The document provides an overview of issues discussed in the newsletter of PEF Division 202, including concerns about the misuse of funds by a council leader, calls for impeachment of the PEF president due to disputes over recording board meetings, and debates around accountability and transparency in the union.

1. Copyright © 2015 The Union Bug
The Union BugThe Newsletter of PEF Division 202 Mission: “To Incite and Inform”
Volume 32, Number 2 January - April 2015
Table of Contents
Big PEF
2014 Convention.............7
2014 Convention...........12
Communicator.................3
Debbie Lee......................2
E-Board Report ...............4
Impeachment...................1
Purchase Card .................1
Union Accountability......3
Division 202
Corinne Fiacco................9
EAP Coordinator...........12
Kim Bodnar...................11
Membership Meeting....insert
Membership Meeting.......... 6
Scholarship......................3
Scholarship Essay .........10
Troy Issues....................11
Vacancy Elections.........12
Political Action
PEF..................................8
Region 8........................11
Other
Civil Service....................5
Free Vaccines..................3
Income Inequality .........10
M/C Raises....................10
Retirement Limits ...........9
Union Contracts
NYC Teachers.................5
Other NYC......................9
Troopers..........................4
Union Statistics
Capital District................8
Impeachment?
By: Kevin E. Jones – E-Board Representative
hat’s a heavy duty word. It’s also a word that I
have cautioned others from even using. It’s
about the most extreme action one can take in a
Democracy. However, since the run up to the
December PEF Executive Board (E-Board)
meeting, I have been hearing it more and more.
I first heard it bandied about in the run up to the
December E-Board meeting, when President Kent
indicated that she intended to video-record the
meeting.
At her first Executive Board meeting in August
2012, Kent had the Sergeant-at-Arms set up his
own personal video equipment to video the
proceedings. After a heated debate, the Board
passed a resolution prohibiting the use of PEF
resources to record the proceedings. Since the
Sergeant-at-Arms was on EOL (employee
organizational leave), the recording ended.
At the December E-Board meeting, Kent claimed
that she had the authority to set PEF policy
between E-Board meetings. This is quite true.
However, that power does not extend to changing
policy previously set by the Board. When I
challenged the ruling of the chair, Kent called a
fifteen minute recess, and refused to take a vote.
Later Kent alleged that no PEF resources were
being expended. However, this was clearly false.
The camera operator was PEF staff, the camera
(newly bought by Kent/Garcia) was PEF property,
the recording media was PEF purchased. There
was nothing about the recording that used anything
but PEF resources.
Impeachment talk was rife during that heated
discussion, and it did not start where you might
think, it started among the more moderate voices
on the Board.
In the end, Kent allowed a vote re-establishing
PEF policy on video-recordings, the camera was
turned, and the recording destroyed/erased.
----------------------
Another issue that arose at the December E-
Continued on page 6.
The PEF Purchase Card
By: Scott Ray – -Board Representative
nasty habit has arisen where everything that
goes wrong in PEF gets blamed on the
practices of prior administrations. A major focus of
the blame-game is to vilify the most recent prior
leadership, the Brynien/Igoe administration. This
has been of great interest to me during the handling
of the financial misdeeds of Debbie Lee, Council
Leader of PEF Division 235.
The PEF Ethics Committee found Ms. Lee guilty
of the misuse of the Division’s purchase card. She
used the card to make numerous undocumented
purchases over several years. Estimates of the
amount of misspending in the last two years alone
has ranged as high as $28,000+. Apparently this
was allowed to happen despite the fact that no one in
the Division was approving of these purchases, as
PEF procedures require.
Despite the fact that members of her Division
expressed their concerns to the current leadership at
the 2012 PEF Convention, Ms. Lee was allowed to
continue misusing the purchase card until the
following PEF Convention. To justify their
inactions, the blame card was played again.
This time the fault was in how the purchase card
system was implemented. It seems the training on
use if the card stated there was no need to keep any
receipts.
Therefore, at the December E-Board meeting,
Secretary/Treasurer Garcia announced his decision
was to get rid of the purchase card, blaming the card
for the misappropriation of funds, and punishing the
responsible users of the system for his failure to
follow up on the Division members complaints.
However, Secretary/Treasurer Garcia was taking
actions and defending his office’s prior inaction with
inaccurate information about the card.
I chaired the PEF committee who worked with
Secretary/Treasurer Arlea Igoe and the PEF Finance
Director in developing and establishing the purchase
card system. In addition to modernizing PEF’s cash
management operations, we were seeking a method
Continued on page 6.
T A

2. Copyright © 2015 The Union Bug
“The ultimate result of shielding
men from the effects of folly is to fill
the world with fools.”
Herbert Spencer
The Debbie Lee Fiasco
By: Kevin E. Jones – E-Board Representative
s you probably know from the newspaper, Debbie Lee was the
PEF Division 235 Council Leader at Rockland Psych for
approximately ten years.
At least as far back as 2011 concerns had been expressed within
the Division about her use of the checkbook. In 2012 the current
Treasurer took over and she immediately questioned the lack of
receipts for purchases. However, soon she began to question the
actual expenditures.
Eventually, at the 2012 PEF Convention, the Division Treasurer
and Asst. Council Leader spoke to PEF President Susan Kent,
Secretary/Treasurer Carlos Garcia, and Region 9 Coordinator Vivian
Street concerning their apprehensions about Debbie Lee’s spending.
Despite this, PEF took no action.
Finally, at the 2013 PEF Convention, Debbie Lee was forced to
surrender her purchase card. PEF was then asked to come in and do
an investigation; however, they told the Division that it first needed
to conduct an annual audit.
All the while, time was ticking away at the Statute of Limitations
on embezzlement charges.
In October 2013, the Division requested copies of prior division
budgets, ledgers, and audits. All PEF members have a right to this
information. However, the Division only received the 2010-11
ledger, and the 2011-12 fiscal information. Upon reviewing the
ledgers, the Division found the same issues with the 2010-11 and
2011-12 ledgers as they did with 2012-13, and with 2013-14.
The 2011-12 audit, that PEF provided, appeared to be created and
signed by Debbie Lee
Subsequently, the Division Stewards Council met to pass a
resolution asking PEF to come in and do an audit The Division
twice sent two letters, return receipt requested, to Susan Kent to ask
that an audit be done. They received no response.
Later, at a Regional Retreat, both Trustee Ken Johnson and Carlos
Garcia were asked to come in and perform an audit; however, the
requests were rebuffed and the steward that asked was told that the
Division had to perform an Annual Audit before anyone could
investigate the matter.
Eventually, despite foot dragging by Debbie Lee, an Audit
Committee was appointed and an audit done. The Audit
Committee discovered gross misappropriation of Division funds. For
instance, in FY 2012-13, it identified 158 uses of the credit card at
various restaurants for a total of $7,857.25 in meals, and 54
purchases at grocery stores for a total of $4,798.56 in groceries.
Further, Between April and September of 2013 she made a total of
300 purchases for a total of $20,129.52.
After the Audit Committee completed its report, the Trustees
apparently did a report of their own. The Division requested a copy
of this Trustee Report, but it was never provided to them, even to this
day. Nonetheless, the Trustee Report was provided to Debbie Lee
who was selectively showing it to other council members.
At this point, two Division stewards filed ethics complaints.
These complaints were due to be heard at the next meeting of the
PEF Ethics Committee which are held when the PEF Executive
Board meets (May 13-14, 2014). However, at the Region 8 Retreat
May 3-5,
Continued on page 6.
A
THE NEWSLETTER OF PEF DIVISION 202
THE UNION BUG
ALBANY, NEW YORK
The Union Bug is a publication of Division 202, Public Employees Federation, AFL-
CIO. Division 202 represents Albany area professional, scientific, and technical
employees of the New York State Department of Labor. The Union Bug is published
every four months.
