RE: Thanksgiving Special for PEF members
PEF Leaders,
As you may be aware, today there was another attempt by the union busting company “opt-out-today” to infiltrate and corrupt the PEF membership via the New York State email system. FYI- opt-out-today is an affiliate of the Freedom Foundation. The email was titled, “Thanksgiving Special for PEF members.” Although not illegal, it is inappropriate to utilize the New York State email system in this manner –especially from these anti-union organizations. Some of these sinister groups are funded by the Freedom Foundation, which is committed to strategically taking away workers’ rights and giving power to management. They would like nothing more than to eliminate New York State public sector jobs and privatize them. If a member chooses to opt-out, they are weakening the union and empowering management.
We continue to work with the State on the inappropriate use of your work email address and they have made attempts to protect your work email. Unfortunately, each time one sender is blocked from intruding the state servers, these unprincipled union busters change the sender’s name to circumvent the established rules. Union members across the country are not falling for the lies that opt out groups are selling. For this reason, these anti-union groups are turning to desperation and with desperation they make impetuous decisions. We must stand together, educate our members, and never fall for the lies of those so willing to eliminate and privatize the effective services that PEF members provide to New York residents.
Your Union, the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), didn’t want to take this step and clutter up your work email even more, but we cannot allow their lies to infect all of our achievements! Please direct any specific questions you have to your Shop Steward or PEF Field Representative, but we wanted you to know these important facts:
- PEF dues have not increased since April 2001. They total 0.9% of your salary. What does less than 1% of your wages buy you? With your dues, you aren’t alone during disciplinary actions; you have representation at the labor/management and health and safety tables, making the case for your needs; you get a say in what goes into your next contract and your union can fight against steep benefit cost-share increases and push for across-the-board raises and retro pay; and you can access exclusive benefits for college, entertainment, travel, and vital insurance plans.
- The power of collective bargaining: Without PEF negotiating on behalf of our approximately 49,000 members at the contract table, Gov. Cuomo in 2020 would not have approved any raises, certainly not the retroactive raises PEF secured thanks to our solidarity during negotiations.
- Active dues-payers are the only members afforded legal protection by the union. Don’t you want a union representative by your side if management ever decides to question you about your job or tries to discipline you following a performance review?
- Only dues-paying members are entitled to the deals and discounts offered by PEF Membership Benefits. Life and disability insurance, debt counseling and free and low-cost college tuition are just some of the benefits that are exclusively available to PEF members. Visit PEFMBP.com for details.
PEF will always work hard for our members. We are strongest when our members are active and engaged. Think about every right you have on the job – from seniority, to a guaranteed pension, to workplace safety – and you’ll realize that you have that right because of your union. Let’s be honest, these anti-union organizations don’t care about you. They see you simply as a pawn in their end game – which is to demolish the public sector, dismantle all unions, and make rich corporations richer by privatizing the work you do for New Yorkers. A union is a group of workers who have banded together to promote their common interests. Why would you want to stand alone and fight when you can stand together and with one voice demand fair wages and safe working conditions?
What can you do?
- Spread the information contained within this email to your members
- Recommend to each member that received the opt-out propaganda email to scroll down to the bottom of the email they received and unsubscribe from their future emails and mitigate possible malware.
Example :
This message was intended for: Joe.Smith@omh.ny.gov
You were added to the system October 13, 2021.
For more information click here. Update your preferences
Unsubscribe | Unsubscribe via email
If you are already a PEF member, thank you for your service. If you’d like to join the proud public employees of PEF, please fill out a membership form at PEF.org/join.