PEF members and staff pose for a photo before the hearing. Left to right: PEF Field Representative Anthony Rios, Leticia Rivera, Michele Rosello, PEF Council Leader Tamara Martin (NYC AG’s office), and Carl Ankrah. June 27, 2022 — PEF leaders testified on June 22 in New York City about the strained state of New...
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June 27, 2022 — This legislative session PEF was instrumental in securing the first improvements to the Tier 5 and 6 pension plans since their inception more than a decade ago. In coordination with the New York State AFL-CIO, NYSUT, CSEA and other unions, PEF’s elected leadership, the statewide Political Action Committee and rank-and-file members...
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June 17, 2022 — The PEF Executive Board voted June 9 to endorse Kathy Hochul for governor. No other candidates were discussed, and the 12 PEF regional political action committees and the union’s statewide PAC had all recommended Hochul’s endorsement. The board was informed June 10 that Hochul called the PEF president to thank the...
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June 17, 2022 — Bills that passed both the state Senate and Assembly in the 2022 session showed the lawmakers were paying attention to many of the concerns PEF shared with them. First, the governor included language borrowed from the union’s “Fund Our Future” campaign in parts of her proposed Executive Budget in January and...
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June 17, 2022 — Parole officers Shawn Reynolds of Corning and Karen Hoth of Dunkirk received the Medal of Honor at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) medal ceremony June 9 at the training academy in Albany. Parole officers Rachel Johnson of Fort Ann; Mary Jenkins of Ballston Lake; and Aaron Lang of...
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June 17, 2022 — Workplace discrimination is banned in the PEF contract. Nevertheless, some members feel they do experience it, especially when they apply for a promotion or a transfer. Article 36 of the contract between PEF and the state is relatively short. It says PEF will admit all state employees in the Professional, Scientific...
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June 17, 2022 — You may have June 20 off work in recognition of Juneteenth, but what do you know about the new federal holiday? On June 19, 1865, a major general in the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Americans in Texas from bondage....
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June 17, 2022 — Since December 8, 2021, there have been union wins at 150 Starbucks stores across the country, according to Starbucks Workers United. Once of them is just down the road from PEF Headquarters on Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham. Wage increases outpaced by inflation and a lack of opportunities for advancement inspired...
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June 17, 2022 — Social media is bursting with discussions about student loan forgiveness – from proponents who want to relieve some of the crushing debt as they grapple with astronomical gas prices and record inflation, to opponents who say previous generations paid off their loans, so this one should, too. Whatever the outcome of...
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