Kevin E. Jones, Esq. - (518) 457-9026
MANAGING EDITOR
Lou Renzi
Associate Editor – (518) 485-7571
The Union Bug has been published continuously since being founded by
Barry Schwartzberg in 1982. The Union Bug is the oldest continuously
published Division newsletter in PEF, and both has been, and remains, its
most controversial.
Articles of interest to the membership of Division 202 are encouraged and
welcome. Letters-to the-Editor and articles submitted for publication should
be submitted via e-mail to Kevin E. Jones.
The editorials and articles contained in The Union Bug do not necessarily
represent opinions and/or positions of the Division 202 Stewards Council,
the Public Employees Federation, PEF’s parent unions, or the AFL-CIO.
The editor reserves the right to reject articles outright, and to edit articles for
length, taste, and correctness. Generally, The Union Bug is not open to
articles or letters from PEF Staff.
Anyone wishing to subscribe to the electronic version of the
Union Bug (delivered via E-mail) should forward a non-state
E-mail address to Union.Bug.Editor@gmail.com.
DIVISION 202 STEWARDS COUNCIL
OFFICERS Room Phone
Kevin E. Jones<>+* Council Leader 509...........457-9026
Frank Kasper* Asst. Council Leader 1006^....... 266-8553
Scott Ray <>~ * Treasurer 567...........457-8002
Diane Rafter Secretary 2006^.......402-0513
STEWARDS
Charles Essepian.................................... 2006^....... 402-0596
Frank Kasper ............. ........................... 1006^....... 266-8553
Seth Hohenstein..................................... 1003^....... 266-8546
Dan LaFerriere....................................... 134B ........457-2606
William Mains ....................................... 2006^.......402-0559
Betty Jo Marra + ................................... 464...........457-1375
Kevin O’Hara ........................................ 358........... 457-4364
Christine Werns ..................................... 261........... 485-6130
^ Troy Atrium
<> PEF Executive Board Member
* Political Action Committee Representative
+ Activities Committee Co-chair
~ Health & Safety Committee Chair

3. The Union Bug
3
2015 DIVISION 202 SCHOLARSHIPS
PEF Division 202 is now accepting applications for its 2015
scholarship for children of active Division members. The following
rules apply:
1) There shall be three scholarships for $750.00 granted to an
eligible child pursuing a post high school education (Winning
does not diminish future eligibility).
2) In order to be eligible, the student must be a child or a stepchild
of a dues paying member of PEF Division 202.
3) The student must either be:
Entering the second year of studies at a regionally accredited
two-year college in the fall, or entering the second, third or
fourth year of studies at a regionally accredited four-year
college in the fall; (Note: Graduate students are not eligible.)
or
Enrolled in full-time study at a "technical" school beyond
high school.
4) Even if both parents/stepparents are Division 202 members, only
one application will be accepted per student.
5) In order to apply, the following information must be submitted to
Kevin E. Jones, on paper (Room 509, Building 12) or by E-mail
(kevinejones_esq@earthlink.net), by the close of business on
Friday, April 3, 2015:
Name of Student
Name of College / Technical School
Student’s year of study at College / School
Name and work address of PEF Division 202 Member
Relationship of Member to Student
6) Method of selection – The name of the winning student shall be
chosen by lottery, from those students who have met the above
stated minimum requirements, at the spring 2015 Division
Membership meeting.
7) As a condition of acceptance of the scholarship, the winning
student must submit an article to be published in a subsequent
edition of The Union Bug, before payment will be made.
The article must be at least 750 words.
Said article must deal with an issue, or issues, of or
related to: labor, unions, employment, health benefits,
pensions, collective bargaining, interest arbitration,
improper practices, or a similarly related topic.
Proof of registration as a full-time student will also be
required.
Vaccines Available – No Copay
Empire Plan-primary enrollees and their covered dependents,
as well as Empire Plan Medicare-Primary enrollees, may
receive the following preventive vaccines without copayment
when administered by a licensed pharmacist at a pharmacy
that participates in CVS Caremark’s national vaccine network.
・ Influenza – flu
・ Herpes Zoster – shingles
・ Pneumococcal – pneumonia
Union Accountability
By: Jane Hallum – past PEF Secretary/Treasurer
he recent reports of a PEF council leader using PEF dues money
for their personal items brought back many memories from the
days that I served as Secretary-Treasurer. While the vast majority of
people are honest, there are always a few that are the exception.
What surprised me most is that the internal controls that have
been established since PEF came into existence somehow failed.
When I took office PEF wasn’t perfect, and I worked diligently for
many years to ensure that PEF received a management letter from
their independent auditors that had absolutely no issues. The
management letter has never been shared with the Executive Board.
Perhaps, now it should.
All the policies that have been put in place, Division budgets,
meeting minutes, receipts and the reporting of these to PEF are
reviewed by staff. When there is a questionable expense, a lack of
reporting, the absence of required Division officers, the staff reports
this to the Secretary-Treasurer. Letters are written. Action is taken.
Payments to the Division are suspended.
During my tenure, I had to take such action. It is not easy. You
may offend a political ally.
You are vilified, lied about, your vehicle damaged. Still, your
actions are governed by the PEF constitution which defines your
role, and the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
One cannot blame past administrations for the failure to do one’s
job today. PEF doesn’t need a policy to have proper receipting.
Read the LMRDA.
A Federal investigator, walked into my office one day and asked
me the question, “Do you consider your job to be a sacred trust?” I
was taken aback. I had to think deeply about this question. It was
attaching moral values to the tasks I did every day. I answered.
“Yes, yes I do”.
A union is accountable to the members for how their dues are
spent. For too long, unions have had a reputation of corruption. A
leader cannot lead, cannot unify, cannot get support unless the
members believe that the leaders are acting in the members’ interest.
Letters to the Editor
Communicator Distorts Coverage
I just received the October issue of the PEF Communicator, which
contains abundant reporting on the Convention which took place.
However, the tone and content of that reporting paints a very
different picture of what happened in Niagara Falls, from what I
heard from several delegates to that Convention. Their message was
uniformly that the Convention was fractious, and that very little
substantive “work”, i.e., resolutions, got done.
If I am to believe that the Communicator fairly and accurately
reports information to its members, then why the disconnect
between what I read, and what I hear in person from the delegates
regarding what took place at the 2014 Convention?
Are we not entitled, as intelligent, thinking adults, to information
that accurately and fairly reflects events and facts?
Jim Close – PEF Retiree
Note: This article was submitted to the Communicator for publication, but
PEF failed to publish it, despite PEF Policy that requires all Letters to the
Editor to be published.
T

4. The Union Bug
4
Reverse, Reverse, Reverse!
By: Kevin E. Jones – E-Board Representative
hat was the theme for the December E-Board meeting. We
spent almost all of the meeting reversing the policies of the
Kent/Garcia administration.
First, there was the argument over whether Kent could reverse
policy on video-recording. As discussed in the article
“Impeachment?” the E-Board had already set PEF policy. Further,
Kent had supported a Convention Resolution to require E-Board
recording, which went nowhere. That was reversal # 1.
Second was Carlos Garcia’s determination that he would end the
use of purchase cards as of January 1, 2015. Garcia based his
determination to do this upon his interpretation of the PEF
Constitution. However, the E-Board is the only entity actually
empowered by the PEF Constitution to interpret the Constitution
and the Board saw it differently.
The Board voted to prohibit the elimination of the purchase card,
for Garcia to institute internal controls to ensure compliance, and for
Garcia to report back to the E-Board at the March meeting.
Reversal #2.
