• Random Acts of Kindness in Region 7 

    Random Acts of Kindness in Region 7 

    May 12, 2023 — PEF Region 7 Coordinator Barbara Stransky was born and raised in DeKalb Junction. She knows the people and the values of the North Country and believes that Region 7 has some of the kindest members. So, when Random Acts of Kindness Day came up on her calendar on February 17, 2023,...

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  • PEF member receives Red Cross award for providing much-needed mental health support after Buffalo mass shooting

    PEF member receives Red Cross award for providing much-needed mental health support after Buffalo mass shooting

    May 11, 2023 — In the minutes, hours, days, and weeks following the mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, American Red Cross volunteers provided mental health, spiritual, and material support to the victims’ families, Tops staff, and the greater community.  Within an hour of the shootings on May 14, 2022, that claimed...

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  • Two Executive Board seats filled; more still vacant 

    Two Executive Board seats filled; more still vacant 

    June 14, 2023 — Two Executive Board seats were filled in the April 2023 Special Election. Balloting is required for an additional contested seat, and a new election for the remaining seats will be run in July 2023, with a schedule underway.  Barbara Coniglio was elected to Seat 101, representing members at SUNY Stony Brook. ...

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  • PEF strongly supports parole officer, demands changes to Less is More

    PEF strongly supports parole officer, demands changes to Less is More

    May 8, 2023 — PEF President Wayne Spence and more than a dozen PEF parole officers gathered outside the city court in Cohoes, N.Y., on May 4, 2023. Spence delivered remarks regarding the case of parolee Taquan Hassell, who was charged with Unlawful Imprisonment and Assault in the third degree of a parole officer. The...

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  • What you need to know about service credits to be prepared for your retirement 

    What you need to know about service credits to be prepared for your retirement 

    June 13, 2023 — I have received the following information from Patrick McLaughlin, our Region 9 Retirees President, who approached me recently about this subject and we decided he would put together an article for the Communicator.  The following information from the Office of the State Comptroller is important for your retirement preparation and planning....

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  • State budget reflects PEF priorities 

    State budget reflects PEF priorities 

    May 3, 2023 — PEF’s lobbying efforts this session paid off, with many of the union’s Fund Our Future initiatives and budget asks reflected in the final budget bills.   Among the victories are Civil Service reforms that are a step in the right direction toward recruiting new talent to the state workforce and hopefully...

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  • Fund Our Future for a Thriving New York

    Fund Our Future for a Thriving New York

    You’ve heard me talk a lot about “Fund Our Future.” But I probably don’t talk often enough about the second part of our multi-year campaign tag line. It’s “Fund Our Future for a Thriving New York.”  Two recent events drove that word “thriving” home for me. First, the PEF Wellness Fair & AFT Book Giveaway held...

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  • PEF donates free books and educates community at first Wellness Fair 

    PEF donates free books and educates community at first Wellness Fair 

    May 3, 2023 — Hundreds of PEF members and members of the community came out to the first annual PEF Wellness Fair and AFT Book Giveaway on April 29, 2023, at the Albany Armory. The fair was put together in collaboration with AFT, who secured 20,000 books for readers of all ages to give away,...

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  • PEF fighting for you at the contract table

    PEF fighting for you at the contract table

    May 3, 2023 — With a majority of PEF and the state’s proposals now on the table, contract negotiations on a successor PS&T agreement are moving forward and PEF is urging the state to pick up the pace even more. “Our team is ready and willing to pick up the pace of negotiations and we...

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