Getting His Due —And Others' As Well

NEW MILFORD, CONNECTICUT

Back in 1999, when volunteer firefighter Herbert Furhman spent 16 hours battling a Connecticut forest fire, he didn't figure he'd pay for his effort. But supervisors at the Garner Correctional Institution, where he serves as a counselor, figured otherwise: The time spent saving state land, they said, would not be compensated, and would be charged against his vacation or sick leave or as personal days.

That, replied Furhman, a union steward in Local 1565 (Council 4), is not how state employees who volunteer vital services should be treated. So he set out to change the applicable statute.

This past October, acting in behalf of all volunteer firefighters and for ambulance-company employees, he secured just treatment. It took some doing. The law in effect in '99 specified that no charge against employee time would be made if he or she responded to an emergency call after arriving at work; Furhman had called in before working hours. State Rep. Mary Ann Carson, a Republican, quickly submitted new legislation permitting an emergency response at any time — without losing either pay or time off. She failed to get the bill passed "until we got more interest in it" this year.

While Carson was pushing from her end, Furhman took his case to the Correction Commissioner and on to a state senator and Connecticut's attorney general. The AG ordered Furhman's bosses to pay him for the time missed. But determined to establish a broad right to fair treatment, he and Carson pushed ahead in the legislature.

The Correction department makes clear that it does not oppose the change; "in other roles in their home communities," a spokesman says, "the department is extremely proud of its men and women and their commitment." Furhman himself urges all state workers to notify supervisors of their areas of expertise. "We're all public servants," he notes proudly.