The Board also voted on the Debbie Lee matter, as is described
herein (see: “The Debbie Lee Matter,” “PEF Purchase Card,” and
“Union Accountability”). The E-Board rejected Carlos Garcia’s
effort to write off the issue in exchange for a payment by Ms. Lee of
$5,106.25, and Susan Kent’s hand-picked hearing panel’s decision:
“…the degree of negligence in record keeping for the details of
the funds spent did not meet the legal definition of
misappropriation of funds. The panel recommends Ms. Lee make
PEF whole by restitution of undetailed funds. The panel further
recommends Ms. Lee not have access to any PEF monies until
full restitution to PEF is complete.”
Rather the Board excommunicated Ms. Lee and ordered up
forensic audit. Reversal #3.
Then there were three election appeals. The first one involving
the Tax Department is detailed in the second half of the article
“Impeachment?” Reversal #4.
The next election issue involved steward elections in Division
373. These elections were concluded on April 23, 2014 and only
one steward was elected. However, PEF did not officially inform of
her election. Then, on June 23, 2014, without a request from the
one elected steward, PEF ran a vacancy election to fill the remaining
steward positions. When questioned, PEF is unable to produce a
request for the position to be filled. Allegedly, petitions were only
sent to the three individuals who were eventually named stewards
by PEF. While the petitions were not received until July, in a letter
dated June 30, 2014, PEF informed the division that three new
stewards were elected. Reversal # 5.
The final election appeal involved the chairwoman for the former
Members First Caucus, who sought the position of Council Leader
of her division. That division, unlike most PEF Divisions, elects its
officers in general elections, as opposed to electing Stewards who
then elect their leaders. After getting her petition filled out, she
mistakenly took her petition to the Region 5 office in Binghamton.
The secretary in the Region 5 office was new; she mistakenly
accepted the petition, and sent it in to PEF headquarters (division
election petitions need to be sent to PEF by the candidate).
After a couple of days, she called Kristie Fowler, the Divisions
Elections person at PEF, and asked her if PEF had received the
petition, and PEF had. She then asked if it was accepted, and
Kristie told her that it was.
When asked if the petition was accepted, Kristie immediately
answered yes, because it was long term PEF policy that if a
candidate delivered their petition to a PEF Regional office in error,
because it was PEF’s error in accepting the petition, the petition was
accepted.
Apparently, PEF made new rules because two weeks later, after
the election period closed, and after the petition filing could have
been fixed, PEF rejected the petition and seated the other candidate.
Kristie was then marched out of PEF Headquarters and put on
administrative leave.
The PEF Divisions Committee then overruled PEF and this appeal
followed. The E-Board upheld the Divisions Committee’s decision.
Reversal # 6.
Eventually, Kristie was cleared of the charges and returned to
work, but not in Division Elections where she was the expert, but in
Membership Benefits. Why was she not returned to the job she
knew so well? Clearly, the administration did not want her in that
position. But, why???
In the end we did do one positive thing; we approved PEF’s Staff
Union Contract. Unfortunately, the rest of the time was spent
reversing the administration on prior acts. The meeting went so late,
that hotel staff was standing there waiting for us to adjourn so that
they could start packing up the tables.
Troopers Reject Contract Proposal
Rank-and-file State Troopers voted down a contract offer that
would have run from 2011 through March 2018. It remains one of
just a handful of expired contracts under which state employees
are working. They did this after their supervisors in the State
Troopers PBA said yes to their offer.
At issue were said to be higher health care costs and limits on the
amount of overtime that Troopers can be reimbursed for when
appearing in court. Also, the administration had proposed a 10-hour
workday. Troopers now work 12-hour shifts which many like,
because it provides them with more days off.
The deal would have increased pay for a 10-year veteran from just
under $99,000 to $107,000, or a little over eight percent.
There was also an ''expanded duty'' clause that took into
consideration factors such as the role Troopers played in responding
to Superstorm Sandy and for new responsibilities such as carrying
and — when needed — administering Naloxone, an anti-
narcotic medication.
Geography may have played a role in the vote. Local police in
Suffolk and Nassau counties on Long Island frequently earn more
than State Troopers do.
The Troopers PBA had previously warned the rank-and-file that if
the contract wasn't ratified now, it could take a year or more until a
new deal is finalized.
There has been no indication when or if the state would make
a counteroffer.
To date, there was no talk of layoffs.
PEF members received two-percent raises between 2011 and
2015; CSEA received four-percent between 2011 and 2016..
T

5. The Union Bug
5
Letters to the Editor
Civil Service Not Responsive
PEF Retirees President Jim Carr is usually spot-on, but a
comment by Mr. Carr in the Communicator fell short of his usual
incisive wisdom. In that column, Mr. Carr states, “As retired
employees of New York State, we have easy access to information
about our benefits such as our pension and health insurance.” That
may be true of our pension benefits, due to the fine and attentive
work by our colleagues at the Office of the State Comptroller, but
nothing could be further from the truth with respect to retiree health
benefits administered by the Department of Civil Service.
As a recent retiree, I was more than dismayed to find that the dirty
little secret that awaits retirees is that it is hellaciously difficult, if
not impossible, to get through to a live person at the Department of
Civil Service to ask a question, or resolve an issue, concerning
retiree health insurance. Civil Service also provides on online or
email portal with which to ask questions, good luck. PEF knows
full well that this is, and has been, a problem for years, but there is
scant evidence that it has taken up the fight to improve customer
service to the thousands of PEF retirees who have no choice but to
deal with the Department of Civil Service regarding health
insurance issues.
All of us will leave State service at some point in time; let’s hope
that future retirees will not face the astoundingly bleak prospect of
being on hold on the telephone for nearly an entire day to get one
simple question answered. PEF can, and should, make, improving
health insurance customer service at the Department of Civil Service
its highest priority for the retirees who deserve so much better from
their former employer.
Jim Close – PEF Retiree
Note: This article was submitted to the Communicator for publication, but
PEF failed to publish it, despite PEF Policy that requires all Letters to the
Editor to be published.
Fall Membership Dinner a Great Success
By Frank Kasper – Assistant Council Leader
We were honored to have State Senator Kathy Marchione speak
to the membership at our 2014 fall membership dinner. Almost 100
Capitol District members who came out to hear the speaker and ask
questions about the upcoming year attended the event.
Senator Kathleen A. Marchione was elected in the fall of 2012 to
represent families of the 43rd
Senate District, which includes parts of
Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Washington Counties, and all of
Columbia County.
Senator Marchione’s legislative agenda includes stopping
Albany’s unfunded mandates, reducing taxes and fees on hard-
working families, and cutting job-killing regulations on small
businesses so they can grow and create more jobs. Senator
Marchione promises to focus on delivering high-quality customer
service to her constituents, to keep her promises, and to stand up for
what is right.
In introducing the Senator, Council Leader Kevin Jones pointed
out that Senator Marchione stood with PEF, and the rally to Save
our Services at the State’s institutional facilities. And how the
Senator had been active in trying to stop the closing of Mt.
Macgregor Prison in Saratoga County.
In addressing the membership, the Senator focused upon her
unflagging support for merit and fitness in hiring, protecting the
Civil Service system, and maintaining the State Pension System.
She also expressed her continuing commitment to recognize the
efforts of the dedicated public service professionals, including those
here in Division 202. The Senator applauded our staff for their
ongoing commitment and hard work as public servants. A question
and answer session followed her presentation.
The Senator is the former County Clerk of Saratoga County and is
serving in her 33rd
year of public service, having won her first
election as Halfmoon Town Clerk at age 25 and thereafter serving as
Halfmoon Town Supervisor before being elected as Saratoga
County Clerk in 1997.
