October 7, 2025 — On Oct. 19, more than 700 PEF delegates will gather in Lake Placid for the 47th annual PEF Convention. The Adirondack town is no stranger to PEF, having hosted the union’s annual Convention many times. The last time was in 2018, and many of the challenges PEF and other unions faced then are emerging once more.
Union Strong
At the 40th Annual PEF Convention, members held Union Strong and Winning the Future Together banners high above their heads and focused their energy on the future. While the theme this year is “Stronger Roots, Bolder Future,” the sentiment about union strength and solidarity remains the same. Members were urged in 2018 to remain committed to the labor movement, and stay engaged and educated.
Political Action in 2018
“A lot of people tell me, ‘I’m not political.’ If you are a government employee, you are political,” PEF Vice President and Statewide Political Action Committee Chair Randi DiAntonio told delegates in 2018. “We need to keep the funding, so we can keep services running, so we can keep our jobs. This is an all hands-on-deck moment.”
VP DiAntonio’s message this year will be similar, and delegates will be encouraged to contribute to the Committee on Political Education (COPE), which provides the only funds from PEF members for federal lobbying. Union dues cannot be used for lobbying at the federal level.
Erosion of Civil Service
Following years of under-funding, the Department of Civil Service (DCS) met its match when the COVID pandemic ushered in a critical short staffing crisis in 2022. In response, State leadership implemented the NY HELPS (Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide) program which waived examinations for many jobs. The State assured PEF that NY HELPS would allow them the time and resources to increase promotion exam frequency and open 12 computer-based testing centers. Unfortunately, DCS has not delivered on these promises. They hosted fewer promotion exams this year and none of the promised testing centers are opened. PEF is grateful that NY HELPS offered career mobility options for some who had waited many years for exams, and we are thankful to our new members who joined the union after being hired via NY HELPS, but the program was always meant to be temporary. If it remains in place past the June 2026 expiration date the State has announced, it has the potential to erode the proven merit-based system that keeps the State’s hiring and promotional practices fair and outside of political influence.
Seven years ago, in 2018, the concern was also centered largely on promotions and the civil service system being circumvented in favor of nepotism. At the time, PEF was clear that it saw issues with the system.
“After speaking with the governor and explaining the many issues created by the Department of Civil Service, he mandated that Civil Service meet with PEF in a labor-management forum,” PEF President Wayne Spence told Convention delegates in 2018. “This is something that has never been accomplished before.”
Today, PEF is participating this fall in a series of roundtables around the State with the Department of Civil Service and legislative stakeholders to discuss the future of the system.
The introduction of Janus
The Supreme Court decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in 2018 changed the landscape for unions. PEF and other public-sector unions fought back against groups like New Choice NY, which launched a union-busting campaign to try and convince PEF members to leave the union.
Today, PEF still fights against groups who seek to weaken the labor movement by getting members to leave their unions through coercion and deception. PEF has been largely successful in significantly limiting the opt-out rate by communicating with members of the bargaining unit about the value and protections offered by union membership.
Contract, Contract, Contract
In 2018, like today, PEF was gearing up to negotiate its Collective Bargaining Agreements with the State.
The only difference is the timing. In 2018, Convention delegates took the Contract survey on location, expressing which priorities they wanted the team to pursue. This year, the survey has already closed, and the team is gearing up to sit down with the Office of Employee Relations (OER) later this year or in early 2026.
The 47th Annual PEF Convention runs from Oct. 19-22, in Lake Placid, N.Y. Members will receive a full report in a Special Communicator later this month and can follow PEF’s social media accounts (Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, X) for updates on location.