174 elderly patients, including dialysis patients, were left stranded without a ride to their doctor’s appointments in New Jersey last week. CWA union members decided to attend an anti-Christie rally instead of going to work.
The CWA members were at an anti-Christie rally.
People in a large crowd wave signs and shout as labor unions and supporters, turned out in the rain outside New Jersey’s Statehouse in Trenton, N.J., Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, at a unity rally in support of Wisconsin workers locked in a battle over collective bargaining rights. Wisconsin state workers protesting a move by Gov. Scott Walker to severely curtail their collective bargaining rights have found allies in New Jersey. (AP/Mel Evans)
New Jersey State Senator Joe Kyrillos released this statement Monday, via Political Wrinkles.
In response to an apparent ‘sick-out’ staged by Monmouth County SCAT bus drivers, Senator Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth/Middlesex) called for the immediate firing of the 17 CWA workers involved:
“It is outrageous that 174 disabled and elderly clients who depend on SCAT were stranded by what appears to be a coordinated effort by employees to disrupt service without notice,” said Kyrillos. “The actions of these workers is completely unbecoming of any public servant, and should make every taxpayer in Monmouth County furious. CWA, the union representing these employees, needs to denounce their members for putting the well-being of these vulnerable individuals at risk, and the employees in question should be fired.”
Seventeen SCAT workers, including fourteen bus drivers for the developmentally disabled and senior citizens, took sick leave with no notice on Friday, February 25th- the same day as a coordinated demonstration organized by labor leaders at the State Capitol. Service was disrupted for 174 clients who take SCAT buses to medical appointments or work.