Senator Marchione is a four-time recipient of the Annual
Achievement Award for Service to the Association of County
Clerks and in 2008 was selected as Clerk of the Year.
After Senator Marchione addressed the membership, Kevin Jones
lead a brisk discussion of the challenges that we face in light of
decreasing federal monies to support the UI program, and the
actions that DOL management is taking to address this shortfall.
Kevin noted that within the next few days, the State would be giving
notice to fifty hourly workers, but that this would not be enough to
get our spending in line with our funding. Kevin also addressed the
search for a place to host the 2015 DOL picnic, and a date for DOL
day at Saratoga, among other things.
The meeting was also attended by Sue Kent, Carlos Garcia, and
Regional Coordinator Nikki Brate.
The staff of the West Albany Italian Benevolent Association also
served a Lovely dinner. Overall, the event was a big success.
NYC Teachers Get 2% per Year
NYC Teachers approved a nine-year contract deal with the city
that increase teachers’ pay by 18%, simplifies the way teachers are
rated, allows for innovative school schedules, allows parents to meet
more often with educators, allows the city to more easily fire
teachers deemed incompetent or accused of misconduct and
preserves teachers’ existing health-care benefits while saving the
city $1 billion.
Teachers’ pay would grow by 18 percent by 2020 through spread-
out raises and back pay, and they would receive a $1,000 cash bonus
when the deal is ratified
All-in-all, the deal will cost the city $5.5 billion by the time the
last payment is made in 2020.
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio is betting that the path to higher
student achievement is through cooperation with the union, raising
teacher morale, and increasing parent involvement. However, some
of the changes are being exchanged for a loss of extra learning time
for the city’s low-performing students.
The contract also rewards teachers for taking leadership roles or
tough assignments. Under a new “career ladder” compensation
system, high-performing teachers can earn yearly bonuses of $7,500
or $20,000 for allowing colleagues to observe their work or sharing
best practices. Also, teachers who work at certain low-income areas
will be paid a $5,000 bonus.
By rejecting the Governor’s first contract proposal in 2011, PEF
got a four-year contract with three zeros, rather than the five-
year/three-zero contracts that the other unions got. PEF bet that the
economic circumstances in 2015 would be far better than they were
in 2011. Four years later, the State has a five billion dollar surplus.
We should be in the catbird seat, and we would be, if we hadn’t spit
in the Governor’s eye by endorsing Teachout.

6. The Union Bug
6
Debbie Lee – Continued from page 1.
2014, Susan Kent asked Committee Chair Don Morgenstern to
delay hearing the Debbie Lee matter until the August Board
meeting.
Morgenstern denied that request, and the Ethics Committee found
Ms. Lee Guilty.
At the August E-Board meeting, a group was empaneled to hear
the case and a date for the hearing was set for November 5, 2014.
Then, after being requested to come in and perform an audit, and
after saying that he would after the Annual Audit was performed,
and after the Annual Audit was completed in February, on October
21, 2014, a mere two weeks before the hearing, without going down
to the facility to conduct his audit, Garcia released an audit that
found only $5,106.25 “in charges that [were] still unclear based
upon the information submitted.”
The hearing panel, hand-picked by Kent, in a short, poorly-
worded decision, essentially found no violation.
At the next Executive Board meeting, Division Stewards showed
up with statements from 140 different members saying that they had
never seen Debbie Lee bring any food or other such purchases into
the facility.
Among other things, the Executive Board ordered that a forensic
Audit be performed. President Kent offered up a free forensic audit
done by PEF Parent, AFT. Some questioned whether it was wise to
use AFT, but many seemed to be captivated by the fact that it was
offered for free.
Meanwhile, the statute of limitations on embezzlement has
expired.
Impeachment? – Continued from page 1.
Board meeting was the setting of E-Board constituencies for the
Tax Department at the 2014 PEF Convention.
Constituency meetings were all set by the E-Board for 7pm on
Monday on the Convention. The Tax Department had its meeting,
passed a proposal, everyone signed the sheet, and it was turned in.
On Wednesday morning, just prior to the end of the Convention,
President Kent directed Tax Department delegates to another
meeting with no explanation. This meeting was chaired by PEF VP
Barb Ulmer, not the Labor/Management Chair, as is normal. Some
members were barred from the room; others could not attend
because they did not get timely notice.
This gathering passed a different proposal. This new proposal put
two of the administration’s regular critics into the same
constituency.
At the December E-Board meeting, the Board voted to overturn
the Tax Department’s revised constituency plan.
Then, on January 19th
, President Kent, backed by a legal opinion
from PEF’s Counsel which Kent refused to release, announced that
she would ignore the E-Board decision and use the revised
constituency. She claimed that she did so because doing otherwise
would, “potentially expose PEF to liability under state and federal
law.”
Of course, liability is a two-edged sword. No matter which side
you take, you can always get sued, and this is not the type of issue
that would likely expose PEF to any real liability, except the cost of
defending the suit.
Further, a similar occurrence happened under the Benson
administration. The the revised constituency plan was found to be
out of order and the issue went away.
Calls for impeachment immediately arose, but not in the shadows,
but in reply-to-all e-mails on the PEF e-mail system. Even
President Kent’s supporters arose to implore her to change her mind.
We now await her answer or the next E-Board meeting to see
what’s next.
In order to impeach an officer, the E-Board would need a 60%
vote to hear the issue, a two-thirds vote to find her guilty, and then a
majority of the members voting under the auspices of AAA to
remove her from office.
I cannot say that this is likely, but that it is happening at all is
pretty amazing.
The PEF Purchase Card – Continued from page 1.
to find an alternative for PEF divisions and regions having trouble
with merchants accepting their local checks.
Bank of America offered the purchase card, which worked like a
credit card. To ensure good internal control and to remove
temptations, the bank offered merchant lockout codes that would
prohibit charges to certain categories of merchandise.
Furthermore, to reduce the flow of required paperwork to PEF’s
Finance office, the regions and divisions were told they no longer
had to submit receipts to PEF unless requested. The bank
statements received would detail the purchases; if not the
documentation would be sent to PEF. However, the receipts were to
be maintained locally for their yearly audit.
This information was included in the training program I helped
write. Since I assisted in developing the training I didn’t attend any
sessions. I have spoken to people who were treasurers. They
remember being told they were to keep receipts locally; they just did
not recall for how long.
At the time of the implementation of this program I was the
Region 8 Treasurer. Although I had a purchase card I never used it.
The Region 8 coordinator would conduct the transactions and I
would access the on-line approval system and approve the
purchases. If I was unsure of the transaction’s purpose, I would
review the documentation. On a random basis I would review
selected transactions and ask for the receipts to ensure that the
regional coordinator was correctly following procedures.
The real question to be answered is how did misspending by Ms.
Lee occur. Why did neither Garcia nor the Trustees follow up on
the allegations from the Division’s Asst. Council Leader, Treasurer,
and other stewards? Why was it incumbent upon individual
members of the Division to take away her purchase card?
In my 35 year career chasing fraudsters for DOL, I have found a
major cause of financial irregularities to center around internal
controls; either there was a lack of controls or individuals ignored
the controls.
The control procedures existed at PEF as we designed them.
Apparently someone made the decision to ignore them. We need to
know why the controls were overridden, how much was actually
misspent, and are there other divisions or regions where similar
circumstances exist? This is the responsibility of the current
Secretary/Treasurer and his alone. We deserve answers.

7. The Union Bug
7
Opinion
Convention Report
by: Lou Renzi – Convention Delegate
ou elected me to represent you at the 2014 PEF Convention,
held September 28th
through October 1st
in Niagara Falls. I
make this report, which reflects only my own opinion, based upon
my observations, most of them of the current PEF administration.
