{"id":2248,"date":"2022-11-03T13:47:59","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T17:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=2248"},"modified":"2022-11-04T13:56:16","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T17:56:16","slug":"outlook-for-pef-has-never-been-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-40-no-8\/outlook-for-pef-has-never-been-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Outlook for PEF has never been better\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PEF President Wayne Spence told delegates at the union\u2019s 44<\/span>th<\/span> Annual Convention that the state of the union is strong.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cLet me tell you, I have never felt better about where we are and where we are going,\u201d Spence said.\u00a0 \u201cThis year\u2019s convention theme is \u2018Reclaim Our Future\u2019 because we are focusing on the fact that we need to make sure that the (state) funds for our future are spent properly.\u00a0 When we advocate and fight to make sure they are \u2013 we WILL reclaim our future.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWayne Spence, PEF President<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
What good is it for the state to focus the public\u2019s attention and possibly its own on shiny new bridges, airports and other capital expenditures, Spence asked, if it is failing to invest in social infrastructure to reduce crime and treat mental illness?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cNew York has not invested in its own workforce.\u00a0 When is that going to happen?\u201d he wanted to know.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to make sure that when they spend public funds, those funds are spent properly.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Spence encouraged delegates to read the union\u2019s annual report, included in their convention materials, to see all the ways each PEF department has been investing members\u2019 dues in addressing members\u2019 workplace needs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
He then spent some time highlighting major union accomplishments in the past year, starting with hazard pay for the healthcare heroes of the pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cListen, you can dress it up and call it a Healthcare Workforce Bonus, but everybody in this room knows what it is \u2013 it\u2019s HAZARD PAY for the health care heroes who have cared for the sick and dying since the pandemic began in 2020,\u201d said Spence about legislation signed by Gov. Hochul that pays patient-facing healthcare workers up to $3,000 for their work during the pandemic.\u00a0 \u201cAnd we were the only New York union that I know of that was pushing for it.\u00a0 In 2020 when so many of our members were supporting the State\u2019s pandemic response \u2013\u00a0 from ITS staff setting up testing sites — to parole officers pitching in with airport security \u2013 to Department of Labor reps processing record unemployment claims — to all the nurses and doctors and social workers helping their fellow New Yorkers in need \u2013 PEF members were right there on the front lines, going to work while tens of thousands of workers stayed home.\u00a0 The work was literally life-threatening \u2013 and endangered the health of your families.\u00a0\u00a0 And it was obvious to those of us here on this stage that if we didn\u2019t step up as a union and DEMAND the state recognize that sacrifice, all we were going to get were grateful speeches and cold pizzas.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Spence praised the governor for asking PEF for the job titles of its members who came to work throughout the COVID-19 lockdown to provide hands-on care and services to New Yorkers who were desperately ill and in need of those services and care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cWe submitted 300 titles,\u201d Spence said, but the governor said she only wanted \u2018patient-facing\u2019 titles.\u00a0 \u201cWhat came out, was not what we submitted.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The PEF president gave special praise to members who are scientists at the state Health Department\u2019s Wadsworth Laboratories and who developed the first tests for COVID.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThey started that research in January 2020 and they worked six days a week, sometimes putting in 12-hour workdays,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWayne Spence, PEF President<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Because PEF led a relentless fight for hazardous duty pay for its members who risked their own lives to save others, nurses have received additional pay, but Spence said many more members deserve it. \u00a0 <\/span> \n<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of PEF leading the way \u2013 members at every other union outside of PEF with eligible titles are reaping the benefits.\u00a0 Did we get it for everybody?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But we\u2019re not about to turn it down.\u00a0 One thing I\u2019ve learned as your president — it\u2019s never all or nothing in this job.\u00a0 In a union with 50,000 members and 3,000 titles, we crack open the door and then we try to push it wide open.\u00a0 So, we\u2019re not done yet.\u00a0 We plan to keep pushing for more titles to be added.\u00a0 Because anyone who helped New Yorkers survive some of the hardest days in our state\u2019s history deserves that money.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The president also touched on major budgetary wins for the union.