Testimonials
Candice LeeWillie Daniels
Alphonso McLaurin
Steven Jones
Dana Carter
George Zietz
John Bonner
Leo Oskin
Vincent W. Mondini
Candice Lee
"It's hard to keep going when you know your job is being contracted out, but it is even harder when you don't know what is going to happen." -Candice Lee
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Candice Lee, Perry Point, |
I started working in the laundry at the VA 18 years ago. Since then I have processed linens, folded and sorted clothes and worked the machines. Now, I'm a work leader. I teach the other employees how to operate the machines and I make the work schedules, but I still work right along with everybody else. I like the work I do here. It's fast paced and it gives me inopportunity to help my grandkids.
The laundry workers don't have a supervisor right now, so work leaders like me pick up the slack. There is no extra pay, but somebody has to lead the team. Since the laundry is closing they have supervisors come in from housekeeping. They usually don't have any laundry experience; we have to show them the ropes.
A lot has changed since I started working at the laundry. We used to have 60 people working here and we serviced a couple of different hospitals. Now, there are only a handful of us left. It's even harder now that the laundry is closing. Management doesn't feel like its worth paying to get things fixed because we are shutting down. Some people wonder why they should work so hard. They think if management doesn't care and we are closing down anyway, what difference does it make. I remind them that we still need to do our job for the veterans.
In my years here, I've had a lot of different managers and every time management changes the laundry changes. But the closing rumors have been here since I started 18 years ago. After a while you stop paying attention to it. Now it is really supposed to happen. Management says that there will be jobs in housekeeping, but we'll see. I have not seen or heard of a plan from anybody. All we hear are a bunch of rumors and hearsay. It's hard to keep going when you know your job is being contracted out, but it is even harder when you don't know what is going to happen.
One thing I do know is that workers will have to take pay cuts. WG-3s will have to take WG-2 jobs if they go to housekeeping because there are no WG-3 jobs there. Others will go into housekeeping with the same pay but only for two years. A lot of us are not old enough to retire and worry that we will not be able to get jobs in other departments. It is a shame, but people are giving up and morale is terrible.
The laundry has done a whole lot to help the people who work here. A lot of the folks who work here are veterans that have had a tough time. The laundry has given them a since of purpose and accomplishment. If the laundry shuts down and there is nothing for them, I don't know what they'll do.
Willie Daniels
"The people here know that they are providing a valuable service for the veterans. We take pride in that." -Willie Daniels
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Willie Daniels, U.S. Army Veteran, |
I've been at the laundry for over 14 years. It has had its ups and downs. I am not sure high, but management turnover has been high. It disrupts productivity because we constantly have to learn new management styles.
The folks I work with are good people, but the closing has a lot of people scared. People are worried about how they are going to support their families and pay their bills. Management says the laundry is shutting down because it is losing money, but they haven't offered the employees any plan for transfers or reassignments.
I think I'll be alright after the laundry shuts down. I have skills that are transferable, but from some of my co-workers the laundry is all they know.
The people here know that they are providing a valuable service for the veterans. We take pride in that. If the laundry shuts down it's going to hurt a lot of people.
Alphonso McLaurin
"I came on time, came to work everyday, and they told me they could contract me out NEXT WEEK!! So what am I supposed to do now?" -Alphonso McLaurin
Alphonso McLaurin, |
My name is Alphonso McLaurin, I'm aWG-5, step 5 watchman, machine operator. I started working for the VA in February of 1989 when I relocated to Aberdeen with my family. When I started I was at the lower end of the pole, WG-1. Through hard work I advanced myself up to watchman.
They said we are probably going to be shut down around January. I don't know what I am going to do because if I have to go to housekeeping my pay grade is going to drop at least by $5 or $6. It's going to affect my lifestyle. It's going to affect my family.
I have two grown children and I take care of my two year-old grandson. He's my newest, his name is Anthony Williams. When I came into the VA, I was able to sustain myself and my family.
Working at the VA has done a lot for my life and my family. The job I had before I started working for the VA didn't have any benefits. It was union but the pay grade was only $7 an hour. When I came to the VA I was able to get healthcare for my family.
I wanted to put my new grandson on the healthcare, but if my pay grade drops and with the healthcare going up to a $100 per pay period, I wouldn't be able to take care of him. I've had the same health coverage for the past five years. I carry life insurance for my whole family, and I'm looking to cover him on my health insurance, but right now, I won't be able to.
At first management said they were going to offer us a buyout in September. I am not sure if that is still going to happen. We went over to the central office to see if we qualified for the buyout, but they said they didn't have any information.
The people that you work with here at the VA, they are very enjoyable and you get to be like a family. Then when you are transferred because your job has been contracted out it's like you have to go find a whole new family all over again. That's kind of hard because you have to meet new people.
