July 6, 2026 — The PEF Contract Team negotiated a five-year tentative agreement with New York State last month, and the PEF Executive Board voted to approve the text and send it to members for ratification consideration.
Those members now have the final say.
The agreement lays out the terms of a new five-year contract from April 2, 2026-April 1, 2031. It includes across-the-board wage increases of 4.5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, and 3% each year of the deal. It also gives PEF the ability to create an Employee Benefit Fund to administer dental and vision insurance for members, something PEF President Wayne Spence started asking for when he was first elected in 2015.
“There’s $200 million of new money in this contract that no other unions have gotten because they already had the dental,” said President Spence. “I had a conversation with the Governor in the last contract when I asked her if PEF members were genetically superior to other unions because we must not get cavities and gingivitis and all the other things that come with dental health because they were getting way more money than we were — an average of $400 more per year for every member. And now we have something equivalent, which, by the way, came up at the very last minute.”
In addition to the major dental upgrades, the agreement includes increases to location pay, Special Assignment to Duty (SAD) pay, lump sum payments for long-term seasonal employees, hazardous duty pay, and more.
PEF Vice President and Contract Chair Darlene Williams have been traveling the State with President Spence and members of the Contract Team to answer questions ahead of the ratification vote.
“Members have come to these meetings engaged and asking questions so they can make an informed vote,” said Williams. “I can’t stress enough how important it is for members to exercise their right to vote. Whether they vote yes or no, they need to do it in big numbers so the State sees how united this union is!”
RELATED: Sign up for a Contract Meeting in your Region
A printed and bound copy of the Tentative Agreement, which is prefaced by Highlights and a look at the deal’s Gains & Tradeoffs, will be mailed this month to every eligible voter as a Special Communicator Edition. In the meantime, all documents are available for review at www.pef.org/contract.
Members will receive their ballot separately in the mail. It is being mailed on July 8 from New York City. The bright yellow envelope must be returned by mail and received no later than 5 p.m. on July 30, 2026, by PEF’s election administrator, the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Any eligible voter who does not receive a ballot by July 15, please call AAA at (800) 529-5218, or email Sacha Uleiro at uleiros@adr.org to request a ballot.
Votes will be counted on July 31, 2026, by AAA.