Arthur Burchyett
Posted on 01/28/2005 12:41:03 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A paraplegic state employee who was laid off and forced to give up his government-owned wheelchair will get his job - and wheelchair - back, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Friday.
The Department of Natural Resources said it would comply with the governor's order to rehire mechanic Arthur "Red" Burchyett, who has repaired equipment at a wildlife refuge near Jonesboro for 24 years. He was among about 120 workers laid off since October due to budget cuts.
Reacting to news accounts about the man's plight, Blagojevich said the state needs to balance common-sense fiscal decisions with compassion.
"You can't look at everything in terms of dollars and cents," Blagojevich said in a statement Friday.
Burchyett, 61, was hurt in a tractor accident at his farm in 1994. State officials said the chair was purchased out of sensitivity to the Americans With Disabilities Act, which had been enacted just a few years earlier, in 1990.
The $25,000, motorized wheelchair is fitted for Burchyett's body type and can elevate someone to a standing position or lower him, for example, to work underneath a vehicle. Over the years, Burchyett has done his own maintenance work on the chair, and the department said he uses it only at work.
Friends said a motorized wheelchair recently donated to Burchyett is not customized, so it was difficult for him to work as a freelance mechanic. Burchyett declined to comment publicly.
"He's not a bitter person at the state," friend Lane Rhodes told the Chicago Tribune. "He's more hurt. He didn't feel wanted anymore, felt like he was just a number."
Officials have said the layoffs were necessary for the department to absorb a $23 million budget cut without closing any wildlife areas. The department had more than 1,700 workers.
does this mean that handicapped people have superseniority? OR does it mean that SOME handicapped people have superseniority?
this is a dangerous precedent.
WHAT ABOUT THE 119 OTHERS? Some are more equal than others......
"does this mean that handicapped people have superseniority?"
Well, since he worked there for 24 years, it's likely that he's the senior person in his job, dontcha think?
Reading is good.
This was discussed on WLS radio this morning. I say good for him (for the mechanic, not Blago.) Here's a man who could have been sitting at home on the dole all of these years, but he overcame the disability and worked. He did something of value for himself and society. I'm surprised he was rehired. But my main concern was the chair. The chair was taken away -- not so it could be used by anyone else, because it wasn't -- but because the state paid for it. Was the state worried about the $25,000 price tag? If so, I wish the state would be so conscientious about all of the tax money it spends, because I'll bet it regularly p*sses away that much and more quicker that you can say "Blagojevich."
The others have a much better chance of finding new employment. The wheelchair-bound man is likely to just end up on public assistance, in a job-cutting economic environment, and with his serious disability he would hardly be candidate for denial of public assistance as long as he's making any reasonable effort to find new employment. If the state is going to end up paying him either way, it certainly makes more sense to pay him for working than to pay him for not working.
Perhaps someone in DNR wanted to publicize the budget cuts and stir things up a bit. OTOH, sheer stupidity cannot be ruled out.
He's a GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE! What's the difference?.........
Well, I'd like to hear any one of the other 119 laid off, say that they needed their job more than this guy needed his!
Taken away? Was it his? I thought he only used the chair at work to accomplish his job function. I use special equipment at work to do my job, too. I wouldn't be able to keep any of it if I were laid off, either, nor would I consider it "taken away". Now granted, this is a unique piece of equipment specifically suited to him, that someone else probably won't be able to use. But that doesn't mean he's entitled to keep it after he leaves his job.
Did they mention how many years he'd worked there?
That makes sense in a "normal" working environment, but we're talking about the State of Illinois here. The state where Jimmy Hoffa could be buried in the expressway pavement someplace because it's the guys with the crooked noses who get the contracts for road construction. The state that is reputed to have the shadiest state legislature in the country. And then there's Daley's Chicago..... Whoever was in charge here could have employed a little discretion and humanity and given the guy a break. Or even offer to "sell" it to him for a token amount. The guy would have had a chance to do what he wanted to do -- freelance mechanic work -- whereas, without the chair, all he was likely to do was sit at home the rest of his life and collect a check. I know business is business and the Department of Natural Resources has been particularly hard-hit because of the state's budget crisis (brought to you courtesy of Gov. George Ryan) but this was a spit-in-the-ocean deal.
Twenty four years.
I don't disagree with any of that. If it were my business, that's what I would have done (if I had to lay the guy off to begin with). I was just objecting to the notion that it was his to begin with and that there was a sense of entitlement that he should automatically get to keep it. Ultimately it's the decision of the business.
-"He's more hurt. He didn't feel wanted anymore, felt like he was just a number."-
Everyone who gets laid off feels that way. Then they have to look for another job.
But, then, that wasn't my point, was it?
>I'd like to hear any one of the other 119 laid off, say that they needed their job more than this guy needed his!<
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