Make TBO Your Home Page| Subscribe To The Paper| Advertise With Us| Contact Us| Login| Edit Profile| Register
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
ADVERTISEMENT
Poll Opened: October 22, 2008
Poll Closes: October 25, 2008
The Associated PressBOSTON - Some officials and people who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001, are criticizing a proposal by police in a Massachusetts city to get extra holiday pay for working on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
The proposal would give officers in Peabody who work on Sept. 11 an extra 25 percent over regular pay. It was recently negotiated into the new police union contact, which still needs budgetary approval from the City Council in the working class city north of Boston.
The head of the police union has said the union thought the holiday provision would be an appropriate way to honor and remember Sept. 11. No members of the Peabody police force were killed in the attacks, but some went to New York to help the city recover.
Wayne Nichols said the idea of a Sept. 11 holiday feels exploitive. Nichols' 38-year-old fiancee, Barbara Arestegui, was a flight attendant on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
"I could see it being a day of remembrance and all that good stuff, but a holiday for police officers who really weren't directly involved? It feels a little like they're exploiting the day, and I wish they wouldn't do that," said Nichols, who lives on Cape Cod.
The Peabody contract also gives officers a 13 percent pay hike over four years. The union accepted concessions on health care and allowed random drug testing.
There are about 100 members of the Peabody police department. The roughly 30 who would work Sept. 11 would get the 25 percent extra pay, while the rest would get a paid holiday at their regular wage rate.
Police union president Manny Costa has said it never occurred to union members who negotiated the new contract that some people would see the holiday as a way of exploiting the tragedy.
"That was never, ever thought of," he told The Salem News. "I'm not looking to cash in because thousands of people lost their lives."
Some city leaders say they will fight the provision.
"The fact that the (Peabody) police department would be receiving extra money for a day when it isn't a recognized national holiday, just doesn't sit well with me," City Councilor Ted Bettencourt said.
"There are other ways the city of Peabody and the police department can honor those who served and those that lost their lives that day," he said.
Robert Driscoll, another city councilor, noted that the union agreed to make some concessions, but said he, too, is uncomfortable linking the day to financial gain.
"To me, probably the best situation would be to say, 'OK, we'll give you the holiday, but maybe you'll donate that money to a charitable cause.'"
The department already has 12 paid holidays, including Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day), which commemorates the end of World War II; and Evacuation Day, which commemorates when the British left Boston during the Revolutionary War.
Even the New York City police department, which lost 23 officers at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, does not recognize the anniversary as a paid holiday.
The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which represents 24,000 NYPD officers, has tried without success to get a contract provision for extra pay for anti-terrorism work, spokesman Al O'Leary said. He called that more appropriate than extra pay for one day.
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)
* Keep it clean
* Respect others
* Don't hate
* Don't use web URLs or the comment will not post
* Don't use language you wouldn't use with your mom
* Use "Report Inappropriate Comments" link when necessary
* See Member Agreement for details
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
Reader Comments on this poll
Posted by ( RobKay ) on October 22, 2008 at 7:04 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Just what we need! Why not roll it together with Pearl Harbor Day, Black Friday, and the sinking of the Titanic and make it a Monday holiday so we can all take a long weekend off and get drunk! Whoever thinks thats a good idea should have his head examined.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Concerned1963 ) on October 22, 2008 at 7:48 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by ( Tampa610 ) on October 22, 2008 at 7:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
While we should always remember 9/11, it shouldn't be a holiday. Just as Pearl Harbor isn't a holiday, neither should 9/11.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( FACP ) on October 22, 2008 at 8:11 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Just another way for the cops to rip off the tax payers
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Old_Crusty ) on October 22, 2008 at 8:59 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
DoodleBugg,
Not necessarily the day we find him, but the day
he hangs would seem appropriate ;-}
We went back ta preview comments?
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( SMB ) on October 22, 2008 at 9:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Nothing says we will never forget like Cheap Plastic Party favors, discounted beer, and a 25% pay increase.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Concerned1963 ) on October 22, 2008 at 9:18 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
One could always hope the day we find him and the day we hang him are one and the same.
The preview comments option has been lurking about on a couple of stories today..... we can only hope it comes back!
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( DLynn1210 ) on October 22, 2008 at 9:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I agree with Tampa610 - I view a holiday as honoring an occasion or person. While we should never forget 911, we also should not honor the occasion.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( catskill ) on October 22, 2008 at 10:53 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
They have 12 paid holidays already?! One a month and they want to add another. Too bad they tried for 9/11 and got into the news.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( g8rnaughtmom ) on October 22, 2008 at 11:27 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
it is a day of remembrance, not a day to picnic or cookout, it is a day to reflect.Never to be forgotten, but not celebrated.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( XRayVision ) on October 22, 2008 at 11:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( JamesD ) on October 23, 2008 at midnight ( Suggest removal )
I am going to have to go with a no on this one. I had already saw how Harley dealers exploited the Rememberance rides and I was sickened by it. 9/11 should be a day of rememberance and respect much like Dec 7th. We do not have 50% off sales for Dec 7th nor should 9/11 be exploited in that fashion.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Veedub447 ) on October 23, 2008 at 12:02 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The 9/11 tragedy occurred in DC, New York, and the Pennsylvania countryside, what happened so terrible in Boston that cops there deserve extra pay?
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( bbdt ) on October 23, 2008 at 12:57 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Are we going to add Hurricane Katrina day too? How about Oklahoma City Bombing Day? Did someone say Going Postal Day? If we do an Amtrak Crash holiday we would that be a multi day holiday? Ridiculous! Is Hallmark in on this?
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( bdog ) on October 23, 2008 at 3:37 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
And the dumb ars award goes to (drum roll please).....The PEABODY POLICE UNION !!!! YEA!! WHISTLE WHISTLE! CHEAR!
Let's celabrate terrorism ! Free looting! Murdeer and mayhem! Hell, let's give all leo's the day off! With pay! Osama can be a guest speaker! Security at airports will be temporarily canceled!
Is it just me or is this the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard ?
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( BillSmith ) on October 23, 2008 at 5:20 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I treat every 9/11 as a day of reflection. I ususally take the day off and thank the good lord for my family and think how so many lives ended that day. A former Marine, I never really felt fear like I did that day because my son was in the Corps at the time and I knew he would be involved in the conflict to follow. Semper FI son.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( gina1108 ) on October 23, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
When I think of a paid holiday, I think about a day that is used to celebrate or observed in remembrance of somebody who did something great. 9/11 should NOT EVER be considered a paid holiday.
I still lived in NYC when it happened and there was nothing worth celebrating about that day. The union in Peabody, Mass should be ashamed of themselves.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( ANTICRIME ) on October 23, 2008 at 8:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It would be no different then Memorial day! MOST people would only use the day to party and get drunk, not to mention stores having their special "sales"! A moment of silence is more appropriate.
Report Inappropriate Comments