October 30, 2026 — Political action at PEF “is not about red or blue, D or R – it’s about your paycheck, your retirement, and the people and communities we serve,” said PEF Vice President and Statewide Political Action Committee Chair Randi DiAntonio on day two of Convention.
“Whether you love or hate politics … politics determine what we earn, what our pensions are worth, whether our agencies are funded, staffed, or closed,” she told delegates. “Politics matter to all of us, in every title and at every worksite.”
Every year, Convention delegates consider and approve PEF’s federal and state legislative agendas, one of the most important tasks the body undertakes.
“We must advocate in a bipartisan way by working with those willing to work with us,” DiAntonio said. “Our work must be strategic and tactical, grounded in our members’ interests. We don’t have the luxury of making decisions based on personal politics, we have to look at the needs of more than 3,000 titles and 65,000 members.”
Throughout the last year, PEF activists descended on Albany to testify, rally, meet with legislators, and send letters to legislators on everything from Tier 6 to safe staffing to workplace violence.
Sustained pressure and collaboration with other unions helped deliver major Tier 6 improvements this year, DiAntonio said. Union advocacy led to lowered employee pension contribution rates and compressed salary bands, putting real money back into members’ pockets. There is now a higher overtime cap in final average salary calculations for Tier 5 and 6. The union will continue to work on changing the retirement age and advocating for retirement at age 55 after 30 years of service.
PEF also worked hard to expand and pass work zone camera laws; pushed the state to open long-awaited regional, computerized civil service testing centers; and called for reform of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) act.
DiAntonio reported passage of the bill to allow the installation and use of body scanner technology to help prevent weapons, drugs and other contraband from getting into secure Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) facilities for at-risk youth.
“Why and how did that happen?” she asked. “It happened on the floor of Convention. It happened because one member brought forward his idea. That member saw a concern, and he stood up at the microphone in front of this body and he spoke truth to power.”
She called member Zach Swift, a children and family services specialist at OCFS, to the podium and presented him with the pen that Gov. Kathy Hochul used to sign the bill into law.
“You gave us our marching orders, and we heard you,” she said. “We advocated, and we made sure that the Legislature and the Governor heard you. You did everything I am asking all of you to do.”
Swift gave a shout-out to the OCFS statewide labor/management team, calling it a group effort.
PEF is now hoping to expand the law to install body scanners at facilities run by the Office of Mental Health, Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Office for Addiction Services and Supports and at DOCCS parole offices.
PEF also advanced legislation to curb state contracting out, require exit interviews when employees leave a State job, and impose fines for the fraudulent use of union leaders’ images and messages — such as those sent by the Freedom Foundation urging union members to opt out of their union.
“We also secured a law protecting our jobs from elimination or transfer due to AI,” DiAntonio said. “We’re going to have to keep going back around AI because it needs to be regulated sensibly. We want to protect not only our data, our privacy, but our clients, our jobs, and our union.”
“It’s been a busy year, and I’ll be candid, next year is going to be busier,” she said. “Federal funding reductions are going to hit New York sharply in January. When budgets tighten, public services and public workers are the first things that are threatened. So, buckle up.”
She closed her speech with a call to action.
“Vote your family values. Vote your paycheck. Vote your pension. That’s my ask,” DiAntonio said. “Being union means showing up. Being union means speaking up. And on Election Day, being union means voting.”
You can view the federal and state legislative agendas on the PEF website and in the PEF app.