{"id":9174,"date":"2026-07-02T08:40:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=9174"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:20:17","slug":"dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-5\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Dues-paying PEF members in the PS&T unit to vote on new contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TentativeJuly 8, 2026 —<\/em> The PEF\u00a0Contract\u00a0Team\u00a0negotiated a five-year\u00a0tentative agreement\u00a0with\u00a0New York State\u00a0last\u00a0month,\u00a0and the PEF Executive Board voted to approve the text and send it to members for ratification consideration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those members now have the final say.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The agreement\u00a0lays out the terms of a\u00a0new\u00a0five-year contract\u00a0from April 2, 2026-April 1, 2031. It\u00a0includes across-the-board\u00a0wage increases of 4.5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, and\u00a03%\u00a0each year of the deal. It also gives PEF\u00a0the ability to create an Employee Benefit Fund to administer dental and vision insurance for members, something PEF President Wayne Spence started asking for when he was first elected in 2015.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s $200 million of new money in this contract that no other unions have gotten because they already had the dental,\u201d said President Spence. \u201cI had a conversation with the Governor in the last contract when I asked her if PEF members were genetically superior to other unions because we must not get cavities and gingivitis and all the other things that come with dental health because they were getting way more money than we were\u00a0— an average of $400 more per year for\u00a0every\u00a0member. And now we have something equivalent, which, by the way, came\u00a0up at the very last minute.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Yellow
This yellow envelope contains your ballot. It was mailed to eligible voters on July 8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the major dental upgrades, the agreement\u00a0includes increases to\u00a0location pay,\u00a0Special Assignment to Duty (SAD) pay, lump sum payments for long-term seasonal employees, hazardous duty pay, and more.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PEF Vice President and Contract Chair Darlene Williams\u00a0have been\u00a0traveling the State with President Spence and members of the Contract Team to answer questions ahead of the ratification vote.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMembers have come to these meetings engaged and asking questions so they can make an informed vote,\u201d said Williams. \u201cI\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0stress enough how important it is for members to exercise their right to vote. Whether they vote yes or no, they need to do it in big numbers\u00a0so the State sees how united this union is!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/span>Sign up for a Contract Meeting in your Region<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0printed and bound\u00a0copy of the Tentative Agreement, which is prefaced by Highlights and a look at the deal\u2019s Gains & Tradeoffs, will be mailed this month to every\u00a0eligible voter\u00a0as a\u00a0<\/span>Special Communicator Edition<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0In the meantime, all documents are available for review at\u00a0<\/span>www.pef.org\/contract<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Members will receive their ballot separately in the mail.\u00a0It is being mailed on July 8 from New York City.\u00a0The bright yellow envelope must be returned\u00a0by mail\u00a0and received no later\u00a0than\u00a05 p.m. on\u00a0July 30, 2026, by PEF\u2019s election administrator, the American Arbitration Association\u00a0(AAA).\u00a0Any\u00a0eligible\u00a0voter who does not receive a ballot by July 15, please call AAA at\u00a0(800) 529-5218, or email Sacha\u00a0Uleiro\u00a0at\u00a0<\/span>uleiros@adr.org<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to request\u00a0a ballot.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Votes will be counted on July 31,\u00a02026,\u00a0by AAA.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 8, 2026 — The PEF\u00a0Contract\u00a0Team\u00a0negotiated a five-year\u00a0tentative agreement\u00a0with\u00a0New York State\u00a0last\u00a0month,\u00a0and the PEF Executive Board voted to approve the text and send it to members for ratification consideration.\u00a0 Those members…<\/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-9174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-44-no-5"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDues-paying PEF members in the PS&T unit to vote on new contract - 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-44-no-5\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dues-paying PEF members in the PS&T unit to vote on new contract\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 8, 2026 — The PEF\u00a0Contract\u00a0Team\u00a0negotiated a five-year\u00a0tentative agreement\u00a0with\u00a0New York State\u00a0last\u00a0month,\u00a0and the PEF Executive Board voted to approve the text and send it to members for ratification consideration.\u00a0 Those members...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-5\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T12:40:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T15:20:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Tent-Agreement-Book.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"455\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"597\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 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-44-no-5\\\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-5\\\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"headline\":\"Dues-paying PEF members in the PS&T unit to vote on new contract\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T12:40:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T15:20:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-5\\\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-5\\\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Tent-Agreement-Book.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-5\\\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-5\\\/dues-paying-pef-members-in-the-pst-unit-to-vote-on-new-contract\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dues-paying PEF members in the PS&T unit to vote on new contract - 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