{"id":6737,"date":"2025-02-21T06:23:41","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T11:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=6737"},"modified":"2025-02-28T14:30:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:30:34","slug":"blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4150 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\" alt=\"Blast from the past\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg 400w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>March 5, 2025 &#8212;<\/em> In 2025, the federal government is firing workers and slashing services in what they say is an attempt to shrink the size of government spending and save money for the country and taxpayers. Thirty years ago, New York State politicians tried to do much the same thing. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In 1995, Governor George Pataki proposed a multi-year tax-cut that put state workers and essential services in the crosshairs. The governor\u2019s proposal aimed to reduce the state workforce by 5% with many services centered around infectious diseases, civil engineers, and research scientists under threat. It also meant the potential closure of hospitals serving patients with mental health needs. The tax cuts benefited wealthy New Yorkers, while providing little financial relief to middle income families.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In response, state workers, community leaders, educators and even their students rallied and protested the threat to jobs and the services public employees provide to everyday New Yorkers.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Then PEF President James Sheedy launched a \u201cFight Back\u201d campaign, which focused on delivering the truth about the Executive Budget proposal.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cPEF\u2019s analysis shows that virtually every proposed cut in every state agency will produce a similar result: less service to the public, more risk to public safety and a shift to more costs to local property taxpayers,\u201d said Sheedy. \u201cEvery PEF member must be part of the \u2018truth-in-budgeting\u2019 lobbying effort.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In the end, PEF and its allies saved a lot of jobs and services. Several positions at the State Education Department were saved, the State approved millions of dollars to keep its alcoholism-treatment facilities open, and continued to fund counseling programs for troubled youth.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cOur members and legislative staff did an incredible job of blunting state budget blows this year,\u201d said Sheedy at the time.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Gov. Pataki did succeed in cutting some budgets, but overall State spending rose by about 2 percent that year.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Today, PEF and its parent unions, AFT and SEIU, are engaging with citizens across the country to reveal the impact of proposed federal cuts on vital public services. If you\u2019re a PEF member who delivers services to New Yorkers who stand to be impacted by a reduction in federal funding at your agency, please get in touch via <\/span><a href=\"mailto:Communicator@pef.org\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Communicator@pef.org<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> so we can share your story.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 5, 2025 &#8212; In 2025, the federal government is firing workers and slashing services in what they say is an attempt to shrink the size of government spending and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-6737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-43-no-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0 - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 5, 2025 &#8212; In 2025, the federal government is firing workers and slashing services in what they say is an attempt to shrink the size of government spending and...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-21T11:23:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-28T19:30:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ccanham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\"},\"headline\":\"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-21T11:23:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-28T19:30:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":384,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0 - PEF Communicator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-21T11:23:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-28T19:30:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Blast from the past\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Volume 43. No. 2\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-2\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF Communicator\",\"description\":\"NYS PEF Communicator\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\",\"name\":\"ccanham\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/author\\\/ccanham\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0 - PEF Communicator","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0","og_description":"March 5, 2025 &#8212; In 2025, the federal government is firing workers and slashing services in what they say is an attempt to shrink the size of government spending and...","og_url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/","og_site_name":"PEF Communicator","article_published_time":"2025-02-21T11:23:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-28T19:30:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ccanham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ccanham","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/"},"author":{"name":"ccanham","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4"},"headline":"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0","datePublished":"2025-02-21T11:23:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T19:30:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/"},"wordCount":384,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/","name":"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0 - PEF Communicator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-21T11:23:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T19:30:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Blast from the past"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/blast-from-the-past-new-york-sought-to-cut-public-worker-jobs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Volume 43. No. 2","item":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blast from the Past: New York sought to cut public worker jobs\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/","name":"PEF Communicator","description":"NYS PEF Communicator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4","name":"ccanham","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/author\/ccanham\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6738,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737\/revisions\/6738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6737"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/division?post=6737"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_regions?post=6737"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_divisions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_divisions?post=6737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}