Last year, I left the convention so upset and depressed by what I
had witnessed that I couldn’t bring myself to write an article about
it. Mom had always said that if I cannot be nice, say nothing. But I
guess I just wasn’t angry enough then. I am now. And I’m going to
tell you what I did, and what I really think. (Sorry, Mom).
2013 was my first PEF Convention – what an eye-opener it was
for me! I watched PEF President Susan Kent behave poorly when
did not get her way during the course of three days of plenary
sessions. I have never seen an adult person in public actually grit
her teeth, stare widely and snarl at the assembled masses that SHE
was right, as she did on several occasions. This despite what I
thought was obvious to all, that she was “not exactly right”. Was
there really a quorum, did the vote get counted correctly, are this or
that delegate’s comments “out of order” because Ms. Kent
disagrees, etc?
I recall Mom doing that “teeth and eyes” thing a few times in our
kitchen when I misbehaved badly, but she was total class outside the
privacy of home.
I walked away thinking, “is this the way things get done in a
54,000 member, $36 million organization?” I was shocked. I also
vowed never to return.
However, I had not counted on Mr. Jones’ tenacity. So, back I
went for another dose PEF Convention a la Kent/Garcia, thank you
very much. Today, I vow that I’m going back if you let me. We
must stand vigilant, if we value our employment, our contract, and
our union.
Unfortunately, I must report that very little business of benefit to
the rank and file membership was accomplished, since the
administration managed to spend most of the allotted time in the
plenary sessions presenting their chosen people to make campaign
speeches (including one from a candidate who has already lost her
quest for the governor’s mansion, and another who has virtually no
chance of losing his comptroller’s seat), arguing parliamentary
procedure ad nauseum over the order of business, having officers
and trustees literally read their written reports (which we had copies
of in hand) from the dais, and so forth – to the point where it
became clear to me that the leadership had no intention of letting the
almost-800 delegates bring our real business to the floor for debate
and a vote, and that this Convention had little to do with moving
forward this union’s agenda. It’s not really a democracy when all
you get are speeches and we never substantively get to the business
of the union.
First, be advised that in its wisdom, the union has “rearranged”
the number of employees in Region 8, Division 202 (that is
comprised of DOL members here in Albany and the surrounding
nine counties) with the sole purpose of depriving us of one of our
two Executive Board seats. Scott Ray currently represents all UI
positions in Region 8 and Kevin Jones represents the rest of the
members.
“E-board” seats = votes = a say in PEF policy, funding, political
endorsements, input on contract negotiations, and so on. It’s
important to have as much clout on the Executive Board as possible.
For reference, there are about 130 Executive Board seats statewide.
Each seat represents approximately 500 members. Because of the
removal of all the IT positions from DOL, Division 202 is down to
some 810 members. Under the new arrangement, our DOL
colleagues in Troy will be in a different constituency that includes
all of Region 5 (Binghamton) and Region 7 (Utica). PEF is a $36
million dollar operation, and we should not have our input
diminished.
Division 202 members only filled eight out of twenty delegate
seats available to be filled to attend this convention, so we could not
overcome the other Region’s voting advantage to stop this from
happening, and consequently, we now have lost that seat. In 2015,
we will only have one; assuming Kevin runs again and wins, he will
retain that Division 202 seat.
We did consider two of the 36 resolutions that were proposed, and
passed one minor constitutional amendment that allows for a person
on leave who returns to work to be automatically reinstated into PEF
without having to re-apply. Not earth-shaking, but a good thing, I
thought, and voted in favor.
The tragedy for me was that we never got to one of the most
important proposed constitutional amendments: create controls that
will firmly establish and require the independence of our three PEF
Trustees. Many would say that the present Trustees function very
much like unelected officers of the union, rather than like the
independent overseers they are supposed to be. They travel to union
meetings and conferences with our affiliated national unions, (so
far) seem to have failed to make independent inquiry into the
Debbie Lee embezzlement case, and generally give the impression
that they are answering to the Administration, rather than the
membership.
This description is not intended to reflect badly on the individual
Trustees themselves, but rather, on the Administration that either
invites or requires – and pays expenses for - them to do things that
gives to many of us the “appearance of impropriety” that underpins
many important ethical standards. This is not good for our union, or
for us as individual dues-payers. NO ONE IS REALLY
WATCHING THE STORE.
So what did Kent/Garcia do this year? They made damned sure
we never got that one to the floor. If we had, surely Susan would
have had her power reined in. Can’t be having that, now, can we?
We passed one resolution that directs PEF to open a dialogue with
the legislature to address the issue of a state employee’s family not
having any rights to his/her pension where the employee dies after
being vested in the pension but without having signed retirement
papers. We saw this very recently here in Bldg #12 with a
colleague who passed away suddenly in his late 50’s and left a
spouse who will receive only the death benefit and will never see a
dime of his pension after his 36+ years of service.
If one does the math, assuming she lives to her statistical life
expectancy, that adds up to a huge financial loss to her. There are
serious legal impediments to making changes to the civil service
pension rules, and it is far from certain that this ‘problem’ can be
fixed, or should be, depending on your opinion - but the body of
delegates asked the union to try, and to start the conversation with
the legislature. This resolution passed with a very high percentage
of votes. I voted in favor.
Continued on page 8, column 2.
Y

8. The Union Bug
8
(Opinion)
From the Other Side:
The Madness of PEF’s 2014 Endorsements
by: Lou Renzi – Division 202 Steward
hate to belabor the obvious, so I am not going to bother
commenting in detail on the Kent/Garcia Administration’s ill-
conceived decision to endorse Ms. Teachout for the primary
election, or the dues of tens of thousands of members’ spent on this
campaign effort.
What do you think, dear reader? Will Ms. Teachout’s positive
showing upstate have an equally positive effect upon our upcoming
contract negotiations, as President Susan Kent so vehemently wants
you to believe? Will Mr. Cuomo be subdued and mollified into
giving us a better contract than we have?
Or, has PEF done nothing but poke the proverbial bear in the eye,
and virtually guaranteed a dismal result for the rank and file?
I’ll let you be the judge of that one. You already know where I
stand.
On the other hand, I do want to call to your attention the obvious
fact that this union simply cannot bring itself to endorse anyone but
a Democrat in an open seat, regardless of the realities or the
equities, unless a Republican candidate is also endorsed by the
Working Families Party or the Independence Party, or both. Out of
hundreds of federal and state endorsements, the ONLY exception to
that truth was Clifford W. Crouch in the 122nd
Assembly District,
who ran on the Republican line with apparently no cross-
endorsements. I would like someone to tell me how and why that
one got by PEF.
Are Mr. Crouch’s Republican credentials so questionable due to
his voting record? Maybe. Or what is it that makes him acceptable
to the very left-leaning liberals running this union? Do you care
about these things? I do.
Extremes from either side are harmful to labor, to our union, to
our state and our country. So why would anyone want to elect those
who are extreme? Most of us do not. Just ask us. But this union
seems to support that extreme left bunch repeatedly, despite the
lessons of the past.
Remember Mario Cuomo? George Pataki? Would you have
believed it? It took a moderate Republican to undo the damage to
the state workforce wrought by a Democrat governor, and the father
of our current oppressor.
On the federal side, every single endorsement went to a
Democrat. What does that say about PEF’s vision for those union
members who live upstate, or who are not flaming liberals? (Yes,
there are many of us, actually).
For example, Rep. Chris Gibson has represented the 19th
Congressional District with honor and distinction for two years now.
He is a decorated military veteran, enormously popular with his
constituents on both sides of the aisle and, by all accounts, has done
a very good job. He is not anti-union or anti-labor, far from it.* Yet
PEF endorsed his Democrat opponent, a young internet
“gazillionaire” who arrived upstate from the city just in time to
purchase a house and claim “residency” in the district.
