Rep. Faso votes to take away our overtime pay

Pay ‘ludicrous’ for adjunct profs at SUNY New Paltz

Dear Editor, I’m a 12-year, part-time adjunct lecturer in the SUNYNew Paltz Departments of Physics and Engineering, semiretired after a 37-year career in industrial technology. The department chairs have been very good to me, for which I am grateful.

The pay, however, is ludicrous. I’m teaching four courses in this spring semester for $10,000. For a typical class size of 20 students, that works out to a per course instructional cost of $125 per student, or $500-625 for a typical semester course load of 4-5 courses taught exclusively by adjuncts (and they do teach over one-third of the courses at New Paltz).

It might be logical for students and their parents to wonder where the balance of their $3,235 per semester tuition goes.

Why do I do it? Life has been good to me. I’ve worked hard and I feel that I have something of value to offer. It’s an opportunity for me to professionally engage with some occasionally fantastic science and engineering students and faculty colleagues.

Yes, it’s true that I also receive Social Security and pension checks, but my younger adjunct colleagues who are still struggling to raise families are not so fortunate. I’m forever thankful to the United University Professions that I can purchase the full health care benefits offered, and partially paid for, by our employer.

And can you now imagine that the New Paltz college administration wants to save money by firing — oops, “nonrenewing” — the lowly paid adjuncts? To be replaced by an already-hard-working cadre of full-time faculty who could be forced to reduce time spent on serving students and their campus because of growing workloads? Does this make sense to you? Douglas A. Koop, Ph.D.

Adjunct Lecturer Departments of Physics and

Engineering SUNY-New Paltz Dear Editor, Since 1935, federal law has required employers to pay overtime wages of time and one-half to qualifying employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, voted to change the law to allow employers not to pay overtime wages, but give employees “comp time” instead.

The new law is called the “Working Families Flexibility Act,” and although its title makes it sound like it gives flexibility to working families, it actually gives flexibility to employers, not employees. Employers get to choose when you can take your “comp time” and can reject any requests you make.

Not only does the law allow employers not to pay you overtime wages, it also allows them to delay paying overtime wages for 13 months. If an employer goes out of business or bankrupt during that time, you lose your overtime pay. And if you accumulate too much “comp time” and don’t use it, you could lose accumulated vacation time.

While supporters of the law claim that employees can refuse comp time instead of overtime pay, everyone knows it can be perilous to say “no” to an employer. And, if you do, it just means that someone else will take the comp time and you lose potential overtime wages.

Faso promised to help working families and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Taking away worker wage protections is not the way to keep that promise. Mike Sweeney

Rifton, N.Y.

Mental health providers heartened by Faso meeting

Dear Editor, Mental health providers who live and work in District 19 met in mid-April with U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, to discuss the complex and critical issue of maintaining affordable mental health services.

We discussed a number of issues including: parity (keeping mental health benefits equal to medical coverage with regard to insurance coverage and reimbursement) as well as the cost effectiveness of preventive mental health services. We shared an impact statement that this group compiled with Faso. Ellen Pendagar, chief executive officer for the Mental Health Association in Ulster County, shared how studies have repeatedly shown that maintaining robust mental health services reduces significant costs to the taxpayers down the line. When services are cut, we see increases in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, late stage medical conditions, increases in incarceration, homelessness, foster care and more.

We were encouraged to hear Faso state that he is a proponent of parity. He also shared that he has a strong interest in school-based services that have a mental health component.

Cheryl Qamar, former deputy commissioner of mental health in Ulster County, explained how school-based services are an excellent delivery system as they improve access and remove the stigma of going to a therapist or counselor to get support. Additionally, school based mental health services augment needed supports for the whole family as well as reduce the burden to schools.

We urge Faso to continue in a bipartisan dialogue with us, as there are many more issues to unpack and resolve.

Therese Bimka pointed to the profound polarization within our nation and community, suggesting we can model how to stay engaged in conversation across the aisle.

Faso indicated support for continued dialogue. We look forward to continuing this critical dialogue on the difficult issues we face as a community.

Cindy Dern, LCSW Rev. Therese Bimka, LCSW Cynthia Muenz, LCSW Cheryl Qamar, LCSW Ellen Pendegar, CEO of MHA Martha Steuding, MHA

Kingston, N.Y.