NYlagsinstatewidedirectiveoncompressedworkweek
Working 9-5 may become a thing of the past
ByDEBORAHA.MILES
“Weareinanenergycrisis,andthe
Theterm“goinggreen”encompassesa
bestthingtodowhichisimmediateand
lotmorethanfindingwaystobe
effectiveisenergyconservation,”said
environmentallycorrect.Forthosewho
LawrenceD’Arco,anenvironmental
takeadvantageofacompressedworkweek
programspecialistinPEFDivision169.
ortelecommuting,it’sachangeoflife
“Theotherchangesnecessaryto
comparedtothenine-to-fiveroutine.
improvetheenvironmentandeconomy
Forexample,UtahGov.JonHuntsman
willtakeyearstoimplement.Compressed
Jrimposedafour-dayworkweekon
payperiodscouldbedonewithin
approximately17,000stateemployeesat
months.Itwouldmeanonedayless
thebeginningofAugust.WhileUtahisthe
everytwoweeksforpeopletocommute,”
firststatetomakethefour-dayworkweek
D’Arcosaid. “Therewouldbesavingsin
mandatorywitha7a.m.to6p.m.shift,
gastomembersandreductionin
otherstatesarefollowingsuit.
pollution.It’saquality-of-lifeissuethat
NewMexicoGov.BillRichardsonhas
affectseverybody.
orderedstateagenciestoadoptapolicy
“Thegovernorshouldtakethelead,”
fortelecommutingandalternativework
headded.
schedules.Andhighgasolinepriceshave
compressedworkweek,becauseonly PEFDirectorofLaborRelationsRoger
promptedstatessuchasMichigan,
thosewhoenrolledinthepilotprogram ScalessaidPEFsubmitted“awholehost
KentuckyandSouthCarolinatoconserve
areeligible.Bergersaiditisthenumber ofproposals”duringbargainingaboutthe
ongasolineandenergybyimplementing
oneissuebroughttoPEFstewards. compressedworkweekthatwererejected.
orexpandingalternativework
“Withtheskyrocketingcostofgas, Henotedtheagreementhasalways
arrangementsattheirstateagencies.
moremembersaskstewardseveryday includedasectiononcompressed
WhataboutNewYork?
aboutthestatusoftheprogram,aswell workweeks.
PEFPresidentKenBryniensaidthe
astelecommutingandflexibletime “Wearedealingwithadifferent
PS&Tcontracthasofferedthecompressed
scheduling,”hesaid.“Thecompressed governornow,andhemayhavea
workweekfor30years.
workweekisprobablythemostpopular, differentapproach.Thecompressed
“It’suptoeachagencytodevelopa
desiredemployeeprogramhereandwe’ve workweekisnowanationalissue,”
planthroughlabor-management,”
beenworkingtogetitexpandedforyears. Scalessaid.
Bryniensaid.“But,unlikeUtah,NewYork
Wearehopefulmanagementwillbemore Brynienisalsoraisingthisissuewith
mustprovidetaxpayerswiththesame
receptive.” Gov.DavidPaterson.
servicesifthecompressedworkweekis
“Webelievethegovernorneedsto
implemented.”
Executive directive needed step-upanddirectagenciestoget
Formorethan600PEFmemberswho
“Weknowthestateisconcerned, involvedasothergovernorshavedone,”
workatthestateDepartmentofTaxation
becauseittooktheNYS-Ridepilot Bryniensaid.“Thisisanimportantissue
andFinance,workingafour-dayweekor
programfromthelastPS&Tagreementto thatneedsaggressiveyetfairguidelines
telecommutinghasalreadybecomeaway
astatewideprograminthenewcontract,” thatwillbring
oflife.Butatotheragencies,suchasthe
Bergersaid.“Thestateisshowingitis forthacommon
stateDepartmentofEnvironmental
gettingreadytoemphasizetheneedto goodthroughout
Conservation(DEC),managementisn’t
providerelieftoemployeesandtoseek thestate.”
gettingthemessagethatgreenistheway
morecreativecommutingoptions.”
togo.
DEC program stagnant
New look to the
Ironically,DECwasoneofthefirstto
haveapilotprogramforacompressed
PS&T contract book
workweekin2001,accordingtoKarl
MembersinthePS&Tbargainingunitshouldbereceiving
Berger,aPEFExecutiveBoardmember
their2007-2011Agreementverysoon.
andcitizenparticipationspecialist2.
Youwillnoticetheformatisdifferentthantheprevious
“Theprogramwasjudgedasuccess
contractbooks. Inadditiontothechangeinthesizeofthe
prettymuchacross-the-board,”Berger
booklet(whichwasdueinparttobindingcapabilities),the
said.“We’vebeentryingtoget
printsizeisincreasedtomakethetexteasiertoread.
managementtoexpandit.It’sbeenon
Thenewcontractalsoincludesanewsubjectmatterindexthat
ourlabor-managementagendaforyears.
includescross-referencesinthetextofthecontractandrelatedsideletters.Theindex
Wewouldliketoseeitbeingofferedtoall
adds16pagestotheagreementandisdesignedtoempowermembers,stewardsand
employees,dependingonoperational
leadersbyallowingthemtofindquicklyanysubjectorarticle.
need.”
Thecontractswillbemailedoutlaterthismonth.CalltheweeklyPEFInformation
Lessthan200ofDEC’s3,700
Linetofindoutwhentheyareinthemail,orcheckthePEFWebsite.
employeesaretakingadvantageofthe
—DeborahA.Miles
www.pef.org TheCommunicatorSeptember2008—Page11
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