Thanks to our petition, on November 15, 2023, the Public Employees Federation (PEF) hosted a telephone townhall in which the union’s legislative director, Patrick Lyons discussed the Freedom Foundation communicating with Parole Officers.  

Apparently, PEF and its parent union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is opposed to the Freedom Foundation informing PEF members about their First Amendment right to stop paying union dues. 

In fact, AFT recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Freedom Foundation. According to PEF President Wayne Spence, “This is the first time in my history I’ve seen this happen.” 

Now that the Freedom Foundation is involved with assisting Parole Officers in joining the powerful New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), PEF is doing everything in its power to stop it from happening.                                                                                                            

The reality is PEF does not have Parole Officers’ best interests in mind. As a reminder, PEF endorsed and bankrolled every politician that sponsored “Less is More.” 

Action speaks louder than words and PEF only cares about its members’ dues. Since PEF members made up 20% of New Yorkers that quit their union in 2023, PEF is fighting back against the Freedom Foundation with misinformation and fearmongering.  

Thankfully, our petition is disrupting and exposing the truth about PEF and receiving much needed attention. Stand with us as we continue our fight for better representation, benefits and working conditions for our fellow Parole Officers.

If you're an active NYS Parole Officer, Senior Parole Officer or Parole Revocation Specialist and agree that it’s unacceptable that PEF stands in the way of our quest to join NYSCOPBA, click here to stop paying PEF dues.

In solidarity,

New York State Parole Officers