Happy 9/11!
America’s day of mourning is cause for celebration for these payroll patriots. Boston Herald:
Peabody cops will pocket extra pay to work Sept. 11 or take a day off, thanks to a new union contract.
Even though the date commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America is neither a state nor federal holiday, officers who work it will receive time-and -a-quarter compensation, while others will have the option of taking the day off, said Manny Costa, president of the Peabody Police Benevolent Association.
One 9/11 victim’s brother, contacted by the Herald, voiced disgust.
“I’m really shocked,” said the brother, who asked that his name be withheld. “They’re just taking advantage of a tragic event for their own gain, and I don’t appreciate it.”
Costa insists this isn’t about money, but respect.
“Every year we memorialize the losses of all the brother officers and firemen. That was the reason for it,” he said.
The Oct. 2 contract also awards police a 13-percent raise over the next four years.
In exchange for the Sept. 11 holiday, the union gave health insurance concessions and agreed to drug testing, while the city pledged to use only paid police details for road projects.
Police in Peabody, as well as Derry, N.H., may be the first in the country to adopt Sept. 11 as a holiday. Even the Big Apple, which lost dozens of cops and hundreds of firefighters in the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers, doesn’t recognize it as a holiday and provide no special pay, said Joseph Mancini, a spokesman for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of New York City.
“I’ve never heard of it,” Mancini said.
Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said Peabody is sending the wrong message in this nightmarish economy.
“Cities and towns will almost certainly see cuts in state aid and they need to reduce expenditures, not add new benefits,” Widmer said.
But some police union groups applauded the move.
“That’s a great idea. Good for the city of Peabody. That’s a significant day in American history,” said Medford officer Harry MacGilvray, president of the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition. Stephanie Zaiser, spokeswoman for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 250 unions, commended Peabody for acknowledging “9/11 as a day … to memorialize the greatest single day of sacrifice and loss in public safety history.”
In America we usually memorialize our war dead on Memorial Day, and unless your local cop union is particularly worthless, you already get holiday pay for that.
I have an idea. How about, instead of sticking your hands out, all the guys and gals chip in for a wreath to mark the day, or maybe make a donation for the war wounded and families left behind by the many thousands of men and women in uniform who have given all since 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. I appreciate the fact that cops put it on the line every single day when they go out on the streets. But holiday pay seems like a pretty sleazy way of observing 9/11.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:07 am Comments (2) on Tuesday, October 21, 2008
2 Responses to “Happy 9/11!”
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October 21st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Costa insists this isn’t about money, but respect.
It’s about respect for money.
Wankers.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 am
Love the juxtaposition Jeff. It rings of truth.