Page 14 - Work Force June 2019

OWEGO — State Department of Transportation Highway Maintenance Worker 1 Ryan Ashman was working at a different worksite when he got the call that his co-worker and close friend Dennis “Matt” Howe had
been seriously injured when a tractor-trailer hit his work vehicle.
While Howe lay in critical condition in the hospital, Ashman thought of a way he could help Howe’s wife and two children. Howe passed away from his injuries on March 18, five days after the incident.
“I saw him in the hospital and it wasn’t pretty,” Ashman said. “I knew something had to be done for his family because they were not ready for what happened, and really there is no way to prepare for this kind of situation.”
Ashman decided to raise money for the family by selling shirts, sweatshirts and hats bearing the hashtag #MoveOverForMatt and
a logo identical to the arrow that was on the back of Howe’s truck, reminding people to “move over, it’s the law.”
All proceeds go to Howe’s family, and the effort has already raised nearly $10,000.
Ashman hopes the fundraiser also raises needed awareness.
“My hope for the #moveoverformatt fundraiser is really more than just moving over
for Matt,” he said. “It’s moving over for me and all my brothers and sisters at the DOT, it’s moving over for every law enforcement officer that’s got someone on the side of the road, all the tow truck drivers, all the EMTs, anybody who gets a flat tire on the side of the road. If there’s flashing lights on the shoulder, it’s just common courtesy to move over and it’s the law.”
“I really hope that getting the message out there in this way helps people realize that it’s a real life or death situation when you’re going 65 miles per hour past somebody on the shoulder,” he said.
Ashman said he wishes members of the motoring public could experience what it feels like to work alongside a busy highway.
“Working on the highway is one of the most gut-wrenching things that I’ve ever done,” he said. “To step foot out there with the traveling public bearing down on you at 75 miles per hour, there’s just no way to explain it, it’s a feeling like no other. I wish everybody who had a license had the opportunity to stand in a work zone and feel the rush of a tractor-trailer going by at 75 [miles per hour], three feet away.”
Ashman’s #MoveOverForMatt fundraiser can be accessed online at: www.wwsport.com/p/move-over-for- matt
— Mark M. Kotzin
Unions were key to improving these conditions. For nearly a century, union members were among those who fought to shorten the workday and workweek, as well as end child labor. People have fought and died for these advances.
Addie Card, 12, works as a spinner in a North Pownal, VT. cotton mill, circa, 1912. (Photo by Lewis Hine, in public domain).
the right to a minimum wage and overtime pay standards.
While the FLSA is imperfect, it’s because of this law that most workers have two consecutive days off per
week and must be paid at least a minimum wage. In recent years, anti-worker groups have
tried to erode these rights, particularly those related to overtime pay.
The FLSA, however, did not
Working People’s History: A look at FLSA
DOT worker helps family of fallen co-worker
During the early 20th century, many young children were not sent to school, but were instead sent to work in places such as coal mines and factories.
They, along with people of all ages, worked about 12 hours a day and six days
a week, often
in dangerous
working
conditions and at
very low wages.
the Fair Labor Standards) Act as part of his New Deal initiative. The new law established the eight-hour workday, five-day workweek for most employees and ended most child labor in the United States. Also established under FLSA are
Amid the
Great Depression
and Franklin
D. Roosevelt’s election as U.S. President, labor organizations ramped up their decades-long fight to establish national standards for wages and hours.
apply to some groups of workers, including farmworkers, who were seen as seasonal or contract workers under the law. CSEA is a strong supporter of farmworker rights, and we stand alongside these workers as their fight continues.
On June 25, 1938, Roosevelt signed the Wages and Hours (later
ATTENTION: CSEA/VOICE 100A Members Important Election Information
2019 is an election year for VOICE 100A. CSEA/VOICE 100A members are eligible to hold CSEA office. VOICE
100A is divided into 25 geographical chapters, in which each chapter shall elect a Chapter Representative.
Following the February 25, 2019 candidate application deadline, there were races in six Chapters. Election ballots were mailed from CSEA Headquarters on May 16, 2019 to all
eligible CSEA/VOICE 100A members. Ballots will be due on June
11, 2019. Each elected Chapter Representative will hold office for three years, beginning July 1, 2019 and ending June 30, 2022.
If you have any questions, you
may contact the Statewide Election Committee at 1-800-342-4146, ext. 1447 or sec@cseainc.org.
Continued on page 15
Above, CSEA Southern Tier State Employees Local member and state DOT Highway Maintenance Worker I Ryan Ashman stands in front of State Route 17, holding one of the shirts he had printed to remember his co-worker Dennis “Matt” Howe and raise awareness of New York’s Move Over Law.
14 The Work Force
June 2019