Workers Unable To Get To Work During Blizzard Severely Punished
Despite the Governor's declaration of a State of Emergency and pleas to employers to stagger hours and keep people off the roads during the Blizzard earlier this week, Smurfit-Stone Container in Wakefield, MA has severely penalized workers unable to get to work on Monday.
Employees who were unable to get to work on Monday as a result of the Blizzard were not paid for the Christmas or Christmas Eve Holidays as provided for in the Contract with the Union. Employees who came in late on Monday will only be paid one of the holidays.
To place such a heavy financial penalty on these workers, particularly at this time of the year, who, through no fault of their own, were unable to get to work, is unconscionable. Even those who fought the elements and got there late lost one day of their holiday pay, this is just ridiculous.
In a written response to the Union's initial inquiry on this matter, John Reis, Business Unit Human Resources Manager responded:
"Those who failed to work the day after the holiday were disqualified from both holidays pay... Those who were late were paid one holiday in recognition of their efforts. Please refer to the SOE {State of Emergency} - the SOE does not in itself affect the operation of private enterprises. Businesses are not automatically closed by the governor's declaration."
Both the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Company's Attendance Policy allow for management to excuse absences. Common sense would seem to dictate that if there was ever a reason to excuse an absence, it was this storm. Smurfit-Stone’s heavy-handed tactics in this situation demonstrates how little regard they have for their workers.
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