{"id":8243,"date":"2025-12-05T09:38:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=8243"},"modified":"2025-12-11T09:41:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:41:56","slug":"blast-from-the-past-pef-members-say-give-us-a-fair-contract-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-11\/blast-from-the-past-pef-members-say-give-us-a-fair-contract-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Blast from the Past: PEF members\u00a0say,\u00a0\u2018Give\u00a0Us a Fair Contract\u00a0Now!\u2019\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4150 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/BlastFromThePast.jpg\" alt=\"Blast from the past\" width=\"260\" height=\"260\" 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: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/>December 12, 2025 &#8212;<\/em> With PEF\u2019s 2023-2026 PS&amp;T contract ending April 1, 2026, the Contract Committee is gearing up for negotiations at a time when uncertainty seems rampant at every level of government. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">At the start of the\u00a0current\u00a0millennium, the 1999 PEF Contract\u00a0had\u00a0long expired,\u00a0and members had spent\u00a0hundreds of\u00a0days\u00a0working\u00a0without a new contract.\u00a0So\u00a0on January 5, 2000\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the 279<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">th<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0day without a new contract\u00a0\u2014\u00a0they decided to\u00a0make some noise.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">PEF organized a protest of 20,000 members to rally in Albany, hoping to attract the attention of then-Governor George Pataki. Members of PEF were joined in solidarity\u00a0by\u00a0thousands of members from CSEA. In response, the governor mobilized 300 troopers to the State Capitol.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cOur members refused to be intimidated by an army of state and local police who were clearly under orders to try to muzzle us,\u201d said then-PEF President Roger Benson. \u201cOur members came to personally deliver their own message\u00a0to the governor\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u2018Give us a\u00a0Fair\u00a0Contract\u00a0Now!\u2019\u00a0\u2014 while he was presenting his State of the State address at the Capitol.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In standing up to the Governor\u00a0and making their case in the media,\u00a0PEF\u00a0eventually came to terms\u00a0on\u00a0a strong\u00a0retroactive contract that governed uion members\u2019 terms and conditions of employment through 2003.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8244 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-1.jpg\" alt=\"Blast from the past - 1\" width=\"1200\" height=\"746\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-1-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-1-1024x637.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-1-768x477.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-8245\" src=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-2.jpg\" alt=\"Blast from the past - 2\" width=\"600\" height=\"776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-2.jpg 600w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Blast-2-232x300.jpg 232w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 12, 2025 &#8212; With PEF\u2019s 2023-2026 PS&amp;T contract ending April 1, 2026, the Contract Committee is gearing up for negotiations at a time when uncertainty seems rampant at every&#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-8243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-43-no-11"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - 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