He has no ties to the area, no experience in government, and no
reason to be here – except that he wanted to buy a seat in Congress.
But he is extremely liberal, which is apparently a Kent requirement
and - judging by his campaign ads - tried to pretend to the voters
that he is not, really.
Hmmmm. Haven’t we seen this dance before??? How do you
like being played for fools again?
Way to go, PEF. You’re clearly for sale to the highest and most
liberal bidder, regardless of what may be best for your members.
______________________.
* Full disclosure: I do not live in Mr. Gibson’s district, but I
support him because I strongly believe he has earned it.
Renzi – Convention Report – continued…
As far as I am concerned, that is the only accomplishment of the
entire 4 days I spent away from my family, a most disappointing
result for the members.
As to the location, and having heard some comments about it just
being a “party”: first, that’s not why I went (remember my
comments about last year?), and second, being a non-smoker I much
disliked having to live in a hotel attached to the Seneca’s casino,
where cigarettes burn 24/7 and the smoke permeates the whole
place. They have air filtration units that help a lot, but not enough.
Not a good choice of venue, in my opinion, but one made several
years ago and probably before Ms. Kent took office. Fortunately,
that location is not on the radar in the foreseeable future. So do not
be afraid to join us next year in Syracuse.
One take-away here is: GET INVOLVED. We had 12 EMPTY
SEATS for Div. 202 delegates and those votes would have helped.
We are delegates-at-large, representing all of Division 202, not just
the office you work in. If you want to join us, or know of any
other PEF member in the building who would like to serve next
year, please let us know.
I regret that this report could not be more uplifting.
We have our work cut out for us in this next year with a new
contract to negotiate and triennial elections to endure. I remain
determined to help make PEF a better, more accountable, and more
responsible, professional union.
Thank you for your continued confidence in me as your delegate
and steward. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions
you may have.
We’re Number One!
In 1986, approximately twenty-nine percent of the workforce in
the Capital District metropolitan statistical area (MSA) were union
members. At that same time, Flint, Michigan had a 41.5 percent
union members. That was Number one in the country at that time.
Union membership in the Capital District MSA has now risen to
39 percent. That moves Albany from the 25th
MSA in terms of
union membership to number one in the country. Flint, Michigan,
the former number one MSA is now 32nd
with 21 percent of its
workers being union members.
Total union membership has declined nationwide, going from
17.5% to 11.3% of the workforce.
So why is Albany number one? More than 80 percent of the
region's public sector workers are unionized.
Further, the largest unions in the area are all public sector unions:
i.e. PEF, CSEA, and NYSUT.
I

9. The Union Bug
9
Corinne Fiacco
Commissioner’s Award for Excellence Awardee
By: Michael P. Mihalko – Troy LSR
EF member Corinne Ortiz Fiacco was hired to work in
Department’s Telephone Claims Center (TCC) in June 1998 as a
Labor Service Representative (LSR). In September of 2001, she
was promoted to a Supervising LSR. Intake Director Mariangela
Viglucci, said she has known Corinne since 2000 and that Corinne
“has always been a hard worker who gets the job done, and has
always shown dedication to NYSDOL.”
In January of 2007 Corinne began working in the Operations
Support Unit after having returned from maternity leave. While
working in Operations Support, Corinne created the Troy TCC
internal web pages for ES Clerks’, LSRs’, and Intake Supervisors’
Operations Support, and is currently working on an Adjudication
Supervisor webpage. Corinne was also instrumental in the creation
of the Non-Monetary Determinations (NMD) Generator and Wrap
Up Database (the “Database”).
The Troy TCC internal web pages were created to make the LSR
and ES Clerk jobs smoother by consolidating frequently used
resources and putting them at staffs’ fingertips (basically a click
away). The premise behind making everything so easily accessible
was to save time and resources and reduce time spent on
researching, thus decreasing turn-around time.
Corinne got the idea of creating these internal websites in 2008
when our Intake Director wanted to create an Intake Reference
Material Folder for ES Clerks to access and use as a reference
tool. She then thought, why not create a more efficient and easier
user interface (a webpage) for staff to access the resources housed in
the Intake Reference Material Folder and on the DOL Intranet?
Our Director at the time loved the idea, and allowed Corinne to
experiment by creating the LSR web page. The LSR web page was
a big hit. It increased efficiency in how staff accessed necessary
everyday resources and tools. It also became a valuable training
tool. Corinne was then asked to create an ES Clerk webpage along
with the assistance of an Intake workgroup to determine what tools
and resources they would need and/or want on there. As a result of
the success of the web pages, Corinne is currently working on an
Adjudication Supervisor webpage with the help of an Adjudication
Supervisor workgroup.
Corinne maintains all the web pages with Alex Bassallo as her
primary backup. She makes sure all procedures and links are
current and updated. Tools created by staff that can help other staff
members are often added. Corinne states that she “…receives some
of the best ideas and suggestions from Troy TCC staff. It is with
their input and suggestions that the web pages have grown to be
such wonderful resources!”
According to Corinne, the initial premise behind the development
of the NMD Generator program was to reduce the time it takes
LRSs to write their determinations. She had the idea to create this
tool many years ago; however, she did not know how to implement
it. When Chris Jenks transferred from Glendale to Troy and became
her Manager, Corinne approached him and pitched the idea to him,
knowing how tech savvy he was. He immediately thought it could
be done utilizing Access and they began working on it in 2013.
As they worked on developing the NMD Generator, they found
that it could yield many more benefits. Not only does it help LSRs
more speedily write their determinations, but it can reduce errors as
well. For example using the NMD Generator eliminates the
wraparound error produced by the current NMD system, as well as
providing a spell check function. With the implementation of UI
Modernization they were also able to include the section of the law
in the determination, reducing the need for LSRs to have to look it
up and insert it manually, and giving them more space in the
‘reason’ portion of the decision to write their initial determinations.
Corinne and Chris relied heavily on suggestions and assistance
from co-workers Brian Sugrue and Carley Deamer who were part of
the UI Modernization NMD workgroup. The NMD Generator also
provides a Spanish translation for the determinations. Staff can then
modify the wording accordingly, and copy and paste it into the
Spanish determination notice. This greatly reduced the time they
needed to spend translating their determinations. The NMD
Generator is also beneficial to ASO and reduces their need for
revising determinations. Corinne and Chris are continually adding
enhancements to improve its functionality. The latest revisions have
incorporated new information concerning UI Reform.
The Wrap Up Database was created for Intake in 2014, and came
as a result of a request from our Intake Director to create a tool
which could collect statistical information as to the types of calls
that Intake receives. It was collaboration between Corinne, Chris
Jenks, Brian Sugrue and Daniel Montoya. The end result was even
better than they had hoped.
Based on the data they were able to obtain from call information,
the Troy TCC is better able to identify system problems, as well as
areas where claimants may be having difficulty, areas that need
improvement, as well as generate reports indicating the type of
inquiries received in a given time period. The database also
incorporates a checklist for use when taking original claims to
ensure staff are obtaining all the necessary information.
During Database creation, they discovered that they were also
able to integrate a case management tool for ES Clerks in the
Database. Using the Wrap Up Database, ES Clerks can now flag
cases in which follow up work is required and make notes as to what
the follow up required is. The cases can then be checked off as they
are completed. The case management portion of the database also
allows Supervisors to be able to see what pending cases need follow
up when staff is absent in order to follow through and/or reassign.
This database is currently being piloted in Troy with the hope that it
can be expanded in the near future.
Through hard work, dedication, and some very good ideas, Corinne
has not only made a difference in the NYS Department of Labor, but
make a difference for every person who will file for NYS
unemployment benefits and his/.her employer.
