This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Come Together


Delegates adopt resolutions on many issues


By SHERRY HALBROOK Of the 31 resolutions submitted by


members in advance of the PEF convention in September, the delegates managed to deal with all but three before the convention ended. Five resolutions were adopted outright


and four were adopted with amendments. The other 19 were either referred to the Executive Board, declared moot, postponed indefinitely, ruled out-of-order or defeated. Those that were adopted, with or


without amendments, were: • Resolution 3 deals with career


mobility. It calls for PEF to begin working as soon as possible with agency labor- management committees and the state Department of Civil Service to establish or increase “comparability” for persons in job titles that may offer limited chances of rehiring after layoffs. • Resolution 4 calls for PEF to


establish a process to ensure the union works effectively with its divisions to


contact and help each laid-off member. It also directs the union to ask state agencies in advance of layoffs how their “protected classes” of employees would be affected. • Resolution 5 directs PEF to work


with the state to identify and contact members who need leave donations and to establish a process through The Communicator and PEF Website to regularly publicize and request leave donations. • Resolution 6 directs PEF to actively


support legislation to reduce the negative influence of corporate donations to political parties and candidates; and to remove access to wealth as a major determinant of whether someone runs for election or not. • Resolution 12 directs PEF to exempt


from dues settlement payments received by members from the lawsuit over the promotion test battery, and to repay to members any dues it has already collected on settlement payments.


• Resolution 17 calls for the PEF


regional women’s programs to raise awareness that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to help victims of such violence find services. At the request of the convention, the entire text of this resolution is printed at the end of this list of adopted resolutions. • Resolution 18 calls on PEF and its


divisions to observe March as Women’s History Month by initiating programs, ceremonies and activities honoring the historic and present important contributions of women. • Resolution 20 forbids referring to


anyone as a PEF regional coordinator unless they were elected to that position. • Resolution 24 calls for PEF to help


reduce the state’s dependence on expensive consultants by strongly encouraging PEF members and the state to take greater advantage of opportunities such as PS&T Contract Article 15 funds to develop the skills of state employees.


Convention Resolution #17 Domestic Violence: Education and Awareness WHEREAS, domestic violence is abusive behavior—


emotional, psychological, physical, or sexual—that one person in an intimate relationship uses in order to control the other; and WHEREAS, domestic violence takesmany different forms and


includes behaviors such as threats, name-calling, preventing contact with family or friends, withholdingmoney, stalking, actual or threatened physical harmand sexual assault; and WHEREAS,most domestic violence is committed against


women by theirmale partners or ex-partners, but also occurs in lesbian and gay relationships and is common in teenage dating relationships and, in a small number of cases,men are abused by female partners; and WHEREAS, every victimof domestic violence, whether female


ormale, gay or heterosexual, has the right to legal relief; and WHEREAS, one in every four women will experience domestic


violence in her lifetime and an estimated 1.3million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year; and WHEREAS, females who are 20-24 years of age are at the


greatest risk of non-fatal intimate-partner violence andmost of these cases are never reported to the police; and WHEREAS, according to statistics, one in six women has


experienced an attempted or completed rape and nearly 7.8 million women have been raped by an intimate partner at some point in their lives; and WHEREAS, every 9 seconds in the U.S. a woman is assaulted


or beaten; and WHEREAS, intimate-partner violence results inmore than


18.5millionmental health care visits each year; and victims of intimate-partner violence lost almost 8million days of paid work because of the violence perpetrated against themby current or former husbands, boyfriends and dates; and WHEREAS, the cost of intimate-partner violence in the US


alone exceeds $5.8 billion per year: $4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly $1.8 billion: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the PEF Regional


Page 16—The Communicator October 2011


Womens Programs recognize that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and it is our responsibility on the state and local levels to bring awareness of domestic violence as willful intimidation, physical or sexual assault, battery, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another, whether it bemale or female; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the PEF RegionalWomens


Programs shall bring awareness to this epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, political beliefs, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity or educational background. This behavior continues to have a stranglehold on women and girls specifically who need to be educated about the pattern of dominance and control and themental, emotional, lethal, and often deadly consequences of domestic violence; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That PEF RegionalWomens


Program’s shall let it be known that if a person needs help, they can contact any or all of the resources below: • National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 • National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 • National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline at 1-866-331-9474 • 24-Hour Domestic & Sexual Violence Hotline Numbers: English: 1-800-942-6906 - English TTY: 1-800-818-0656 Spanish: 1-800-942-6908 - Spanish TTY: 1-800-780-7660 See website http://www.nyscadv.org/ for additional info, Source: http://domesticviolencestatistics.org/domestic-


violence-statistics/ Fiscal Impact: None. Submitted By: Region 8Womens Program; PEF Region 5Womens Program; PEF/encon Div. 169; Kimberly Smith, Region 8; Josephine Kamya, Region 8; Marion Fox, Region 10; BillWurster, Region 8 coordinator; Constance Batts, Region 12 coordinator; Vernetta Chesimard, Region 10 coordinator and Statewide Womens Programchair; and Jemma Marie-Hanson, Region 11 coordinator.


PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36