REGION 8 STEWARDS MEETING
Minutes of May 6, 2009
Tom Comanzo called the meeting to
order at 6:01 PM. Tom asked for a moment
of silence in remembrance of past Region 8 Coordinator, Vice President and
friend Lou Matrazzo and Field Representative Kurt Minersagen who passed away
unexpectedly.
Motion to move the Fightback Campaign
Update to Regional Coordinators remarks was made, seconded, and carried. M. Blue made a motion to accept the change to
the agenda. This was seconded and
carried. B. Wiener made a motion to
accept the minutes of the February 24, 2009 meeting. The motion was seconded
& carried.
REGIONAL
COORDINATOR’S REMARKS
FIGHTBACK CAMPAIGN- President
Ken Brynien met with Governor Paterson’s Secretary L. Swartz on May 5th. They will be meeting again on May 12th. The message he brings is treat us with
respect. Don’t blame us for the States fiscal problems. Don’t lay us off. This will be the continued tone for all
future meetings along with the suggestions we have been making for helping in
the fiscal problems. The closure of the DOCS camps has caused much concern for
DOCS employees.
Upcoming
Events/Activities:
New Stewards training will be held on 5/28, 8/25, and 12/1
Military
Services Committee-
Meetings will be 5/21, 6/18, 7/16
Women’s
Committee- 5/18,
6/15, 7/20
Convention
2009 & Elections- 1,050 people have
submitted petitions for the convention this year. It will be held in Niagara Falls.
Meeting
Schedule for 2009 Revised Again-
Steward Meeting Date changes- NEW DATES - 6/24 and 7/28.
A motion was
made by P. Lavin and seconded by S. Kent that that PEF not put any ads or pay
for advertising in the Times Union during the current union / management
disputes. This was carried. It was also suggested that people cancel
their subscriptions. T. Comanzo said he
would give the recommendation to Public Relations and to the officers. D. Steen recommended PEF talk to the union
representing the workers at TU to discuss the impact of this before we do it.
Regional
Food bank- Community
Supported Agriculture- CSA- L. Comstock- She returned again to talk about CSA. They want to help alleviate
hunger. They are growing corn, squash,
and pumpkins and actually have over 30 items they now grow. This food is harvested and over 10,000 pounds
of food was distributed to member agencies.
The CSA is made up of members who pay $400 for a full share interest and
this year $200 for a half share interest to be able to receive these 30 home
grown items for use in their own homes.
They would like to have 150 members who for a 16-week period from July
to October receive bags of harvested food each week. The cost to run this farm is $96,000 a year
and these dollars can help keep it running and help to be able to expand it for
the future.
Membership Benefits Program- A. Bikowicz-
Annmarie wanted to let everyone know about the new brochures out regarding
benefits. They are located in PEF HQ’s
and staff is available to attend meetings and functions to meet members and
discuss benefits with them. They also
have a new member packet put together and leaders can request them to give out
to new members.
TREASURER’S
REPORT-
S. Ray –absent- Tom handed out a budget sheet through 3/31/09 for all stewards.
BASEBALL
/ SOCIAL ACTIVITIES- Tom said there are going to be two baseball
trips to Yankee Stadium – 5/13 and 7/22.
Tickets are harder to get since there are 4000 less seats in the new
stadium. There will also be a trip to a
Mets game on 6/25.
A. Civil
Service – B. Wurster- They met on 4/30. The next
meeting is 5/28. *The case of the
thirty-seven medical titles that were put into the NC class is ongoing. *Contract resolutions need to be sent to the
CS committee for review by 6/8 to make it to the convention. *Civil Service and
union staffs have been going over RIF information. J. Kemenash and. T Cetrino were there but are
waiting to see how things play out before going any further with training. Bill
did not go into detail but stated he would stay after the meeting and answer
any questions stewards might have. * The
workforce planning report is out.
Approximately 60%of the workforce are those “ boomers” born
1946-1964. The X gen’s born 1965- 1982
and Y gen’s 1982- 2000 make up about 21%.
In NYS 3% of the workforce are under 27.
* More Civil Service tests are being given. Provisional titles are now
being seen more. Pressure needs to be
put on research to get legal involved.
B. PAC- T. Comanzo-
Region 8 PAC elects its officers in odd years.
Herb Hennings is the new Chair, M. Blue is 1st Vice, K. Wilkie is 2nd
Vice, and S. Sherokey is Secretary. It
is a very active PAC and they were very involved in the Scott Murphy
Campaign. Mr. Murphy was very
appreciative of our help and support.
C. IT- M. Blue /
M. Chiarello- they cancelled the April meeting.
5/18 is the next meeting. The
Business Analyst Exam is scheduled for 6/13.
It appears to be taking some tasks from analysts and some from IT Spec
titles. There is not much we can
do. Agencies with Business Analysts
titles should contact Mike. They want to find a way to make meetings more
popular and increase attendance.
D. Women’s
Program-
M. Shannon-Roberts- they need members.
They are active and have concerns and issues they want to address. Last year seven women of merit were named. This year they want to name three. They meet the third Monday of the month from
6:00 –7:30 PM at PEF HQ’s. Call ahead to
make a reservation please.
Convention resolutions are being worked on now.
E. Military Services- absent- Tom
said they meet the 3rd Thursday of the month.
A
motion to adjourn at 8:25 PM was made by M. Blue, seconded and carried.
NEXT
MEETING DATE
NOTE:
JUNE
24, 2009
Respectfully submitted,
Karen (Pellegrino) Danish
Region 8 Secretary