January 30, 2025 — PEF members, retirees, and PEF’s M/C staff broke records with their contributions to the Committee on Political Education (COPE) in 2024. Active members gave $203,587, an almost 16% increase; retirees contributed $72,659, a 21% increase; and M/C PEF staff contributed $2,056, more than double the amount they gave in 2023.
“Our members, retirees, and staff are recognizing the importance of fighting for the right to be in a union, fighting for safety on the job and fighting to preserve Social Security and Medicare, as well as to lobby to bring more federal dollars into New York,” said COPE Coordinator Don Morgenstern. “In 2024, we set PEF records for the amount contributed to COPE and for the number of members, retirees and M/C staff who participate.”
The total number of members and retirees giving rose more than 9%, from 2,650 in 2023, to 2,895 in 2024. The highest contributing Divisions were:
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- Division 407: Metro NY DDSO – Bronx, with 65.7% of members contributing
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- Division 207: Bernard Fineson – Queens, with 32.6% of members contributing
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- Division 167: Western NY DDSO – West Seneca, with 31.8% of members contributing
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- Division 351: Law Department – Regions 10, 11, and 12, with 30.8% of members contributing.
The total PEF COPE income for 2024 was $283,487 (AFT and SEIU each receiving $141,744). For the first time, PEF is on pace to surpass SEIU’s goal in 2025.
“Fully 40% of the New York State budget comes from federal dollars and many of our agencies rely on those dollars to serve the people of New York,” said President Wayne Spence. “It is imperative that we have a seat at the table when it comes to advocating on behalf of that funding and COPE gives us that power.”
COPE contributions help PEF advocate for federal legislation, funding and policies that support union priorities such as fair labor and wage laws; healthy and safe workplaces; Social Security, Medicare and pension protections; and other issues important to PEF members and their families.
Active PEF members can sign up for COPE electronically by clicking here to log into the Member’s only section of the website. Retirees can email COPE@pef.org and request a signup form be sent to them.