This post was submitted by Celia Wexler who is on vacation this week...
There are lots of reasons I should not be writing this blog. One, I'm on vacation. Two, it concerns an issue that is not precisely a Common Cause issue. But Common Cause always has been about sticking up for the little guy and fairness, and this story, buried on the Federal Page of The Washington Post on Monday, August 29, speaks to both. It also speaks to the issues and people the media find compelling. This story, which has not yet been picked up by any major news outlets, landed on page A13 under a headline, "Noted with Interest."
The Post reports that a mother of an Iraqi soldier was denied two days off to see her son return to the U.S. after serving seven months in Iraq.
Was it some hard-hearted capitalist not wanting to spare one of his best lawyers, or accountants or stock brokers? Was it the head of a hospital department who could not spare his trauma nurse?
No, it was Uncle Sam, begrudging the time from a federal custodian who has worked for the government for 15 years, sweeping congressional offices.
According to The Post, Danielette James had the temerity to ask not once, but twice, for time off to see her son. The first time, she got very sudden word that her son would be home on August 5, and James called her supervisor to ask for time off for that night. The supervisor says she honored James' request and gave her the time off; James says her pay was docked. Either way, it turned out that the date was wrong. Her son was not going to get to come home on Aug. 5, but on August 15.
The second time, James, who has earned 172 hours of vacation time, asked in advance for two days off, Aug. 15 and 16, to see her son at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, to welcome him home with all the rest of his family.
But her request to take vacation time was denied. One reason for the denial? The custodial department was short staffed that week.
Maybe this story makes me so mad because my own dear sweet father, who died four years ago, supported his family by taking an extra job sweeping floors at a local hospital. Maybe it makes me mad because we can accommodate vacation time for the President, who's running the War in Iraq, but we can't accommodate a woman who sweeps the floors of Congressional offices - offices which in August are largely deserted and are not likely to be accumulating a lot of dirt.
I don't know Danielle James. I don't know the quality of her work, or whether she gets along with people. I don't care. She's the mother of a son who served her country in Iraq. She's worked for the federal government, cleaning up after Members of Congress, for 15 years. She's one of the little guys. And like my father, she deserves fairness and respect.