They said they would put me in house keeping, or try somewhere else to place me. If you are not prepared then they place you anywhere and do anything they want with you. It's nothing to look forward to.
I have 5 years in the military and 25 years with the VA, but they say my 5 years in the military won't count towards my retirement. They say that if I want those 5 years to count then I have to pay for them. I would have to pay the government a little over $1,300 for those five years.
But it's not just about what is happening to the employees. The veterans won't get the same kind of care. Even now they are talking about cutting down on the VA and even closing down some of the VA. Where are the veterans going to go? What kind of hospitalization are the veterans going to get, what kind of job opportunities? What about hospitals for amputees, or the wounded? What about mental hospitals? I didn't go to Vietnam but I was in the Vietnam-era. And those veterans are still there, they have PTSD, you know, post-traumatic stress, and when they come back here, they want somewhere to go where people can help them, give them some kind of a help so they can put their lives back together. It is the same way now. They are coming back, lives wrecked, and looking for some kind of support. If they are not going to get that support from the government, then who are they going to look to for that support?
I served in the Army, Marine Corps, and I'm retired from the National Guard, 22 years and 8 months total service. The veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, just like Vietnam, are trying to adjust to the civilian world. Some of them have so much trouble they turn to drugs and alcohol. The VA offers them a little bit of moral support. It gives them something to look forward to and it keeps them away from that type of atmosphere. For homeless vets, the VA offers them a place to stay for a month or two until they can find a job. The VA also offers them psychiatrists and doctors to help them cope.
The job that I got here, gave my life structure. When I came from the steel mill in Virginia, I would say, "You want to go back to the stoop? No, I love this job." I said, I'm back in the government, I'm making good money, and I'm taking care of my family. If I was on the outside, I might get fired tomorrow; they could let me go next week. There is no sound job in the private world right now….Then, they started doing it here.
They told me they could replace me because there is always someone out there who wants your job. I came on time, came to work everyday, and they told me they could contract me out NEXT WEEK!! So what am I supposed to do now? When I came here we had about 10hospitals with no sub-contractors. Then they just started getting rid of the hospitals. It started changing, getting different.
In Baltimore, they had sub-contractors, and they had housekeepers that were making more money than we were. I wondered "How did that happen?" Then there was a different supervisor like every six, seven months. They were sending people up here, just to get rid of them. The supervisor would come in and look at every little thing that we did. It was just a whole different atmosphere, and we didn't know if that was the Baltimore way or just the government way. It changed the way employees worked together. People stopped looking out for each other because everyone was worried about themselves.
When the veterans would come back to get a job, they (management) would start saying "You served our country, so what? We don't care anymore." I asked my son if he wants to go into the military. He says "What for? Look at how they are treating you."
Steven Jones
"I wish that I could stay on with the VA, but I am not sure if that is going to be possible." -Steven Jones
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Steven Jones |
I started working for Veterans Affairs in 1996. Before working for the VA I had a welding job. I made more money there, but I did not have any benefits or healthcare. I have four children, three boys and a girl to support. The security of working for the VA was enough for me to make a career change. Now it looks like I will have to change again. I've been here for 10years. I have grown accustomed to the people here, the managers, the supervisors. The job has changed a lot. There used to be a lot more people working here at the Perry Point VA.I wish that I could stay on with the VA, but I am not sure if that is going to be possible.
Dana Carter
"People are frustrated because they don't know what is going to happen." -Dana Carter
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Dana Carter |
I have been working full time in Veterans Affairs for 21years. I started in food service. After two years there I was offered a fulltime position in the laundry. I have been there ever since. I am married and I have two teenage children. When I started working here we did not have that many hospitals. The laundry took on a lot more staff. There were full time positions and most employees ended up working overtime. It's not that way anymore. Since then, they have closed several of the VA hospitals. There isn't as much work and the days go by slower. I hope that I can get a job somewhere else in the VA, but the closing is causing a lot tension between the employees and management. People are frustrated because they don't know what is going to happen.
George Zietz
"If you never lost your job, you probably wouldn't understand, but having a job gives you a sense of accomplishment." -George Zietz
George Zietz |
I started working for the VA in 1997 in the laundry. Before coming to the VA, I was a coal miner. In the late 90's the coal mines started shutting down and I lost my job. After the mine shut down, I was doing odd jobs, but it wasn't enough to support my family. I decided to follow up with the VA. They had a program that allowed me to go back to school and work 4hours a day. When I finished the program I was offered a fulltime job in the laundry.
