Page 6 - Work Force November 2018

cseany.org
Going the extra mile
November 2018 Vol. 21, No. 10
See page 6
CARMEL — When the time comes to replace an American flag too tattered or weathered to display, tradition dictates that the old flag be retired with dignity and reverence.
Often, that means veterans organizations such as the American Legion and other groups hold formal flag retirement ceremonies where old flags are retired properly in accordance with U.S. Flag Code, a federal law that notes guidelines for displaying the flag, conduct relating to the flag and proper disposal.
When CSEA members working
for Putnam County learned that the county’s Veterans Service Agency planned to create a flag drop outside the agency’s office, they saw a chance to use their talents to ensure the project’s success.
A patriotic project
CSEA Putnam County Local 1st Vice President Mark Semo, a master mechanic at the county, and Justyn Lewis learned about the plans for the flag drop when they were dispatched to the Veterans Service Agency to set a small concrete slab, which was to
serve as a base for a mailbox slated to be repurposed for a new cause.
The office’s director, Karl Rohde, recounted the story in his agency’s newsletter, explaining that a local veteran who retired from the U.S. Postal Service had secured an old mailbox that would otherwise have been destroyed.
“We received the work order to set the concrete, so we asked what they planned on doing with the mailbox,” Semo said. “It was a relic. We took it upon ourselves to fix it up for them.”
What started as a small work order resulted in a project drawing in other workers from the county’s Department of Highways and Facilities.
“We searched Google to see what other people had done and then came up with our design,” Semo said. “We had to sand the mailbox down, and then we brought it to our mechanics to free up the door because it wasn’t working well and needed some rivets in it. We fixed it up, painted it and then brought it to our sign shop, where they added a flag and a sign.”
The work and design drew raves, including an article in the Veterans Service Agency newsletter lauding the workers and the retired veteran, Sam Rappa.
Semo noted that the project was truly a group effort. In addition
to Lewis and Semo, CSEA Putnam County Unit members Josh Bulcher, Rob Kramer and Rusty Mulkins took part.
On the cover, Putnam County Local 1st Vice President and Putnam County Unit member Mark Semo and unit member Justyn Lewis pose by an old mailbox they and other unit members renovated into a flag drop box to allow county residents to place aging flags
so they can be retired with dignity. (Photo by Putnam County)
“They took it upon themselves to prepare an abandoned mailbox into a distinguished flag drop,” said Putnam County Unit President Janet Canaday. “We’re proud to see how our members not only do their job, but voluntarily go the extra mile when they see the opportunity to help.”
— Jessica Ladlee
Our members fight to retrieve comp time
BROOKLYN — Without so much as
a warning, hundreds of comp time hours vanished for scores of workers at SUNY Downstate earlier this
year and they’ve filed a class action grievance to get those hours back.
“It wasn’t a gift,” said Thurston Andrews, a clerk at the hospital’s Telecommunications department who lost more than 700 hours of comp time. “It was something I earned.”
SUNY Downstate Local president Althea Green cited the past practice always allowed workers to roll their comp time over into the new year.
The addition of a new accounting program and the hiring of new personnel in the Human Resources department may have played a
part in the disappearance of these comp hours, according to our SUNY Downstate Local officers.
When she inquired, Green was also informed about an unknown memo from 1986 regarding the treatment of comp time.
“We weren’t notified that there was a cap on 240 hours or more,” said Green. “No one but Human Resources was notified and it wasn’t forwarded to workers. Not even the supervisors knew about the memo.”
Andrews, who works in a department “where the light never goes off,” lamented the loss of hundreds of those hours and the many sacrifices he’s made over the years.
“We go to work expecting to leave when our shift is over, but we have no control over that,” said Andrews, who has worked at the hospital for more than 30 years. “If my relief doesn’t come in, I’m there for another shift.”
Thurston Andrews, a telecommunications tech at SUNY Downstate, discusses his comp time situation with SUNY Downstate Local President Althea Green.
6 The Work Force
Green is determined to make these workers whole and is awaiting a decision before the end of the year.
“They need to give them the time back or pay them out,” she said.
— David Galarza
November 2018
Photo by Jessica Ladlee