Executive Board approves Eastern Niagara tentative agreement


Story and photos by SHERRY HALBROOK


The PEF Executive Board at its June 30- July 1 meeting in Albany unanimously approved sending a tentative contract to the members of its bargaining unit at Eastern Niagara Hospital


for ratification. The six-year tentative agreement is for the period October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2019. Eastern Niagara Hospital was created by the merger of Lockport Memorial Hospital, Inter-Community Hospital and Newfane Rehabilitation Center that was completed in 2007 in keeping with a directive from the state Berger Commission.


The tentative agreement would apply to approximately 130 PEF-represented employees at the former Lockport Hospital campus. It would provide the following across-the-board raises: 2 percent retroactive to October 1, 2013; 2 percent on the first full pay period following ratification; 2 percent effective October 1, 2015; 2.75 percent October 1, 2016; 2.75 percent October 1, 2017; 1.5 percent October 1, 2018; and 1.5 percent April 1, 2019. It also provides for pay upgrades for the positions of licensed practical nurse, lab technologist (previously negotiated), and echo and senior echo technician. Board member Margaret Eaton, who is council leader of PEF Division 505 at the hospital and who chaired the PEF contract negotiating team, said preserving defined-benefit pension provisions for as many members as possible was the most challenging part of the negotiations. The pensions of the management and other bargaining-unit employees had already been frozen and switched to defined- contribution plans. The new tentative agreement would save the defined-benefit pensions of all vested employees in the bargaining unit whose years of service plus their age equaled 70 or greater on February 15, 2015. Eaton said approximately one-third of the members meet that requirement. The pensions of the other unit members would be frozen and they would be enrolled in a 403(b) defined-contribution plan.


The tentative agreement also changes the formula for determining employee seniority from one that was based on hours worked to one based on years of


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continuous service in a title covered by the contract.


In addition to Eaton, the contract team included unit members Jane Trombley, Mary Zimmerman and Marcia Dickinson, as well as chief negotiators PEF associate counsel Lisa Newmark and PEF field representative Art Munson.


Be bold


In her quarterly report, PEF President Susan M. Kent reviewed the union’s legislative and contract efforts and urged the board to be bold and fearless in facing the challenges that will confront them in the coming months and years. Kent praised PEF Legislative Director Pat Lavin and members of the PEF Veterans Committee for refusing to give up on the Veterans Buy Back bill after the governor vetoed it last year. Against great odds, they managed to push the bill through both houses of the state Legislature again this year and now face the uphill battle of trying once again to get the governor to sign it.


She thanked state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and PEF activists at that agency for supporting the passage of pension legislation that would benefit the surviving spouses and families of state employees who apply for retirement but die before their retirement date.


“We worked for eight years to get this legislation and you should be very, very proud of the work you did on this,” Kent told the board.


“You can use these real examples of why it’s so important for members to get involved in the union,” Kent said. Kent also spoke of another bill that passed in both the state Assembly and Senate and would ensure state- operated services are available to persons with developmental disabilities who are transferred from state facilities to community settings.


“We need to push to get the governor to sign it,” Kent urged. “We need to get past the things that have divided us. You must fight for the work if it moves to the community. It’s our moral responsibility to not let the state relinquish responsibility for those people when they move into the community.


“We must get more information from our members about clients who are not getting the services they need. We must fight the state when it makes excuses and says it


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THANK YOU – PEF President Susan M. Kent presents Connie Batts with a glass vase in gratitude for Batts’ service as Region 12 coordinator. She retired earlier this year.


doesn’t have the staff or the time to do the necessary assessments of new clients.” Likewise, Kent urged the union to be aggressive in pursuing a fair contract with the state.


“Be mindful of the contract language. Make sure you check it and ask all of the questions you need to ask. We have new, younger members coming into the union. We must negotiate terms in the contract that will benefit them.


“Don’t settle for a pattern. We have the ability to affect how contracts are settled in this state. Make sure you fight and you use all of the resources you have to win a contract. If we want economic gain, we’re going to have to fight for it.


“The state will try to use the things we want against us. If there is any sign of bad faith from the state, you need to act on it immediately.


“The contract is the way to unify this union. Make sure that whatever the issue, there’s commitment on your part to motivate your members. Make sure you are fighting together for the right things,” Kent urged.


“Be bold! Be innovative and don’t give up! Show the state no weakness. Don’t flinch with the state. Don’t do it!” she told them.


PEF finances


PEF Secretary-Treasurer Carlos J. Garcia’s presented the fourth quarter/ year-end report on PEF’s unaudited finances. He reported the union had a total of $14,484,546 in cash and investments on March 31. The net income for the PEF


(Continued on next page) The Communicator July/August 2015 — Page 11


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