Donate leave


to Fishkill RN To the Editor: I am a PEF member and a nurse 2 at


Fishkill Correctional Facility. One of my co-workers, Sherry Koivunen, is also a nurse 2 and has been diagnosed with cancer. She has had surgery and will soon be undergoing chemotherapy. We are desperately trying to


obtain donations of leave time so Sherry can receive half pay for the next six months. This will enable her to keep full benefits and stay home until her chemo is finished. Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated. GINGER HARMONAY Mountaindale


Editor’s note: The right of PEF


members in the state PS&T unit to donate leave to other members in that bargaining unit is established in PS&T Contract Article 12.23 and is detailed in a memorandum of understanding which can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/7lc4kqs. To donate leave to Sherry Koivunen,


contact the Fishkill CF department of human resources at (845) 831-4800, ext. 3600 or email gail.bauer@doccs.ny.gov.


Please help;


Donate leave To the Editor: As council leader of PEF Division 205,


I am writing on behalf of two of our Region 8 members at the state Health Department, Michelle Contreras and steward Deborah Bush, who very much need the help of other PEF members. Michelle Contreras, an auditor trainee


2 at the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) is suffering from a serious, recurring illness that has caused


her to deplete all of her sick leave. Her husband, Pedro Contreras, is also a member of Division 205 at OMIG. He has donated all of the leave to her that he can under the PS&T contract. If you would like to donate some of


your leave to Michelle, please contact Sarah Macintosh in the OMIG office of human resources management, at (518) 408- 0380. Deborah Bush is a clinical


laboratory consultant at the Health Department (DOH). She, too, has exhausted all of


her sick leave. PS&T employees may donate leave to


other PS&T employees in their own or other state agencies. To donate leave to Deborah Bush, call


DOH senior personnel administrator Pamela Morini at (518) 474-5943. ANNA SCHROM Troy


Column’s critic


disingenuous To the Editor: I just received the May issue of The


Communicator and I feel compelled to respond to the letter in it from a retiree living in Virginia. He repeats the tired, old right-wing


epithet of “socialistic ideology” in condemning Marty OʼConnorʼs “Truth Be Told” column. A dispassionate examination of the facts and objective reality indicates it is he, rather than the


Remembering Josephine Rice


PEF and United Steelworkers Local 9265 will honor the memory of Josephine Rice by dedicating a monument in her memory Wednesday, June 13, at PEF headquarters in Latham. Rice was PEF’s labor-management assistant when


she died July 26, 2010. The ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m. with family,


friends and co-workers in attendance. A scholarship will be presented to Josephine’s


children, Amanda and Andrew. The ceremony will be followed by a reception and light refreshments. All of those who wish to join in honoring Josephine’s memory are welcome.


Page 2—The Communicator June 2012 — Sherry Halbrook PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445


Oops! Ken Dischel’s name was


inadvertently omitted in the April issue from a list of photographers at PEF’s March 15 state budget rally in Albany.


object of his rant, who is “disingenuous at best.” Like his fellow PEF retirees, he is


enjoying a relatively generous white-collar employee's pension which is exempt from state taxation. If he is a participant in the Empire Plan, he also enjoys a top-notch health insurance plan that covers him in the state of Virginia, imposes relatively minimal copayments and deductibles, and will provide full coverage for him at a designated Center of Excellence should he be so unfortunate as to be diagnosed with cancer. All of these benefits were negotiated for him by his union. In addition, if he has attained the age


of 65, he is entitled to participate in Medicare and has undoubtedly been receiving Social Security benefits, which are also completely exempt from state taxation. It seems to me “socialism” has been


quite good to him. Is he willing to give up all these benefits for the sake of his extreme right ideology, or does he just want to prevent the rest of us from having them? And one more point: banks and large


corporations are reaping the benefits of “socialism” in that their losses are insured by the government and absorbed by the middle and lower classes, while their profits are taxed at a lower rate than under Ronald Reaganʼs presidency. It is the writer of that letter who is in


serious need of a reality check. MICHAEL PHILIPWEINSTEIN Voorheesville


YOU SAID IT


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