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Letters to the Editor – June 2022

Report on more labor-related legal issues To The Editor:  I have been a snowbird for several years now and have noticed how easily former civil service employees forget where their retirement benefits came from. I respectfully request that The Communicator report on U.S. Supreme Court cases that have had an impact on unions and labor...

Members ask tough questions at DOCCS annual Open Forum

May 17, 2022 — After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, President Wayne Spence, Statewide Labor Management Chair Steve Drake, and the Statewide Labor Management Team were eager to host the annual Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Labor Management Conference, held May 11-13 in Saratoga. The conference began with several training sessions in...

Member gathers skills and effectiveness with every challenge met

  May 27, 2022 — It’s not unusual to find that someone who is investing a lot of time and energy in their union, is also carrying other responsibilities beyond their immediate family and job duties. Yamil Speight-Miller is such a person, but he takes it to such lengths that it goes beyond “unusual” all...

PEF officers engage members at locations across the state

June 17, 2022 — PEF’s statewide officers are hard at work attending open houses and visiting state office buildings and worksites to engage PEF members. At each of the meetings, the president, secretary-treasurer, vice presidents and appropriate regional coordinator and PEF staff provide updates about union priorities, while members get the chance to directly ask...

Statewide Tour – Photo Gallery

Pensions support us and our communities

Working people face difficulties and dangers in the workplace all the time. Unfortunately with labor laws and OSHA regulations as they stand, workers are often put in dangerous situations just to put food on the table. The last two years however has seen this long-standing problem get considerably worse. Low-wage workers and essential workers have...

DMV members: Our goal is ‘No Empty Chair’ at graduation

May 17, 2022 — Graduation season is underway, and students are donning caps and gowns to join their fellow graduates on bleachers, stages, and in seating areas inside and out, ready for their names to be called and to take their first steps into the larger world.  Too often, there are seats that remain unfilled:...

Shelby Wisneski – Region 2 Coordinator

May 17, 2022 — Shelby Wisneski, a social work assistant 3 for OPWDD Finger Lakes DDSO Regional Office, was elected Region 2 Coordinator in April 2022.   Wisneski has been a PEF member since 2007, with a four-year break while she worked in a CSEA position.  She has served as a PEF Steward, Treasurer, Division leader...

Photo Gallery – “Women for Tish” Event

Membership ‘blitz’ brings PEF organizers to doors and worksites across the Capital Region

Dozens of volunteers from PEF and local American Federation of Teachers (AFT) unions throughout the country converged on Albany at the end of April to take part in a week-long membership blitz to build PEF membership and unity.  It was an impressive effort that reached nearly 1,200 members at 39 worksite meetings and led the...