Public Employees Federation

What Public Employees Federation does

Public Employees Federation (PEF) is a non-profit labor union founded in 1979 and headquartered in Albany, New York, that serves as the exclusive collective bargaining representative for New York State employees in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PS&T) Unit. PEF negotiates multi-year contracts with the State covering wages, benefits, and working conditions — most recently the proposed 2026-2031 PS&T agreement — and provides legal representation, grievance handling, civil service enforcement, health and safety advocacy, professional development funding (Article 15), scholarships, and legislative/political action through its COPE program.

The union's underlying technology is operational rather than product-oriented: standard union management systems (membership database, grievance tracking, communications platforms) augmented by a member portal, the PEF mobile app (iOS/Android) with region/division/agency-targeted notifications and grievance forms, the Membership Benefits Program portal (pefmbp.com), and a Health & Safety Training Hub. Member-facing communications run through a monthly email newsletter (The Communicator) and social channels (Facebook, X, Instagram, Bluesky, Vimeo).

PEF's business model is funded entirely by recurring membership dues deducted from member paychecks, with no disclosed pricing or external revenue streams. It serves a single customer segment — NY State PS&T Unit employees — through a network of 12 regional offices across New York State, supported by 51-100 staff and a regional coordinator/division council/steward structure. PEF is affiliated with AFL-CIO, maintains a partnership with AFT for community programming, and is governed by an elected president (Wayne Spence), executive board, and member delegates.

Name

Public Employees Federation

Legal name

Public Employees Federation

Website

https://pef.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Public Employees Federation (PEF) is a New York State labor union, founded in 1979, that exclusively represents Professional, Scientific, and Technical Unit state employees through collective bargaining, legal representation, member benefits, and advocacy across 12 regional offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New Albany

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Union Membership Dues: PEF generates revenue through membership dues paid by New York State public employees in the PS&T Unit. Dues fund union operations, staff salaries, organizing efforts, contract negotiations, legal representation, and member benefits programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Public Employees Federation (PEF) is a labor union representing New York State Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PS&T) Unit public employees. It provides collective bargaining, contract negotiation, grievance representation, legal advocacy, professional development funding, scholarship programs, and a member benefits program. Services are delivered through 12 statewide regional offices, a central headquarters in Albany, and digital platforms including a member portal and mobile app.

Product overview

Public Employees Federation (PEF) is the union for New York State Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PS&T) Unit employees. Rather than a technology product company, PEF offers member services including a member portal, mobile app, health and safety training, professional development programs, and member benefits. The core offering consists of union representation, contract negotiation, and member support services delivered through digital platforms including the PEF website, PEF mobile app, and PEF Membership Benefits Program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PEF Membership Benefits Program: Member benefits program offering various benefits to PEF members and retirees

Products and services

• PEF Member Portal Primary online platform for PEF members to access union services, including member resources, grievance forms, policy documents, and union communications.
• PEF Mobile App Mobile application for iOS and Android providing members and retirees access to union resources, targeted notifications based on Region/Division/Agency, letter-writing campaigns, surveys, and grievance forms.
• PEF Membership Benefits Program (MBP) Member benefits program offering discounts, insurance, and other member-exclusive benefits to PEF members and retirees.
• PEF Health & Safety Training Hub Training platform providing health and safety courses and resources for PEF members.
• Public Service Workshops Program Professional development workshops offered to PEF members under Article 15 of the PS&T contract, covering training courses, grants, workshop reimbursement, and licensure exam fees.
• Communicator Newsletter Monthly email newsletter keeping PEF members current on union news, contract updates, and member events.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AFT (American Federation of Teachers)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 June 2025PEF partners with AFT for the annual Community Wellness Fair & Book Giveaway. This is a third consecutive year partnership (2025). The event is free and open to PEF members, retirees, staff, and their families, as well as the local community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• AFT - American Federation of Teachers: AFT is a national federation of education and public employee unions and is an active partner of PEF (joint Community Wellness Fair). It is directly comparable as a federation that affiliates public sector unions with collective bargaining and legislative advocacy functions.
• AFSCME - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees: AFSCME is the largest national union of public sector employees, covering state, county, and municipal workers in NY and across the country. It competes for the same general pool of public sector workers PEF represents and offers a directly comparable dues-funded bargaining and advocacy model.
• UFCW - United Food and Commercial Workers International Union: UFCW is a national labor union with a significant NY membership across public-adjacent and private-sector workers. It is comparable because it operates the same dues-funded membership, contract negotiation, and grievance representation model as PEF.
• NYSUT - New York State United Teachers: NYSUT represents public sector education employees across New York. It is highly comparable to PEF because both are large NY-based public sector unions with collective bargaining, dues-funded operations, regional structure, and similar political/legislative advocacy functions.
• UAW - International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America: The UAW is a national labor union with expanding public sector organizing, including in NY. It is comparable because it is a dues-funded union built around collective bargaining, contract negotiation, grievance representation, and political action for a defined member constituency.
• SEIU - Service Employees International Union: SEIU is a major national union representing public sector and healthcare workers, including a sizable NY membership. It is comparable because it organizes and bargains on behalf of public employees using a similar dues-funded, contract-negotiation model.
• Teamsters - International Brotherhood of Teamsters: The Teamsters represent a broad base of public and private sector workers nationally and in NY. It is comparable as a large dues-funded union that conducts contract bargaining, grievance handling, and political advocacy on behalf of a defined membership base.
• CSEA - Civil Service Employees Association: CSEA is the largest NY State public employee union, representing a different set of state bargaining units. It is directly comparable to PEF as both are NY State public sector unions that negotiate with the same state employer on behalf of state government employees, with similar dues-funded membership models.

Broad incumbents

• AFL-CIO: AFL-CIO is the national labor federation of which PEF is an affiliate. It is a broad incumbent that operates at the federation level rather than bargaining unit level, providing political/legislative coordination that complements PEF's bargaining and representation functions.

Emerging players

• NAGE - National Association of Government Employees: NAGE is a national union representing state and federal government employees. It is comparable as a smaller, niche public-sector union that competes for overlapping bargaining units using a similar dues-funded contract-negotiation model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nyspef
• YouTubevimeo.com/nyspef
• Facebookfacebook.com/PublicEmployeesFederation
• Instagraminstagram.com/nyspef
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nys-public-employees-federation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Public Employees Federation