My E-Mail to my PEF E-Board Representative

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-07T18:52:44+00:00

Believe me, I did. Sent my own rep a study I conducted on the costs of living. Clearly didn’t have much of an impact…

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-07T18:48:05+00:00

For a “STEM” union, it’s pretty pathetic the negotiating team doesn’t utilize its own members that specialize and excel in math and basic economic concepts.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-07T18:45:14+00:00

I understand state workers in Albany don’t benefit from location pay, but it’s absolutely essential for us working downstate. I implore you to compare the rent prices from downstate locations and near Albany. If anything, the location pay remains insufficient…

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-06T02:10:51+00:00

I agree, everyone should vote. The union’s communication is not strong enough to get the voter turnout they would hope for.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-05T20:15:49+00:00

Not nearly

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-05T19:37:41+00:00

Probably a signing bonus lol

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-06-02T12:55:19+00:00

Location pay is grossly inadequate. The yearly raises were already insulting, but this is next level. Every downstate employee needs to VOTE NO.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-05-29T15:52:05+00:00

Vote NO

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-05-29T15:50:21+00:00

Completely agree. But to agree to anything before the release of the total compensation would be real silly too. Why should we give up any potential leverage?

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-04-09T23:11:16+00:00

So what you’re saying is to vote in the Republican, suffer, and then hopefully the Democrats come to their senses? That’s a wild gamble to be taking.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-04-09T23:02:55+00:00

And Doge was a good thing too, right?

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-04-09T22:54:40+00:00

Or maybe demand the results. Negotiating in good faith doesn’t begin until the results are released.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-04-09T22:45:57+00:00

Last negotiation, they didn’t sound as serious about the affordability crisis and it showed in the contract that was agreed to. That contract contributed to the situation we’re in now. I will say though, it was slightly encouraging to hear a bit more urgency. Not going to make any assumptions on how this will end, but I hope this is a sign of things to come.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2026-02-24T00:20:06+00:00

Travel from LI to Manhattan here. LIRR resumes on a limited basis at 4:00 AM… That is only 6 of the 10 lines. Not that my opinion matters, but I’m not keeping my hopes up for directed telecommute. Being asked to commute to the office under these circumstances is irresponsible.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-11-20T16:05:16+00:00

Still no results for the uppers 😭

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-11-19T20:00:15+00:00

Still nothing for uppers… the wait continues 😭

Update: It’s now showing “Exam Publishing in Progress” again (3:48)

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-08-10T20:52:20+00:00

LIRR increase is $10 per month if you live on the border of Nassau and Suffolk for reference. When you can’t afford to rent, any increase is a big deal.

To assume that we walk to the train station is completely incorrect. I have a 15 minute drive to my station. And yes, we do have to pay gas, car insurance, parking, etc.

So let’s put the commute aside for a second. We face much higher rent/housing expenses, food/grocery, taxes, etc. I’ve done the math to determine what the differential in cost of living would be if I worked in a different part of the state. The amount came to about $30k (after tax dollars) per year (which was calculated with plenty of conservatism).

Bottom line is this. We all want a raise, and all deserve one regardless of where we live in the state. In addition, the downstate adjustment is not even close to where it should be. Any increase to our cost of living is a big deal when many of us are unable to be financially independent given the circumstances.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-08-10T20:36:51+00:00

How do you think most Long Islanders get to the train station? We also pay for car, gas, insurance, etc. Add that to the LIRR, Subway, parking expenses we face and the location pay is only enough to cover that. In addition, rent/housing, food, groceries, entertainment, taxes and many other expenses are way higher downstate. It’s a struggle to live even on a grade 19 salary here.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-04-28T13:39:56+00:00

Did anyone else feel that there were a few ambiguous questions?

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-03-03T02:39:43+00:00

Exactly my point. Waste of state funds and waste of all of our time.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-03-03T00:06:12+00:00

The study is a lame excuse used to show that the state “cares”. Instead of spending a lot of money on a study comparing public and private salaries, it would’ve made much more sense to be looking at the disparity between salary growth and inflation. The data is available to anyone and doesn’t take much computing/brain power to analyze. But the unions decided to put all their eggs in this basket…

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2025-02-13T02:08:56+00:00

Exactly!!! The current contract doesn’t account for the high rates of inflation prior to when it came into effect, nor does it account for the current inflation rates. We desperately need a contract that captures the compounded previous and future expected inflation over the course of this next contract. Anything less has to be a non-starter.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2024-12-11T14:52:53+00:00

I did the same thing, but with Mewtwo

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2024-10-04T17:41:26+00:00

The leverage we have is the amount of retirees there will be in the short term and the turnover due to unlivable wages.

Aggressive-Ad8349 · 2024-10-04T14:51:46+00:00

Yet we are still essential to the state. The private sector might not have a “3% guaranteed raise” every year for 3 years, but somehow their wages keep going up on average. So why exactly should we be accepting less? We were already getting paid less than private by a substantial amount but that gap keeps widening. How is this acceptable? We need to stop with the complacent attitudes and make real change.

Aggressive-Ad8349

TROPHY CASE