A message from PEF Retirees President Steve Muscarella
HealthcarebattleshiftstoDC
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OurPEFRetireesNorthCountry Juanitareportsthe benefitsuntilWashingtonreformsthe
ChaptercoversthesameareaasPEF attendanceatchapter entirehealthcaresystem.TheHouseand
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Region7–NewYork’sfournorthern-most meetingsisgrowingand Senatecommitteesarenowwritingthe T
countiesofEssex,Clinton,Franklinand PEFretireesareinvolved healthcarereformbill. I
St.Lawrence. inpoliticalactivities.She Ournationalunionshavewarned
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PEFretireesarescatteredoverwide sayseveryonehasunited 2009“lookslikeoneofthoseturning
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distancesthere,butrecenteffortsbythe aroundprotectingour pointswhereyoulivewiththeresultsfor
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PEFRetireeshavebroughtabout healthbenefits. thenext30yearsorso.”
S
encouragingresults. Theyjoined Ofcourse,theoppositionwillworkto
JuanitaBabcock,aformerPEF
MUSCARELLA
thousandsofPEF defeathealthcarereform.
I
N
ExecutiveBoardmemberandcouncil membersandretireesin Wemustdefinetheframeworkofthe
leader,hastakenaleadershiprolein ourrecentcampaignto dialogueinthisbattle.Ourgoalis
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organizingChapter7.She,alongwith supportthecontractualrightsofPEF guaranteed,quality,affordablehealth
PEFretireesDaveClaydonandTom membersandtopreserveourMedicareB careforallAmericans.Thiscannotbe C
Howard,haveheldaseriesofmeetings benefitsandopposeanewpensionTier5. achievedwithoutagovernmentrole.The T
throughouttheregion. PEFPresidentKenBryniensaidour insuranceindustrywillneverdoit I
TheyhaveteamedwithEdAlfonsin, campaigngeneratedthousandsofletters voluntarily.
O
thePEFparliamentarianwhoholdsdual tostatelegislators,resultinginno Pleasejoinusinthisbattle.Keepthe N
membershipwithPEFRetireesand changestoeitherstatecontractsor pressureonCongressandcontinueto
UnitedUniversityProfessions(UUP),to healthcoverageforretirees. contactyoursenatorsand
bringstateretireesfrombothunionsin Now,wemustfocusonthenational representatives.
theNorthCountrytoworktogetheron picture.Wemustexpectcontinued Thetimeisshortandthefightisbig.
issuesthataffectbothgroups. attemptstoreduceourhealthcare But,together,wecanwinit.
Anti-uniontacticspushPEFtotakeaction
By DEBORAH A. MILES
traveledstreet.
PEFleadersraisedthebarofsolidarity
ExecutiveBoardmemberJohnPrince
anothernotchwhentheybacked
saidhewasimpressedwiththeyouthful
employeesofaHolidayInnExpressin
exuberanceoftheparticipants.
Lathamwhowantedtoformaunionwith
“Itwasexcitingtoseeyoungerpeople
WorkersUnitedLocal471.
gettinginvolvedwiththeunion,standing
TheowneroftheHolidayInn,James
upfortheirrightsandtakingonthe
Morrell,firedfourworkersinMaywhen
bulliesoftheworld,”Princesaid.“They
hebecameawareoftheirintentto
areactivelyengagingmanagementforpay
unionize,accordingtoBrynRoshong,an
equity,benefitsandtheirrighttoforma
organizerwithWorkersUnited.Morrell
union.IthinkseeingthePEFleadership
hassincebeenthetargetofprotestsin
therehelpedlifttheirspirits.Iwashappy
theCapitalRegion,notonlyattheHoliday
tobeapartofit.”
Inn,butatcardealershipsandradio
AnotherBoardmember,LouFerrone
FIGHTBACK—PEFleadersDonKehoskie,
stationsthatheowns.
Jr,saidhewasequallyimpressedwiththe
MargaretRiceHarveyandTomDonahue
PEFlearnedofMorrell’santi-union
highschoolandcollegestudentswhosaw
supportLocal471.
tactics,whichincludedhiringalawfirm
thepicket,stoppedtheircars,foundout pay,admitstowrongfulfirings,andends
topresentafour-houranti-uniontraining
thereason,andjoinedthelineof theunlawfulintimidationpractices.
thatemployeesweremandatedtoattend,
protestors. HealsosaidtheHolidayInnmanagers
saidPEFRegion8CoordinatorTom
“Peopledon’trealizehowfewrights offeredthreeofthefourworkerstheirjobs
Comanzo.
theyhaveiftheydon’thaveaunion.It’s back,butwithoutbackpaywhenthey
“Thewordspreadthroughoutthe
commendabletheseyoungpeopleare discoveredtheemployeesfiledan
area’slabororganizations,”Comanzosaid.
fightingtobettertheirlivesandtheir improperpracticechargewiththe
“Itisunthinkableinthisdayandage
worksites.ItisimportantforPEFto NationalLaborRelationsBoard(NLRB).
thereareanti-unioneffortsbeingpushed
supportthem.Someofourmembers’ “Themanagerssaidtheywouldnot
intheworkforce.”
childrenmayalsobesubjecttothistype givebackpayunlesstheydropthe
PEF’squarterlyExecutiveBoard
oftreatmentintheworkplace.Itneedsto charge.Theemployeesrefused,andtwo
meetinghappenedtotakeplacethesame
end,”Ferronesaid. wentonstriketocontinueprotestingat
timeapicketwasbeingheldatthe
Alongwiththesupportonthepicket thevariousworksitesownedbyMorrell,”
HolidayInninJune.
line,PEF’sExecutiveBoardalsocollected Roshongsaid.
Approximately40PEFBoard
$506forastrikefund. TheNLRBisstillinvestigatingthecase.
membersjoinedtheranksoftheHoliday
Comanzosaidtheaffectedworkers Formoreinformation,visit
Innworkersastheymarchedandchanted
havemadeaunanimousdecisiontostrike www.shameonjimmorrell.com.
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2009—Page9
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