{"id":6939,"date":"2025-04-02T15:53:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T19:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=6939"},"modified":"2025-04-04T09:48:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:48:57","slug":"presidents-message-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-3\/presidents-message-4\/","title":{"rendered":"President&#8217;s Message"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Signs of Spring at PEF: April contract money and a giant inflatable bull!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The PEF Executive Board met March 27 and 28 in Albany with a <a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-3\/executive-board-approves-budget-meets-contract-team-discusses-doccs-strike-and-puts-pressure-on-omh-to-stop-workplace-violence\/\">full agenda<\/a>, from approving a balanced budget for this fiscal year to discussing looming federal funding cuts and their potential impact on members and services, to entertaining a vote of no confidence in Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Marie Sullivan for failing to act in the wake of violence at state psychiatric facilities.<\/p>\n<p>We also debuted the union\u2019s newest tool in our workplace bullying toolkit \u2013 an inflatable 20-foot-tall angry red bull that we can deploy across the state to draw attention to bullying and workplace violence. It\u2019s a striking symbol of our commitment to this fight against toxicity and violence at state agencies and it\u2019s sure to get noticed by the media! Stay tuned to our PEF social media accounts (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PublicEmployeesFederation\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NYSPEF\">X<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nyspef\/\">Instagram<\/a>, and now, <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/nyspef.bsky.social\">Bluesky<\/a>) for a naming contest and a chance for members to tell us where the bull should stop first as it travels across the State.<\/p>\n<p>Not all of April brings showers \u2013 it is also when <a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-3\/contract-money-coming-in-april\/\">several increases and awards<\/a> will appear in many of your paychecks. In addition to the 3% across-the-board raises included in your contract, many can expect to see performance awards and advances, a second $600 Higher Education Differential, and location pay increases. Your newly announced Contract Team will continue to work hard to assure you are rewarded for the professional jobs you do.<\/p>\n<p>In our <a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-3\/new-yorks-58-year-old-taylor-law-protects-public-sector-unions\/\">Labor History column<\/a>, we share the intricacies of New York\u2019s \u201cTaylor Law,\u201d which, in part, prohibits public-sector unions from going on strike. The law complicated the recent wildcat strike by corrections\u2019 officers at DOCCS, the fallout from which we continue to monitor for impacts on our members.<\/p>\n<p>I also encourage you to download the new PEF mobile app. It\u2019s one more way to stay informed and engaged with your union. You will need your Member Identification Number (MIN) and password. Download instructions can be found at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/app\/\"><strong>www.pef.org\/app<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Signs of Spring at PEF: April contract money and a giant inflatable bull! The PEF Executive Board met March 27 and 28 in Albany with a <a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-3\/executive-board-approves-budget-meets-contract-team-discusses-doccs-strike-and-puts-pressure-on-omh-to-stop-workplace-violence\/\">full agenda<\/a>, from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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-6939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-43-no-3"],"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>President&#039;s Message - 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-3\/presidents-message-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President&#039;s Message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Signs of Spring at PEF: April contract money and a giant inflatable bull! 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