Ken Brynien

As the chairman of the Statewide Political Action Committee, my goal has been to increase PEF's level of political activity and clout. My efforts have been based on the understanding that our members are our greatest asset. I have worked over the past year to build PEF's grassroots political organization. This has been accomplished in a number of ways. Over two hundred of our political activists received formal training, and we are actively working to get our political activists in campaigns that will be most beneficial to our members and PEF. We have strived to develop and maintain close relationships with legislative and congressional members by having our political action liaisons (PALs) contact their senator, assemblyperson or congressional representative at least once a month during the 1998 legislative session. We strongly encouraged them to lobby legislative members on all of PEF's issues, and several letter-writing campaigns were conducted regarding issues in OMH, OMRDD, DOL and DOT.

I was responsible for coordinating several major events that were held by PEF alone, or in conjunction with other unions. These events included a reception for legislative leaders in March, a legislative lobby day in April, a pension rally in May and concluded with our U.S. Senate Democratic candidates’ debate in August. All of these events were extremely successful at promoting our issues and raising PEF's political profile in New York State and nationally.

We have worked closely with legislative leaders drafting legislation, and are providing special campaign assistance to those leaders in targeted races. We have been working to focus PEF's resources in legislative races where we can positively affect the outcomes, with the hope that our impact on those races will help us next year when we will be fighting for our members again on many issues.

Finally, in order to focus our message and increase our effectiveness on our issues in the Legislature, the Legislative Agenda has been completely revised to concentrate on the major overall goals of our members.

Next year will bring many new challenges for us in the political arena. It is my hope that we will be able to build on what we have done over the past year and increase the chances of success for our members.

Jean DeBow

This is the first time since I was elected as a Vice-President to formally thank all of the delegates and members for your support. The past year has been a rewarding and educational experience for me. I have been involved in many activities that will benefit our members and enhance the role of PEF in the labor movement.

As the Statewide Labor/Management Coordinator, I have worked to develop a working organizational structure with each Labor/Management Chair. I have brought unresolved Labor/Management issues to the President and the Director of Labor Relations, in order to expedite discussion and resolution, and have coordinated meetings for all Labor/Management and Health and Safety Chairs. I have been involved in planning annual meetings, encompassing training and discussion on agency needs that have been identified by the Labor/Management Chairs. As a result of those meetings, and in coordination with the Department of Education and Training, the Professional Development Committee, and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations, I have been working to develop a new training curriculum to improve the effectiveness of both Statewide and Local Labor/Management Committees.

As a member of the Executive Labor/Management Committee, I raised unresolved issues referred by statewide Labor/Management chairs for discussion and resolution. These issues have included such items as: Local Labor/Management agreements in the Department of Corrections, new vests for Parole Officers, job postings at the Department of Environmental Conservation, issues surrounding the North Country ice storm in Region 7, mandatory overtime for nurses in the Office of Mental Health, Banking Department promotions, and security locks at the Insurance Department and OMH, as well as the RIC/TCC Centers in the Department of Labor.

In addition to my duties related to Labor/Management, I have also been involved in the Quality Services Committee that was formed to spotlight the quality services that our members perform in their daily work activities. I am also involved in the Civil Service Task Force. The task force was formed to discuss civil service problems such as the core battery examination, the exam’s impact on minorities, zone scoring and additional exam sites. I have continued to work with the Regional Coordinators in Regions 10, 11 and 12 to facilitate activities downstate. Also, at the direction of President Benson, I have met with the SEIU Greater New York Joint Eastern Regional Council, the SEIU New York State Council, and I am a PEF representative to the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW).

I consider it an honor to serve the members of PEF and look forward to a productive year.

Joe Fox

As a Vice President, I made a commitment to devote my energies to realizing positive outcomes for the PEF membership. Over the past year my goals were to implement the quality campaign, enhance committee outcomes, expand the membership benefits program, establish a dynamic convention committee, and provide support and encouragement to my fellow officers as we continue to fulfill the goals of this administration.

In my role as statewide Labor/Management Chair for the Health Department, I was deeply involved in the development of the Quality Program. I was responsible for the processes and procedures of the award program, including the criteria for the selection of candidates, frequency of the award, and the determination of what the actual award should be. Additionally, I was responsible for devising a mechanism by which the exemplary work ethics of the recognized awardees could be shared with the citizens of New York for whom they work. To get out our message that our members provide quality services, we mailed postcards to major policymakers in New York State. The postcards were distributed to legislators, business leaders, town and village supervisors, and newspapers, and to other unions. Our message is "We do the best job for your tax dollars."

I am also responsible for the oversight of PEF committees. I have asked the chairs to submit to the President’s Office mission statements, long-term and short-term goals along with periodic reports of their accomplishments. A review of these submissions has given some insight into the direction the committees are going and what assistance they may need from the administration to meet their goals. My personal objective for the remainder of this year is to sit down with the various committee members and see what they think I can do to help achieve their goals.

My appointment as a trustee of the Membership Benefits Program brought new challenges. I focused on the need to improve current benefits and implement new ones. I’m proud to say that I was able to facilitate the procurement of more cost effective life insurance, a variety of more reasonably priced travel packages, and expanded availability of discounted movie tickets.

As Chair of the Convention Committee, I worked closely with the committee members to finish the preparations for the Lake Placid convention, our short-term goal, and to determine long-term objectives. One of our long-term goals is ensuring more suitable prices and locations for future conventions. Price comparisons, facility accommodation, and prime locations for ease of travelers have been investigated. Reports are being compiled for presentation to the Executive Board. By following our suggestion to book five years in advance and get guaranteed price agreements, significant savings will be realized.

The day-to-day operation of this union requires the coordination of many tasks by many people. In addition to my assigned responsibilities, I receive an average of 130 telephone calls and e-mails a week from members requesting information or seeking answers to their questions. Additionally, I examine, authorize, and sign over 9,000 checks annually. In order to reach out to the members it is necessary for me to travel throughout the state. Since the last convention, I have visited all twelve regions and many work sites within the regions.

I take this job seriously and it is my sincere hope that through my efforts this year I have made a positive difference in our union.