
this point in the bargaining cycle.
Bargaining will likely begin in January ’07 for this PS&T pact.
“Just because we have an election (of officers next year), doesn’t mean this
union is going to go into stop mode,” said PEF Secretary-Treasurer Jane Hallum,
who also has said she will not seek re-election.
“If we don’t have a team out there and prepared to negotiate, we will
suffer,” Hallum said.
“And if the next president doesn’t like the team, he or she can appoint
another one.”
Mattrazzo said it’s important to keep moving on the contract without delay, so
the union can take advantage of the 2006 gubernatorial election and ensure
PS&T contract issues are considered during PEF’s candidate-endorsement
process.
According to PEF Director of Labor Relations Roger Scales, PEF’s chief
negotiator, the pre-negotiating preparations are right on schedule.
The new team will begin training this fall and survey members next spring to
begin identifying priority issues. By next summer, he said, the team will be on
the road visiting all of the PEF regions to meet with members and hear about
their concerns and suggestions for improving the contract.
Meet the team
Matrazzo is a data processing supervisor for the state Health Department and was
on the team that negotiated the current contract.
Other members of the new team are:
• James Blake, a PEF
Executive Board member and a data processing supervisor for the state Division
of Criminal Justice Services in Region 8;
• Giselle Castro, a parole revocation specialist for the state Division
of Parole in Region 11;
• Bill Cruz, an addictions program specialist 2 for the state Office of
Addictions and Substance Abuse Services in Region 10;
• Kathy D'Arminio, a disability analyst 2 for the state Office of
Temporary Disability Assistance (OTDA) in
Region 5;
• Mike DeVoe, a complex real property appraiser 2 for the state Office
of Real Property Services;
• Todd Fryer, a PEF Executive Board member and a senior insurance
examiner for the state Insurance Department in Region 8;
• Germaine Greco, a PEF Executive Board member and a disability analyst
3 at OTDA in Region 10;
• Jemma Hanson, PEF Region 11 coordinator and a teaching and research
center nurse 3 at SUNY Downstate Medical Center;
• Bill Holthausen, a PEF Executive Board member and a civil engineer 1
for the state Transportation Department in Region 12;
• Gail Noble, a teacher 4 at Cayuga Correctional Facility in Region 4;
• Bob Reynolds, a PEF trustee and a senior recreation therapist at
Broome Developmental Disabilities Services Office in Region 5;
• Adam Sumlin, a PEF Executive Board member and a cancer research
associate at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Region 1;
• Karen Spotford, an information technology specialist 2 for the state
Office of Mental Health in Region 3;
• Nancy Sweeney, a PEF Executive Board member and a tax auditor 1 for
the state Department of Tax and Finance in Region 4;
• Carolyn Willson, a PEF Executive Board member and a rehabilitation
nurse 2 at Helen Hayes Hospital in Region 9; and
• Bill Wurster, an environmental chemist 2 for the state Department of
Environmental Conservation in Region 8.
Not so secret weapon
No amount of hard work and preparation by the team will pay off if the members
don’t back it up, Benson cautioned.
“We are our own best advocates. Without your involvement,” he told the
delegates, ”we will not receive good contracts.”
Matrazzo said he learned a lot about the bargaining process as a member of the
previous PS&T contract team.
He cited two critical elements — a trained team that knows what the members
want, and a membership committed to supporting its team — to a
successful negotiations.
It’s also important, he said, to “educate our co-workers about the need to
support our issues.
“As we’ve seen over and over again, success at the bargaining table is
almost always the result of actions away from the table!”
Fights for members’ futures
The delegates began the process by passing resolutions calling on PEF to develop
contract priorities: boosting pay for members working in areas with high costs
of living; improving contract language on nursing issues; allowing PS&T
employees who work less than half-time to earn leave benefits; and establishing
a “solidarity fund” of donated leave for ailing PS&T members who exhaust
their own leave.
PEF TRUSTEES REPORT:
To The 2005 Convention Delegates
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