This update of the May issue of The Communicator comes after the first leg of our Statewide Officers Tour, which covered PEF regions 10-12 the week of May 16-20. We have lots of photos in this issue and a brief summary of the trip. It was great to meet so many PEF members face-to-face after more than two years of COVID restrictions! Overall, we met with about 700 members at 13 different events during the week and we’re looking forward to visiting the rest of PEF’s regions in the months ahead.
As another National Nurses Month comes to an end, be sure to check out our story on the PEF Nurses Day of Action held on May 10 at the State Capitol in Albany. I was joined by nurses from across the state and more than a dozen senators and members of the assembly who came out to voice their support for policy changes that will improve the working lives of all PEF nurses. We’re asking the State to restructure nursing titles to make the profession more enticing, as well as end the obscene amounts of mandatory overtime nurses are forced to work under the current law.
Also in this issue, we have a brief profile of new Region 2 Coordinator Shelby Wisneski, who was elected in April to lead PEF’s efforts in the Southern Tier. The next PEF Special Election will be in July, and I encourage members to get involved in your union. We are only as strong and engaged as our membership and as an organization we are committed to identifying future leaders so that PEF can continue to be a powerful force – in Albany, at every agency, and from Brooklyn to Buffalo.
One of those emerging leaders, Yamil Speight-Miller, is profiled in this issue. Yamil is an investigator at DOH, who did critical work during COVID and is involved with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). I’ve worked with him in various capacities at PEF and each time I have come away impressed by his passion and commitment to the work at hand. This union is filled with professionals like Yamil and getting to know them is one of the greatest rewards of being president.
In closing, the New York State legislative session is set to end just after the long Memorial Day weekend. If you haven’t taken a few minutes yet to send letters to your legislators about PEF’s end-of-session priorities, please visit this page today. We’ve seen every year what a difference organized advocacy makes. Simply put, the more letters we send and phone calls we make, the more likely we will be heard.
Thank you for reading and I wish you and your families a restful holiday weekend.
In Unity,Wayne Spence