No 'Joe' on Breaks

GOSHEN, NEW YORK

In a move to cut costs and increase work hours, Orange County Exec. Edward Diana recently ordered all county departments to cancel workers' twice-daily, 15-minute coffee breaks, leaving more than 2,200 CSEA members in a lurch for their daily fix — and angry at the exec's disrespect toward the workers. County employees have enjoyed paid breaks for years.

Embroiled in tense negotiations for a contract that expired in December, the feisty unit is fighting back. Solidarity over this issue has spilled over into a new drive for a decent, fair contract. Workers are wearing stickers bearing a coffee cup with the logo, "Diana: Give Us a Break." A poll by the Middletown Times Herald-Record shows that 78 percent of the public supports the employees.

"Taking away breaks has further destroyed workers' morale, which is already in the gutter," says unit Pres. Ron Greene. "We have been seeing many grievances on this issue already, and I expect that they will continue."

CSEA Labor Relations Specialist Glenn Blackman called Diana's argument — that banning coffee breaks would save the county hundreds of lost work hours — "fuzzy math." That kind of calculation might work, he says, if "you're producing widgets and the assembly line shuts down when everyone goes on break. Orange County isn't going to shut down. The work gets done."