Wrong Way For '2507'

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the Letter to the Editor in your Sept. 8 edition titled "Mayor Callous re 9/11" from Marianne Pizzitola. In her letter, Ms. Pizzitola states that Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507 of District Council 37 told her to stop advocating for those members who were sick and dying due to WTC-related illnesses. This is untrue and quite to the contrary.

When her first article appeared while employed here, much to the surprise of this local, she was asked if she had actually sat with the Law Department prior to going on the attack to raise the concerns of our members. Her response was no.

The local informed her that the members' interests would perhaps be better served if we first met with the Law Department before publicly attacking them. Despite this direction, the very next week we found her again publicly attacking the Law Department.

Such scorched-earth approaches do little to resolve problems, and more often than not, work to the detriment of the membership.

When the local president requested a meeting with the Law Department, he was granted a meeting the very next week. At this meeting it was discovered that the number of EMS Workers' Compensation cases actually contested by the Law Department was less than one percent!

It was further discovered that the WTC-related cases were being contested based upon the Workers' Compensation Law regarding the filing period for injuries. The fix would require a change in the law that was recently signed by Governor Pataki.

Even though she was made aware that the needs of these members were being addressed, it was unacceptable to her unless it was placed in a public forum. While we appreciate her commitment, the local had an obligation to the entire membership as a body and could not sacrifice the needs of 2,400 members for the needs of fewer than 24 members. We simply do not have the luxury of being reckless.

Instead of engaging in the scorched-earth approach, the local, as part of the Public Employee Conference under the leadership of Peter Meringolo, worked to create new pension laws relating to WTC disability pensions.

It was also the Public Employee Conference with Peter Meringolo that was the prime mover of the recently-enacted WTC Death Benefit and the WTC Workers' Compensation reform. Rather than engage in a war to address just our members' issues, the local, as part of a larger coalition, joined under one banner to address the needs of all workers affected by this attack. Additionally, the author failed to mention the actions of the local's president in his role as the Chairman of the Labor Advisory Committee of the World Trade Center Health Registry of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She also failed to acknowledge the actions of Recording Secretary Israel Miranda as a member of the Steering Committee of the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program.

The writer is well aware of the local's actions in these programs as well as our actions as members of the Public Employee Conference and the benefit of these actions to all who were affected by the Sept. 11 attacks, yet she chose to omit these facts. A reasonable person would have to ask why.

The author goes on to claim that the Mayor wanted a pound of her flesh because she was hurting his re-election campaign. First, I doubt that the Mayor would even know her name. Second, given that he virtually coasted to his second term with a record margin, I imagine he would have greater concern over gum stuck to the sidewalk. And finally, if a pound of flesh were truly called for, why would the local president give her a nearly 20-percent increase in her compensation and continue to pay her to handle the cases she had started even after she had resigned? I would give a pound of flesh like that any day!

In closing, perhaps the reason the Mayor failed to respond to her is the same reason a lot of other people ignore her. You can't hit someone in the face and then ask for their help. Such an approach, while appearing to be bold, rarely proves effective.

DONALD FAETH, Vice President, Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics, FDNY