Morning Read 2: Protestors attack DEC’s ski center cuts
Here in the Adirondacks, state-owned ski centers in Johnsburgh and Wilmington are operated by the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which dodged a proposal this year that would have zeroed out subsidies from Albany.
The Belleayre ski center in the Catskills isn’t so lucky. That mountain is run by the Department of Environmental Conservation and many of the job cuts at that agency were focused on the mountain’s staff.
On Monday, 200 people turned out to protest the cuts, according to the Daily Freeman newspaper.
As many as 48 workers — or 45, depending on who is talking — are to be turned into seasonal workers who are slated to be laid off when the current ski season ends.
With traffic slowed, sometimes to a halt, as driver’s honked support to the crowd, shouts of “Save Belleayre” were heard over and over, a mantra of solidarity, according to Joe Kelly, chairman of the Coalition For Belleayre.
Tags: economy, environment, land use, politics
Missing from that report is ‘what were those workers doing in the off-season?’ If this is a case of paying people year around because they are classified “permanent” even though there is no work for them to do much of the year then it is a reasonable decision when the budget is in crisis.
I’m a firm believer that we need to redefine our economy in a way that includes providing meaningful work for everyone that wants to work, not just maximum profit for those at the top, but the key word is ‘meaningful’. Being paid to be a placeholder is not meaningful work.
There’s no “h” on the end of Johnsburg.
Privatize them. The government shouldn’t be in the business of running ski centers. A private company could probably do it more efficiently.
I am one of the soon to be laid off permanent employees. In the “offseason”
I am a Caretaker of a D.E.C campground where I live 5 days a week, work countless hours ( try living at work and not working ) and get paid for 40hours a week. So don’t speak for what you do not know of.