Let's talk facts: The strength and power of NYSCOPBA is not in the Executive Assembly, Executive Board or the President. The union's strength is from the support of our 23,000 members. While membership support is always needed, it has now become critically important in our fight to get you the compensation you deserve in a reasonable period of time.

The leadership of NYSCOPBA is reaching out to you to provide the strength and solidarity we need to overcome the unacceptable payment schedule proposed by the Comptroller's Office.

We realize that our members are angry, very angry. Let's make sure we direct that anger where it belongs, not at each other, and that we focus that anger in a controlled manner. While negotiations with the Comptrollers Office didn't go as well as was anticipated, we can apply pressure on many fronts to get you faster payment of your money.

We ask for your complete support so that we can show that the men and women we represent are a powerful force that can not be stopped from demanding what we deserve. Together we can aim our focus directly at the agency that is preventing us from getting the long overdue money we deserve.

Our request for your support is not a cop-out. You truly are the power of our union. We do have the power to accomplish our goal of speedy payment to each and every member. We will continue to fight side by side with you and to support our membership in any way we can. We can win this battle and become a stronger union with the help of all our members.