September 28, 2024 — PEF leaders and staff gathered at the memorial outside the union’s headquarters in Latham to remember the more than 3,000 people who died in the terrorist attacks 23 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001.
“It’s still vivid in my mind,” said President Wayne Spence. “I still remember it as if it was yesterday.” PEF lost 34 PEF members from the Department of Taxation and Finance in New York City on that tragic day.
PEF Secretary-Treasurer Joe Donahue, who works for Tax and Finance, remembered the stunned disbelief as he watched the events unfold on the television.
“We all felt the loss,” he said. “After that horrific event, people got together. We were all Americans; we were all one. This memorial stands as a permanent reminder that we will never forget.”
PEF Executive Director Todd Kerner, who also worked for Tax and Finance and was in the city that day, hopes future generations of PEF continue the tradition of honoring the memories of those we lost.
“People just wanted to do their jobs,” he said. “I hope we continue to remember their sacrifice.”
President Spence closed the ceremony by honoring the work of the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) in the difficult days after the attacks.
“There were no bodies,” he said. “Insurance companies were not ready to say these people had passed and give benefits to their families.”
PEF MBP went to bat for them.
“[Then President] Roger Benson tasked Membership Benefits to figure it out. They contacted our internationals, AFT and SEIU, to come up with a plan to get money to these families, so they could get some aid,” he said. “The work they did to make sure these families had what they needed to survive went way beyond. They had to take on the state of New York and insurance companies.”