Bruce Giddings was elected PEF Vice President in June 2024 after serving three years as a PEF Trustee.
As a Trustee, he conducted critical oversight of union policies, working in collaboration with his fellow trustees to ensure the union’s policies were sound and in the best interest of members.
Originally hired by New York State in 1988 as a principle drafting tech, Giddings is now an assistant electrical engineer at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. His work has taken him from Port Jefferson, Long Island, to Love Canal in Buffalo, to Plattsburgh and Cape Vincent in the north.
“I have enjoyed designing recreation projects and fish and wildlife projects in the Adirondacks and Catskill parks,” Giddings said. “Serving the public by building them new and renovated facilities motivates me.”
Giddings joined PEF in March 1988. He became a Steward for PEF Division 169 and then was elected Treasurer. He has held a seat on the PEF Executive Board seat for six years and served as Civil Service Committee co-chair; on labor/management and health and safety committees; and on the AFT Climate Task Force, AFT Greening Schools, and Workplaces Committee.
During the COVID pandemic, he provided members with information about telecommuting and ensured oversight of agency health and safety mandated guidelines and protocols. As a vice president, he intends to work on projects and issues assigned by President Spence, always maintaining his core values of integrity, fairness and the ability to listen.
“It offers me new challenges, which inspires me to better serve the members I have represented and the new members I have yet to serve,” he said. “I know that I can help strengthen the mission and forward direction of our union.”
Being a union leader for more than two decades has been rewarding, Giddings said.
“I am proud of the continued years of service I offer to my colleagues and PEF siblings. I am proud to know that I have helped inform and direct members so they may proceed with their valuable work serving New Yorkers. But most of all, I am proud to be an example to my three sons,” Giddings said. “I hope they follow in their father’s footsteps and find joy in serving others.”
Giddings lives in Albany, where he is active in his community and a Deacon in his church.