Other NYC Contracts Settle
Probation officers, procurement analysts, associate fingerprint
technicians, and forensic mortuary technicians are among the city
workers whose unions settled contracts with the de Blasio
administration.
These contracts with SEIU Local 300 and the United Probation
Officers Association follow the pattern set by the agreement Mayor
Bill de Blasio hashed out with the United Federation of Teachers.
Both contracts run seven years and four months.
Both unions will receive salary increases totaling 11.52% over the
course of their contracts, or 1.6% per year.
P

10. The Union Bug
10
Teacher Tenure
By: Shirpa Taneja – 2014 Scholarship Winner
eacher tenure is a policy first put into place in the state of
Massachusetts during 1886. Tenure was created to protect
teachers and to prevent them from being fired without a justifiable
reason. Before the tenure began, many teachers were fired for
reasons not relating to their actual job. While the original intent of
tenure was to provide academic freedom to professors and teachers,
it has now most often become a form of job security.
Recently, the teacher tenure policy has become very controversial
for a number of reasons. In public schools within every state of our
country, teachers can receive tenure after working anywhere from
one to seven years. As of right now, more than 2.3 million teachers
have tenure.
Many arguments have formed, both for and against teacher
tenure. Those in favor of teacher tenure say that tenure is a form of
job protection. It prevents teachers from losing their jobs for
reasons unrelated to their work. In the past, teachers have been fired
for getting married, becoming pregnant, staying out too late, and
even wearing pants! More currently, teacher tenure protects
teachers from getting fired for personal or political reasons as well.
While tenure does protect teachers from unjustifiable termination,
many people counter that quality of instruction has decreased as a
consequence of tenure. They argue that many teachers work a lot
less diligently because they know that, once they receive tenure, it is
unlikely that they will lose their jobs. While everyone agrees that
teachers should constantly be working to improve their teaching
abilities, that has not always been the case in recent years.
As teachers work more years, their pay often increases along with
their seniority. Thus, hiring newer, less experienced, teachers can
be cheaper, and that has served as a motivation for schools to fire
older teachers. This practice is prohibited by tenure.
However, the motivation to find a way to fire older teachers has
increased in recent years, as schools under-go major budget cuts,
especially if it is perceived that there are older teachers that are not
providing quality instruction. However, doing such can be close to
impossible under teacher tenure protections.
Removing a teacher that has tenure can take up to an entire year
or more because of the legal issues that involved. In some cities, it
can even cost as much as $250,000 to remove a teacher from a
school. Accordingly, many schools choose not to dismiss
underperforming teachers because of the length and cost of this
process. This negatively affects students who should be learning
from highly performing and experienced teachers.
One benefit of teacher tenure is that it allows teachers to have the
academic freedom to teach topics outside of the mandated
curriculum. Because some important concepts and books may not
be encouraged under the State curriculum, many teachers choose to
teach these concepts and use these books anyway, because they
positively affect the students learning and help them to achieve the
best possible education.
Tenure also allows teachers to be innovative and creative in their
teaching. If teachers have tenure, they are more likely to try out
new lesson plans and fully cater to their students. Without tenure,
most teachers are focused on scores and teaching directly to the
standardized tests in order to secure their jobs for the coming
year(s).
Many view tenure as a reward that teachers deserve after having
worked hard for a certain number of years. However, teachers are
not awarded tenure unless principals and other administrators in the
school have reviewed their work and approved them for tenure.
Nonetheless, many states award teacher tenure after only three
years. Many opponents to the teacher tenure argue that three years
is simply not enough time to determine a teacher’s worth.
Teacher tenure can encourage administrators to be much more
careful when hiring new teachers. Administrators will not want to
hire an underperforming teacher, and they will be more careful since
they know it is extremely difficult to dismiss a tenured teacher.
Unfortunately, having teacher tenure allows schools to have the
“last hired, first fired” policy. This means that the newer teachers
will be the first ones to be fired even though they may be much
higher quality teachers who are better performing. In this situation,
the students are again the ones who suffer because of these
dismissals.
Reformers believe that teachers should be given tenure based on
their performance, rather than the length of time they have been
teaching. They also believe that tenured teachers should still be able
to be dismissed based on their effectiveness in the classroom. This
effectiveness would be judged based on students’ test scores and
achievement. Lengthening the time a teacher must put in before
receiving tenure and enacting stricter teacher evaluations seem to be
common issues across the country. Because of this, many states are
reforming and even eliminating their tenure system.
Budget Includes Salary Increase for M/C
The Governor’s Executive Budget contains a two percent general
salary increase to be paid in April 2015 and advances legislation to
gradually increase M/C salaries over the next four fiscal years to
provide for previously authorized increases that were withheld, and
to reach parity with unionized employees. Cumulatively, these
increases will total 7.18 percent over and above the two percent
increase in April 2015.
According to the proposed restoration schedule – MC employees
will have had wages delayed for nearly 10 years from the time
during which they were earned.”
Deficit Reduction Program payments will begin to be repaid in
April 2015.
Letters to the Editor
Income Inequality: The Real Story
I found the video presentation by PEF Organizing Director Joel
LeFevre on income inequality much more informative and powerful.
Also, the average income (i.e. stagnation) and worker productivity
(increases) graphed together since the 1970s show how much
American workers have been screwed.
Doug Nevel -- PEF Division 169 ENCON
2015 Retirement Contributions
Contribution limits for employees participating in 401(k), 403(b),
and most 457 plans will rise to $18,000 from $17,500. Employees
aged 50 and over will be able to contribute an additional $6,000, up
from the current $5,500 limit.
Limits on contributions to individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
remain unchanged because the statutory thresholds that trigger cost-
of-living adjustments were not met.
T

11. The Union Bug
11
Kim Bodnar - Recipient
2014 Commissioners Award for Merit
By: Michael Mihalko – Troy LSR
im Bodnar started working for the New York State Department
of Labor as a Grade 6 Stenographer back in 1985 – almost 30
years ago.
She met Lorraine Balli in the 1990’s, when they were both ASRs -
- now known as Senior Employment Services Clerks (Sr. ES
Clerks). Lorraine said that back then, Kim always kept a can of hair
spray at her desk because the telephone headsets messed up her hair.
She also went on to say that Kim has always been a very kind,
considerate, and a calm person.
Kim was quickly promoted to a Principal Clerk. Then in 2008,
she was promoted to a Supervising Labor Services Representative
(SLSR) position in the Queensbury DEWS office, and in 2009, she
came back to the Troy Telephone Claims Center (TCC). Currently
she supervises Principal and Sr. ES Clerks in the TCC’s Intake
Section.
Outside of work, Kim is just as busy giving back to the
community. She became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
and volunteers her services for both the General Schuyler
Emergency Squad and the Easton Greenwich Rescue Squad. She is
also a caregiver with Mary’s Haven -- which is a home for the
dying, and volunteers at the reception desk for Wilton Medical Arts
-- which is part of Saratoga Hospital. Kim encourages others to get
involved and volunteer in their community, and was just elected to
the General Emergency Squad Board of Directors.
Kim is married to Paul Bodnar and has a son and grandchildren,
whom she enjoys spending time with. When asked where she finds
the time to do so much, never thinking of herself, she says that she
treats people the way she would want them to treat member of her
family.
Congratulations to Kim on her wonderful achievement!
PAC Pushes Legislative Agenda
By: Frank Kasper – Division PAC Representative
n February 3, 2015 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Nikki Brate, Herb
Hennings, and Mike Blue will host a Legislative Reception in
the Albany Room on the Concourse at the Empire State Plaza. This
event should be a great opportunity for our state legislators to meet
with some of our members who are politically active, to become
more familiar with the faces behind our political action campaigns,
and to hear what we stand for in PEF Region 8.
