Contact: PEF Communications Director Rob Merrill, rmerrill@pef.org

Eric Adams for Mayor, Evan Thies, 917 715 9265 or evan@pythiapublic.com

New York, NY — Citing his dedication to working people and his vision for New York City, PEF endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in his run for mayor of New York today.

“Eric Adams has been a public servant working hard on behalf of New Yorkers for decades. No one has a stronger record of standing up for working people or a clearer plan for their success than Eric,” said PEF President Wayne Spence. “When the first coronavirus surge hit the city last spring, Eric was by my side helping distribute PPE and food to PEF members in need. When others fled the city, Eric led, embodying the ideal of a true public servant. PEF could not be more excited to endorse Eric to be our next mayor. We are with Eric now because he has always been there for us.”

“New York doesn’t work without PEF — and I am so proud that they share my vision to make New York work better,” Adams said. “Public employees dedicate their lives to supporting the rest of us, and so they deserve our support as essential workers, especially now as they stand on the front line of the fight against COVID-19 and the economic crisis it has created. It is not enough to thank them — we must also provide them with the hazard pay and other benefits they need and deserve to keep New York running strong at this critical moment. As mayor, I will always invest in New Yorkers and stand up for working people by putting the full force of City Hall behind them.”Spence also pointed to Adams’ support in 2012 and 2013 during the fight to save SUNY Downstate hospital, as well as his agenda for working people, including a plan to put more money directly into their pockets by boosting the city’s Earned Income Tax Credit, and other public benefits such as rent vouchers for tenants. You can read the agenda here.

Adams, a former NYPD officer, was endorsed by 50 prominent Latino leaders last week and more than 200 clergy this week. He has also been endorsed by a diverse group of local elected officials and leaders, including Bronx Deputy Borough President and longtime Assembly Member Aurelia Greene, Sen. Roxanne Persaud, Assembly Members Jaime WIlliams and Erik Dilan, and Council Members Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Laurie Cumbo, Darma Diaz, Daneek Miller and Ydanis Rodriguez.

For more information: Communications Director Rob Merrill, rmerrill@pef.org

ALBANY, NY – The Public Employees Federation (PEF) filed a lawsuit on Jan. 15 against New York State and three state agencies, the Department of Civil Service (DCS), the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the Office of Mental Health (OMH), asserting that the state has irrationally and improperly deprived union members of their guaranteed right to paid COVID-19 quarantine leave.

In March 2020, the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER) issued a policy addressing mandatory or precautionary quarantine procedures. The policy states employees placed in mandatory quarantine by state or local health officials would be placed on leave with pay, without charge to accruals, for all workdays within a 14-calendar day quarantine period, limiting employees to 10 working days of paid leave.

Shortly after, the New York Legislature enacted Chapter 25 of the Laws of 2020, creating paid sick leave benefits for employees subject to quarantine, specifically stating employees “shall be provided with at least fourteen days of paid sick leave during any mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine.”

“Our lawsuit asserts that state employers have irrationally and improperly deprived our members of their guaranteed right to paid quarantine leave during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said PEF President Wayne Spence at a press conference in Albany on Friday. “The infection rate is higher than it’s ever been and people are probably going to have to quarantine again. For some insane reason, agency leaders and managers are bringing more and more workers back into the office and creating a vicious cycle of positive tests, mandatory quarantines, and most importantly – putting the health of my union’s members at risk.”

During the first surge of the pandemic, approximately 85 percent of PEF members were telecommuting successfully from their homes. With the second surge, 55 to 60 percent of PEF members have returned to work in the office, despite higher infection rates across the state.

“It’s ridiculous and ludicrous to ask state workers to come back to work when they demonstrated they can successfully telecommute,” Spence said. “The New York State workforce has been providing services since the beginning of this pandemic without a hiccup. PEF has shown that telecommuting works. We followed the science and flattened the curve.”

The lawsuit includes petitioners from DOCCS and OMH, including a teacher, a social worker, a parole officer and an offender rehabilitation coordinator.

Attempts to seek remedy outside of the courts through letters to GOER and agency commissioners met with silence, Spence told reporters.

“We heard crickets,” Spence said. “Even when we moved it up, we heard nothing. That silence tells me that the state is telling me and my members to go kick rocks. We feel confident if a judge really looks at what we’re saying, based on a clear reading of the statute, they will side with us.”

Tonight, President-elect Joe Biden outlined his bold $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan,” which is designed to defeat the coronavirus, support American families hurt by the economic fallout, and jump start the economy so the nation can move forward. PEF fully supports this comprehensive action plan, which includes almost $350 billion to help states and localities manage the budgetary damage caused by the virus. This proposal also includes significant additional financial and programmatic support for struggling American families, including a proposal to lift the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

“This afternoon, I received a call from New York Senator Chuck Schumer outlining the work he is doing with President-elect Biden to bring New York and our nation back stronger than ever,” PEF President Wayne Spence stated, “this is a great start.”

“In the end, we must remember that we are one state and one nation.  We must build back stronger together!  We thank Senator Schumer for his leadership and we look forward to working with the entire New York congressional delegation to help make this critical plan a reality,” Spence stated.

For more information: Communications Director Rob Merrill, rmerrill@pef.org

ALBANY, N.Y. – With COVID-19 cases surging in New York State correctional facilities, PEF President Wayne Spence called out the state on the ill-timed decision to close three facilities later this year and urged voluntary COVID vaccinations be made available for all Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) staff.

“Recent alarming news reports have confirmed what PEF has said since we learned about the planned closures of the Watertown, Gowanda and Clinton Annex Correctional Facilities: Now is not the time to transfer prison staff to new assignments and crowd the system with more inmates in fewer facilities,” Spence said. “A study by the Correctional Association of New York concluded that 36 of the 52 New York State prisons are now dealing with COVID outbreaks. (Rockland/Westchester Journal News, https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/coronavirus/2021/01/06/new-york-prisons-see-spike-in-covid-cases-positivity-rates/4142109001/)

“Just this week, I was informed that at least 29 incarcerated individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 at Groveland Correctional Facility in Sonyea, N.Y., resulting in the mandatory quarantine of more than 30 staff members,” he said. “The larger snapshot over the course of this pandemic from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) as of yesterday is even more stark: 3,450 inmates across the state have tested positive for COVID-19, along with 3,380 staff and 170 parolees. Twenty-seven inmates have died, along with six staff members and four parolees. (DOCCS COVID-19 Report, https://doccs.ny.gov/doccs-covid-19-report)

“Remember last March, during the first coronavirus surge, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo said inmates aren’t the problem when it comes to COVID, it’s the staff who bring the virus inside the prison? Well, nothing has changed nine months later,” Spence said. “The more people who congregate in a space, the higher the risk of spreading the virus. Closing three correctional facilities in March of this year will only exacerbate the problem and increase community spread of this disease. The health and lives of inmates, DOCCS staff and the communities in which they reside and work are at risk.

“There is some good news amid the outbreaks,” he said. “DOCCS has recognized that its medical staff needs to be inoculated as soon as possible against COVID. I have advised all eligible PEF members who volunteer for the vaccination to register immediately, but it is not enough. Given the alarming spike in infections, sickness and death in New York’s prisons and jails, PEF will continue to push for all DOCCS employees – teachers, counselors, Office of Mental Health and parole personnel who work inside congregate facilities – to receive the vaccine without delay.”