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ill should be lawbe able to delay the effective date of thislegislation for one year to give the state achance to adjust to this.“PEF informed us during thisdiscussion that 30 percent of theindividuals, who have licenses to act asnurses in this state do not do so. Ourhope is this legislation will bring morepeople into the work force, knowing theywon’t have the obligation to workovertime. It is not only exhausting to theindividual but is detrimental to thepatients they serve,” Paterson said.A joint effortBrynien said the agreement andimminent signing of the legislation byPaterson represents the culmination of anongoing effort made by PEF with 1199,the Service Employees InternationalUnion, Communication Workers ofAmerica, New York State United Teachers,New York State Nurses Association, CivilService Employees Association and NewYork State AFL-CIO.He also tipped his hatto the sponsors of the bill,Sen. Thomas Morahanand Assembly MemberAileen Gunther, whosehard work and dedicationkept the issue front andcenter.“I would also like toacknowledge all the PEFnurses who gave of theirMORAHAN time and energy byattendingrallies and lobbyinglawmakers to reach thisgoal. They are alsoinstrumental in revivingNew York’s health caresystem,” Brynien said.At the rallyEven though thesweltering heat forcedmost of the crowd to standand cheer in the shade ofGUNTHERthe trees, there was an undercurrent thatthis is “the year” to get the legislationpassed. Three nurses from CreedmorePsychiatric Center — SosammaArikupurathu, Jessy Joshy andKamalamma Vinod — agreed if thelegislation didn’t pass in 2008, New York’shealth care system would be in a seriouscrisis.“The issue of recruitment and retentionof nurses who are in this profession isalso an issue. There won’t be enoughnurses to care for all the patients. It’s assimple as that,” Joshy said. “We are inthis profession because we have a specialcalling. We love our work, but we can’t beforced to work shift after shiftas it does no one any good.“We will all have a sigh ofrelief if this bill everbecomes law,”she said.And nowthey can.Sunmount members fight for more staffStory and Photos By DARCY WELLSNurses at Sunmount DevelopmentalDisabilities Services Office (DDSO) inTupper Lake are thrilled to hear themandatory overtime bill is on it’s way tobecoming law.Half a dozen nurses made the trip toAlbany for the June 10 rally after holdingtheir own rally at Sunmount May 29.Dozens of members attending theDepartment of Correctional Services labormanagement conference in nearby LakePlacid took buses to support theSunmount nurses.“Our union brothers and sisters cameout for us, so we wanted to return thefavor in Albany,” said PEF Division 242Council Leader Ed Snow.In Tupper Lake, the message echoedthe Albany event — end mandatoryovertime and address safe staffing issues.“At Sunmount, there are times whenonly one nurse is responsible for 212clients on the overnight shift,” Snow said.“It’s a dangerous situation for staff andfor our residents.”Members are hopeful the ban onmandatory overtime will help Sunmountrecruit and retain nurses.“Our rally also focused on wagedisparity,” Snow said. ”The average salaryfor a nurse at Sunmount is 39 percentlower than salaries offered by other healthcenters in our region.“We are encouraged the commissionerTAKING A STAND — PEF Region 7Coordinator William Crotty, above,addresses the staff at a Sunmount Rally May29 inTupper Lake. Council Leader Ed Snow,left, speaks with a reporter explaining thedangers of understaffing at the facility.of Mental Retardation and DevelopmentDisabilities (OMRDD) read a letter ofsupport at our event, promising to makerecruitment and retention of nurses a toppriority.”Snow added the end to mandatoryovertime is laying the ground work for abetter work environment which he hopeswill make working at Sunmount moreappealing.www.pef.org The Communicator July-August 2008 — Page 5