At our regular meetings, our members are briefed on legislative
bills and actions that we are supporting in the 2015 legislative
session.
Also, the Region 8 Political Action Committee (PAC) has
recently re-introduced the PAC-PAL program. This program is
designed to help keep an open door with our elected officials and
make face-to-face visits when bills are currently on the floor, or are
otherwise in progress, and is a tool that introduces our members and
our legislative agenda to our elected officials using actual members
from their respective jurisdictions.
Such meetings assist PEF’s statewide legislative efforts, and some
national efforts, by building support for legislation that benefits PEF
members. It also serves to let the elected officials know that we are
a strong group with many active involved members.
The efforts of the Region 8 PAC are also seen each election
season when we set up phone banks at the local office and do
community events such as door to door efforts to get out the vote in
support of candidates that agree with our local and statewide
political agendas.
These volunteer efforts are made after extensive research is done
by the PAC, by sending out questionnaires to each potential
candidate, and having then come in and be invited to our question
and answer sessions.
All of our meetings are open to the general membership, and we
love volunteers!
The Troy Times
By: Frank Kasper – Assistant Council Leader
The upcoming year will be a time of many changes.
In 2004, we saw another director retire. Blanca Ramos left us in
May 2014 after a very long and dedicated career with the
Department of Labor. No replacement has been named yet.
We have also seen several changes and adjustments in the UI laws
that impact on our work.
There have been several staff reductions and changes that have
resulted in less staff, and as always, we need to do more with less.
We have seen a drop in health and safety incidents being reported.
A positive note is the garage has had less theft reported, better
lighting, and we have security patrols for our safety and for any
workers who work later hours, or go to their cars when it is dark.
Sadly, we lost all of our hourly staff due to reductions in
unemployment rates and the federal funding tied to it. When the
economy does well … you know the rest.
We have also seen our share of empty desks due to retirements.
This year we will probably see more empty desks, since, as we all
know, the state workforce is aging, and many are ready to retire.
DOL is not currently filling any positions that are lost to transfers or
retirement.
The rumor that the Troy TCC is closing IS NOT TRUE. Also for
those of you who got a memo about leaving PEF for M/C that has
not happened either.
We did close a small section upstairs that was in the intake
division, but that has not stopped the continued need for all of our
work here. our lease at the Atrium runs for another five years.
Your union was involved in many events that help you.
Remember your representatives are always here for you.
The annual picnic is planned and staffed by the unions, the day at
the races, the bus trips, and ball games we sponsor, the two annual
membership meetings, the regional meetings, the local division
meetings, and any issues with individual disciplinary actions,
monitoring of your rights, and our contract are all part of what we
do. We also worked on the bowl-a-thon. Please get involved in the
blood drive and Toys-for-Tots.
There are other things we do; this is just some of what we do as
your representatives.
A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is
open dialogue and transparency.
Peter Fenn
K
O

12. The Union Bug
12
Convention Ignominy
By: Kevin E. Jones – Convention Delegate
have been attending PEF Conventions since 1987, in that time I
have seen the good and the bad, but nothing could have prepared
me for the 2014 PEF Convention.
President Kent’s speech ran on for an hour and twenty minutes --
almost as long as we had for resolutions in total. Neither she, nor
Secretary Treasurer Garcia, got any real questioning on their
speeches, which were for the most part re-election speeches.
The Trustees received a few questions, however, given the fact
that in three conventions they have not reported out on one of one
questionable fiscal matter, I guess that some questioning was due.
Wayne Bayer, PEF VP for political action, was up there wasting
time on the PAC report just as he has admitted to doing at E-Board.
It was for that reason that we permanently amended the E-Board
agenda to put member items (i.e. E-Board’s versions of resolutions)
before committee reports.
Perhaps that is what we need to do here. We seem to get through
a lot more issues of substance when resolutions/member items are
prioritized.
Unfortunately, most convention delegates are not aware of the
delaying tactics which were being used to make the Convention feel
busy, while avoiding dealing with matters not brought forward by
the administration itself.
Accordingly, I heard a number of complaints about how little was
done at this convention, which were frustratingly misdirected at
those who attempted to keep Convention actions in concert with
Robert’s Rules of Order.
Finally, once we got to resolutions – i.e. the people’s business,
there was only an hour and a half left on the last day of this four day
event.
President Kent ruled that a motion by Mike Blue to take the first
resolution in each group, meant that first numbered resolution,
rather than the first prioritized resolution in each group, even though
it was clear that she knew the intention of the maker. It took almost
a half hour to straighten this misinterpretation out with debates and
amendments.
Later, President Kent allowed debate on a matter which was
clearly unconstitutional, rather than immediately ruling it out of
order as she and every other PEF President has done during PEF’s
36-year history, indicating that she preferred to hear some debate on
the issue before ruling.
I've been attending conventions since 1987, and I have never seen
a convention like this before. In the past I have been at the mic
regularly to discuss issues. At this convention there were virtually
no issues to discuss.
I recall going to PEF Conventions were over 100 resolutions were
presented and we got to most of them. This convention we
discussed four!
A number of these resolutions were submitted by either myself or
my brother. We got to none of them.
All in all, the Convention cost close to a million dollars to put on,
not to mention the value of the EOL given to us by the State in our
State Contract.
Bread and Circuses for the masses, that‘s what this was, Bread
and Circuses..
Steward Vacancy Elections
By: Kevin E. Jones – Council Leader
hortly Division 202 members will be receiving Steward Election
petitions in the mail. I know it seems like you just went through
his last year, and you are right, we did. These elections will be to fill
steward vacancies. A member needs to obtain the signature of five
other Division 202 members and submit the petition in advance of
the deadline. If a member signs two petitions, the petition which is
received first by PEF will be the signature which is counted. There
are 5 positions available, if no more than 5 petitions are received, all
of the candidates will be seated without need of an election. The
Duties of a steward include, but are not limited to:
A. Completing as soon as possible after his/her initial election,
the Steward Training Certification Program as prescribed by
PEF;
B. Communicating union news and policy to the membership at
the site he/she represents and all information that comes to
him/her from the union, and conveying to the PEF leadership
the concern, new developments and problems of the
membership or the Division;
C. Acting as the first-line liaison between management, the
union leadership and membership for the resolution of
problems and the handling of grievances;
D. Being able to prepare a meeting agenda, conduct an effective
meeting following that agenda; to familiarize himself/herself
with PEF rules of parliamentary procedure and Robert’s
Rules of Order and be able to comply with the same;
E. Making himself/herself knowledgeable with the respective
PEF collective bargaining agreement(s), the steward manuals,
departmental/agency procedures and policies as well as the
Civil Service Law, if applicable;
F. Posting all information he/she receives from the union; and
making every effort to fully understand the contents in order
to be prepared for questions from the membership;
G. Recruiting new members and seeing that new employees are
given the proper orientation to both their work and their
union. This orientation should encourage new employees to
get involved in union activities;
H. Interact knowledgeably and appropriately with management
and his/her peers, keeping in mind that his/her physical
appearance, promptness and courtesy help to make the task
less of a challenge;
I. Representing his/her constituency at divisional, regional and
meetings of organized labor in the community;
J. Developing personal skills and competencies to provide
valuable contributions and sincere and dedicated service to
the union and his/her constituents, demonstrating at all times
the professional attitude this union exemplifies;
K. Conducting his/her PEF activities with honesty and integrity.
EAP Coordinator Appointed
Dave Buda from our Troy office has been appointed DOL’s
Capital District Employee Assistance Coordinator. His hours will
be:
Wednesday afternoon -- Conference Room C, Troy TCC
Thursday -- all day -- Building 12
Friday -- all day -- Building 12
I S