safety activists


very pleased we had this successful conference. It met our goals and objectives to educate, motivate and mobilize labor and management leaders to reduce workplace hazards and injuries.” A video of Robert’s speech is on the PEF website under health and safety.


CECIL ROBERTS JR, PRESIDENT UMWA —Photo by Richard Dillard


Podcast alerts police officers on


nurse felony law By DEBORAH A. MILES In response to a letter


from PEF President Ken Brynien requesting assistance in spreading the word about the nurse felony law, the state Association of Chiefs of Police Inc. released a podcast in April. Its purpose is to educate the police


community about the law, changing an assault on a nurse from a misdemeanor to a felony. The five-minute podcast features two


PEF nurses who were assaulted on the job, Elenita Congco from Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn and Jay Konopka, a nurse at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center on Long Island. PEF Director of Occupational Safety


ATTHEAWARDS—PEFmember JimGonyo receives an Outstanding ServiceAward for his health and safety work at the state Department of Correctional Services from Kathy D’Arminio,TomDonahue and Jonathan Rosen.PEFmembers Carol Ferrante and James Malloy also received awards, the Judy ScanlonAward and the Labor- ManagementAward, respectively.


—Photo by Richard Dillard


and Health Jonathan Rosen said, “We have found many police reports that were still charging assaults on nurses as a misdemeanor. This podcast highlights the change in the law and sends the message that intentional physical injury to a person is an assault in the 2nd degree and a class D felony, subject to two and one-half to seven years in prison.” Both Congco and Konopka tell the


listener about the brutal attacks they endured. They both say, “No one deserves to be hit by a patient.” If you would like to listen to the


podcast, go to www.nychiefs.org and select APB053 Assaults Against Nursing Professionals. While the upgrade in the law benefits


ATTHEMIC—LeslieWilliams and Deborah Brady discuss health and safety issues at the conference.


(Below)Health and safety activists studymaterials at an advanced problemsolving workshop at the conference.


—Photos by Ken dischel —Photo by Deborah A.Miles


PEF nurses, PEF also is supporting a bill (A.5129/S.4526) that would extend the same language to an assault against any public employee, according to PEF Director of Legislation and Counsel Brian Curran. “This bill recognizes public employees


perform functions essential to maintaining public health, safety and quality of life. Their duties require them to interact with citizens in a wide variety of settings,” Curran said. PEF President Ken Brynien said,


“Assault on the job is one of the most frequent causes of serious injuries for public employees. This bill would allow for stronger enforcement against these assaults, protect the workers, and maintain an orderly operation of public services.” If you would like to help support this bill, contact your state legislator.


www.pef.org The Communicator May 2011—Page 9


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