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the most positive state budget I\u2019ve seen as your president. There were no service cuts, no layoffs \u2013 in fact, for the first time in more than a decade, the state actually REINVESTED in its workforce, just like we asked them to in the Fund Our Future campaign material that we gave them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe provided materials to the governor\u2019s team when she addressed this body last October.\u00a0 The level of accessibility that PEF now has is something that we didn\u2019t have with the former governor. We have a major seat at the table and we should be proud of that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Spence said this year\u2019s state budget contained many of PEF\u2019s top legislative priorities such as pension reform. A law passed this year reduces the vesting period for all current and future members in tiers 5 and 6 from 10 years to 5.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we asked members to write their elected leaders in the State Senate and Assembly, they responded, big time!\u201d said Spence.\u00a0 \u201cThousands of you participated in letter-writing campaigns and helped convince lawmakers that the state pension plan needed changing in order to better recruit and retain skilled employees.\u00a0 Along those same lines, this budget takes some major steps toward making New York a competitive employer again.\u00a0 With the hiring freeze lifted, the budget included an increase of just over 3 percent in funding for state operations.\u00a0 The goal is to re-grow the state workforce to pre-pandemic levels.\u00a0 Conversations at various agencies have started on that topic and we will continue to advocate for hiring statewide to fill all the open positions in our bargaining unit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThe budget also took steps to make it easier to grow the state workforce,\u201d Spence reported.\u00a0 And delegates responded appreciatively when he announced, \u201cNew Civil Service testing centers will be established at SUNY campuses so that students can more easily join state service when they graduate.\u00a0 We are pushing to make those testing centers available to all, in order to help address the long-standing problem of how difficult it is in some parts of the state for civil servants to travel to a testing center.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Spence added that it was no accident that the state budget added 100 stabilization beds at the Office of Mental Health for people with severe disabilities.\u00a0 \u201cWe spoke about it at SOMOS and any chance we got.\u00a0 And PEF asked for that in our Fund Our Future campaign.\u00a0\u00a0 And it\u2019s not an accident that SUNY hospitals received supplemental funding to serve their communities.\u00a0 Sen. Zellnor Myrie was a great partner with that.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not an accident that the state Office of Information Technology Services was awarded $2 million to help staff obtain technology certifications that are in demand.\u00a0 PEF asked for that.\u00a0 I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.\u00a0 PEF is leading the way, advocating on behalf of all our members and delivering what they need.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Spence said PEF is expanding its Fund Our Future for a Thriving New York campaign and will make it an important part of the union\u2019s contract negotiations.\u00a0 PEF has hired Ron Deutsch to lead external outreach efforts to identify local, state and international partners for a broad coalition effort.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Geographic pay and title restructuring are finally moving forward for nurses thanks to years of PEF\u2019s unflagging advocacy.\u00a0 \u201cIt adds up to thousands of additional dollars for the heroes who helped us survive the pandemic,\u201d Spence said.\u00a0 \u201cWe know it isn\u2019t perfect and we will continue to work with the state on this restructuring.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
He also said that negotiating a temporary overtime pay equaling 2.5 times regular pay has benefited thousands of members in hundreds of PEF job titles at the following agencies:\u00a0 Department of Corrections and Community Services; the Health Department; the Office of Mental Health, the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, and Children and Family Services, as well as the State University of New York.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The union has also given voice to its members who are in parole jobs and who have found those jobs made much harder by Less Is More and other legislation that has weakened penalties for parole violations, Spence reported.\u00a0 PEF is educating state legislators and the public on these issues.\u00a0 Parole officers are also forced to work with a computer program called COMPAS that is replacing their professional judgment with an algorithm to predict how likely a parolee is to commit another crime.\u00a0 PEF has received a grant from the AFL-CIO to conduct a study to find out just how good this app is at doing that job.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
PEF has greatly expanded its member engagement efforts and Spence said he led a tour by the statewide officers that reached eight of the union\u2019s 12 regions so far and will continue into 2023.\u00a0 The tour has visited nearly 50 worksites and engaged with approximately 3,000 members.\u00a0 \u201cWe listened, we took notes, we went back to headquarters and we took action,\u201d Spence said.\u00a0 \u201cAll of the items that were brought up by our members are being addressed by field staff, organizing and others.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
PEF discussed the contract negotiations set to begin in November at those meetings and Spence said the union will reach out to the delegates via Zoom to update them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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