The laundry was like a close-nit family. Almost all of the guys working there were like me. They were veterans and former coal miners that had lost their jobs when the mines shut down. We served 9 different hospitals back then. If you never lost your job, you probably wouldn't understand, but having a job gives you a sense of accomplishment. Those jobs helped us get back on our feet, but it was more than just the money. We were serving our fellow veterans and taking care of our families. We thought we were secure.
When the VA started to contract out the laundry service, it hurt a lot of us. They offered buyouts and transfers to other operations within the VA, but it was not the same. The jobs people were transferred to didn't offer any opportunities for progress. Most of the guys from the laundry are between 50 – 60 years old. They're close to retirement, but now they only get half of their cost of living increase. But, like I said it's more than just the money. We provided a valuable service to the VA and the country and we had the bottom snatched out from under us. That does a terrible thing to your self-esteem.
John Bonner
"The money they are paying the contractor could have been used to fix the laundry, update its equipment, anything to really help veterans." -John Bonner
John Bonner |
I started working for the VA in 1989. I was a WG-2 laundry worker. Since then I worked my way up to a machine operator. Working at the laundry provided me with benefits, good pay and a decent life.
When the VA first started talking about contracting out our jobs, they said it was because the laundry was too old. After 47 years, now, the laundry is too old. They made excuses like, "It's too hot for you to be working in here. The air conditioner is old." But, instead of spending the money on a new air conditioner they would use it for something else. Or they claimed that the laundry flooded and there was standing water. I had been working in the laundry over 10 years then. There was no flooding. The building was old, but we had two good washers that were only 10 years old. It was clear they were making up reasons to get the employees out and bring in a contractor.
I'm a veteran myself. I served in the Air Force during Vietnam and developed diabetes from exposure to Agent Orange. A lot of the guys at the laundry were veterans too. Some of them had been in the laundry for 25-30years. We were a close community. We took pride in caring for the veterans. We made sure our clients got the blankets and clothes and towels they needed.
Now, there are six employees that distribute the linen that is washed by an outside contractor. The linens come back dirty, if at all. The money they are paying the contractor could have been used to fix the laundry, update its equipment, anything to really help veterans.
Leo Oskin
"The laundry was like a home to me. I miss it. I wake up in the morning and I want to go to work." -Leo Oskin
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Leo Oskin |
I started working for the VA, Pearl Harbor Day, 1970. A counselor I had got me a job in the laundry. I was a WG-1, laundry sorter. I had benefits, an opportunity to move up and friends. Then, out of the blue, the director came down one day and said the laundry was closing. They were shutting it down because it was too old.
I remember when they built the building, in '86. Too old, it was one of the newest buildings we had. Maybe it needed a few renovations, but they didn't have to close it down.
Our laundry was the backbone of theVA in Pennsylvania. We served half of the state. If they didn't get the linens for the veterans from us what were they going to do?
I never missed a day at the laundry over 35 years. I never took a sick day. Before they took my job they gave me a "Spirit Award". A "Spirit Award", a little buyout, and that was it. After 35years, that's all I got. Since the laundry closed, I've put in a few applications, but I haven't heard anything back. Right now, I wake up, walk the dog and that's about it. The laundry was like a home to me. I miss it. I wakeup in the morning and I want to go to work.
Vincent W. Mondini
"I am scheduled to receive the highest non-combat ribbon an enlist can receive and be promoted to an E-8, but I can't find a job that utilizes my skills." -Vincent W. Mondini
Vincent W. Mondini |
I have been working for the VA since 1979. I served in Vietnam and two combat tours in Iraq. I earned the rank of Master Sergeant with the United States Air Force Reserve.
Now, a one-time Air Force lawyer named Mr. Cord holds my future in his hands. Mr. Cord has offered me a GS 4/5 position as a clerk or something in housekeeping. When I was in the service I was recognized for exemplary performance and leadership. I was an acting First Sergeant and a Non-Commission Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Mission Control Center. I answered to three (Full Bird) Colonels, coordinated with E-9, and was responsible for a 60member unit's high state of discipline. Under my leadership, we achieved the unit's highest 120-day mission-effectiveness rate of any rotation since its inception in Nov. 2003. Now, they want me to be a clerk. It saddens me because I know that I am not the only one. The VA is not recognizing our returning combat veterans at any of our four locations.
I applied for an announcement for a Lead Health Technician,GS-640-6. I was qualified, but not selected. I made another attempt for a graveyard worker, but I did not get that either. After my repeated rejections I stopped applying. The handwriting on the wall said, "We don't need you!" and I realized that Mr. Cord would do as he pleased. I feel like my skills and my passion for serving the veterans here are being ignored. I am scheduled to receive the highest non-combat ribbon an enlist can receive and be promoted to an E-8, but I can't find a job that utilizes my skills.
"I wish that I could stay on with the VA, but I am not sure if that is going to be possible."
Steven Jones, Perry Point
-10 years
