District Manager Frank Gulluscio and Chairman Joe Hennessy
Term limit tension
rises at CB 6 meet
BY MAX PARROTT
What started out as
a routine meeting in
Community Board 6 on May 8
ended with a tense exchange
over the future of the advisory
bodies across the city.
At the meeting, two board
members squared off over
their views of the term limit
reforms that overwhelmingly
passed in November.
The provision, which
received about 72 percent of
the vote, limits community
board members to a
maximum of four consecutive
two-year terms. Those in
favor of term limits argue
that they will help open
the community board to
fresh faces who reflect the
district’s underrepresented
demographics. It just took
effect in April.
Chairman Joe Hennessy
obliquely referenced these
changes in his opening report,
which will be his last before
the board’s summer break. “I
know the community board
is heading into a new age
and nobody seems to know
what’s going to happen in
the following years,” said
Hennessy. “People who are
appointed now are appointed
for two years. What’s going to
happen with re-appointments
nobody knows.”
During the public
forum, board member
Steve Goldberg returned
to the topic. He argued that
ousting people eager to serve
their community board is a
betrayal, adding that those in
favor of reform simply should
lead by example and give up
their spots to new members.
“A lot of people don’t run
for political office because
they disagree with the tenets
of their party or they disagree
Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
how their community views
their service. All I’m saying
is if you are so dissatisfied
with being on this board,
the next time you get a letter
from the borough president,
you can choose not to return
it,” said Goldberg.
Peter Beadle, a board
member who was outspokenly
in favor of community board
reform in his testimony
to the Charter Revision
Commission, objected to
Goldberg’s comments.
“The reason I take the
position in favor of term
limits is because I love
community boards. This is
the most fundamental part
of our democracy. It’s when
people can come in and have
their voices heard. And it’s
an opportunity for us to
make agency officials stand
right here and listen to us,”
Beadle said.
In opposition to Hennessy
and Goldberg’s somber
characterization of the new
provisions, Beadle’s was one
of rosy optimism.
“Every suggestion I’ve
ever made have been to
make community boards
in this changing era, with
changing demographics and
changing technology even
more effective so that other
people can no longer make
the accusation that we’re
a dinosaur that no longer
needs to exist. Because we are
flexible and we are willing
to be self-reflective when
change is needed,” he said.
After the meeting, a new
council member walked up to
Beadle to thank him for his
words.
Reach reporter Max Parrott
by e-mail at mparrott@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 224-5863, ext. 226.
Workers rail over sick leave
Airport workers claim company abused benefits
BY BILL PARRY
Several elected officials
joined airport workers and
union leaders on the steps of
City Hall last week calling
demanding justice after Eulen
America employees at John
F. Kennedy Airport were
forced in March to use up paid
sick leave that they accrued
in 2018.
New York City law clearly
authorizes workers to carry
over up to 40 hours of unused
sick time per year.
On May 9, the airport
workers announced they had
filed complaints with the city
Department of Consumer and
Worker Protection against
Eulen America.
“We were badly
understaffed because workers
were forced to use up their paid
sick leave,” JFK and Eulen
Passenger Verification Agent
Whitney Moore said. “Those
of us working our shifts had
to do everything, whether
it’s in our job description
or not. For instance, we did
not have enough workers
to push the wheelchairs so
managers, on a daily basis,
asked my co-workers to push
two wheelchairs at the same
time because we were severely
shorthanded. It ended up being
a disservice to passengers and
workers alike.”
Councilman Francisco
Moya stood with the airport
workers saying denying their
lawful right to sick pay is
petty, cheap and shameful.
“Everyone gets sick.
Providing paid sick leave
isn’t a luxury; it’s simply
acknowledging reality and
responding humanely,” Moya
said. “It’s curious how wealth
never trickles down to the
working class but hardship
always seems to when it comes
to corporations like Eulen
America and their profits. I
stand in solidarity with the
Eulen America workers at
JFK and for treating people
with dignity and decency.”
Eulen America said these
are accusations by a union
which is putting politics before
the facts in an effort to drum
up support.
“We take our full
compliance with New York
City Worker Protection &
Workplace Laws and all other
applicable regulations and
laws very seriously,” Eulen
America CEO Xavier Rabell
Eulen America airport worker Whitney Moore rallied against paid
sick leave violations at JFK during a City Hall protest.
said. “SEIU’s allegations that
workers must use or lose paid
sick leave are simply false.
The facts are clear, Eulen
America has a generous and
well documented Paid Time
Off/Sick Leave policy for out
JFK employees which allows
40 hours, the maximum
permissible amount, of unused
PTO to be carried over for
use through March 31 of the
following year.”
The union’s allegations
have been noticed on
Capitol Hill.
“Paid sick leave is critical
to hard-working New Yorkers,”
Congresswoman Grace Meng
said. “The allegations raised
by JFK workers are serious
and I stand with them and
32BJ in their fight to protect
paid sick leave.... Any attempt
to shortchange working men
and women out of this critical
benefit is unacceptable.”
New York City’s Earned
Safe and Sick Time Act gives
covered workers the right to
carry over to the next calendar
year up to 40 hours of unused
sick leave. Workers accrue one
Courtesy of 32BJ SEIU
hour for every 30 hours worked
but, because most workers are
part-time who struggle to get
30 hours in a given week, it
takes a long time for workers
to accrue paid sick leave time.
The city law also allows
covered workers to take paid
sick leave to seek legal and
social services assistance or
take other safety measures
if the employee or a family
member may be the victim
of any act of domestic
violence or unwanted
sexual contact, stalking, or
human trafficking.
“Eulen America
undermined the very purpose
of sick leave by allegedly
forcing workers to spend it at
the contractor’s discretion,
rather than when those
workers actually needed it,”
Congressman Gregory Meeks
said. “Thankfully there are
laws to protect against this
type of workplace abuse, and
I stand with 32BJ in ensuring
that these workers’ claims are
heard fairly and violations are
met with justice.”
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