What’s going on


in bargaining? To the Editor: “PEF has


offered a counter proposal that meets the budgetary needs of the state as identified in the enacted state budget.” Wow. Thanks


for the details. AmI the only PEFmember who feels like


we're being kept in the dark regarding negotiations on our behalf? Does anyone else feel we'd be better off agreeing to some temporary actions like voluntary furloughs, etc. than to permanent hikes in co-pays? Is this possible? I'd like to know, but PEF leaders say


nothing about this, even as a potential solution, even in the face of people losing their jobs.


Why haven't we been asked to weigh in on


any of this, either in a public forumor by email, online, or paper survey? Who can possibly decipher what the


"counter proposal" our leadership has actually BIG


offeredmight entail?When's the big reveal? I'mextremely disappointed with how PEF


has allowed our work force to be dragged through the dirt in the press. I'mlet down that I know very little about


what “we” are offering.And I'mdisgusted no one at PEF seems to care at all what a rank- and-filemember likeme thinks.


ALEX HYATT Troy


Editor’s note: PEF fully recognizes how


frustrating it is for members to feel their jobs, their pay, their health care and other benefits are all on the line in the current PS&T contract talks. PEF has several reasons for keeping the


union’s cards so close to its vest. At the initial bargaining session, both sides


agreed to the customary news blackout.That’s because bargaining requires flexibility, strategy, strict confidentiality and precise language.Because so many different issues are involved, positions necessarily must be fluid and shift until the exact combination of terms can be found that is acceptable to both sides. PEF updates the union’s officers and


Executive Board members, whom the members have elected to represent them, on the status of negotiations. The members also have a good cross-


section representing them at the bargaining table, that’s why PEF takes so much trouble to pick the members on the contract team.The team met with members in every PEF region before negotiations began, and the team sent out surveys to members asking them about their concerns and priorities. In the union’s recent tele-town hall meeting,


PEF President Ken Brynien polled members on contract issues, including the possibility of unpaid furloughs. Until such an agreement is reached,


members can write, e-mail or call the PEF Information Line and leave messages for PEF leaders and the contract team to express their concerns or priorities. The single most useful thing members can


do to help achieve the best possible agreement, is to express unity and support for their contract team. Once a tentative agreement is reached, it


will be presented to the PEF Executive Board for review. If the board members agree, it will then be sent to the members in the PS&T unit for ratification or rejection.Or the board could reject it and send the contract team back to the bargaining table. If the members reject it, the team must


resume bargaining. The union can not make an agreement the


majority of its members don’t want. In PEF, the members have the final say.


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L0311164637[exp0214][All States] © 2011 MetLife Auto & Home. © 2011 PNTS 1102-0644 Page 2—The Communicator May 2011 PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445


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