Nov 5 , 2009

Veterans given an honorable absence

By WILLIAM F. AST III

For Veterans Day, company gives employees who served the day off

H-P Staff Writer

ST. JOSEPH - Vail Rubber Works President Bill Hanley saw the move as the right thing to do and a way to "get ahead of the curve."

The St. Joseph company in 2008 started giving employees who were veterans a day off on Veterans Day.

Hanley said his brother, Tim Hanley, the plant's polyurethane manager, proposed the idea back in 2007.

"His comment was that, if we wait for the federal government to do it, there will be a lot of people who never served in the military who get the day off, but not veterans," Hanley said. "This way, maybe some veterans will actually get the benefit."

Hanley said Vail Rubber has about 110 employees at its main plant in St. Joseph and another 20 at a smaller plant in Middleton, Ohio. Of all the employees, 24 are veterans who will get the day off this year, he said.

Currently, federal employees and employees of some states, including Michigan, are the only ones who get the day off by law. Where the concept of giving all veterans the day off has been proposed, it has often met resistance from some business owners who say it would be too expensive.

Hanley said the decision costs Vail Rubber about $3,000 to $4,000, but added he thinks that's a small price to pay.

"It's something," Hanley said. "But in the big picture, it's not very significant. ... It's really, in the big picture, such a small thing. It is just a very small amount for everything these people did for all of us."

Hanley conceded there is "something to be said" on behalf of employers wary of incurring more expenses.

"You just can't keep adding holidays," Hanley said. "But this is a very targeted holiday, and goes to people who have earned it."

Hanley said Vail Rubber is a union shop, so "we needed to talk to them first to see if they were on board with it. They were."

Employees have the choice of taking a day off 30 days before or after Veterans Day, or Veterans Day itself, or can take a day's pay in lieu of getting the day off, Hanley said. The move has caused no problems with scheduling, he added.

"We had a lot of people who were fully supportive, even those who weren't veterans themselves," Hanley said. "We were told to expect some pushback on the idea. But we didn't have any pushback."

Hanley, a 1965 graduate of St. Joseph Catholic High School, was in the Army from 1969 to 1971. He served with an Army audit agency in Germany.

Vail Rubber, founded in 1904, makes and markets rubber and polyurethane roll covers to industries.

Elsewhere, a few states have pending bills that would give veterans the day off on Veterans Day.

In Wisconsin, state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, earlier this year introduced such a bill. Unlike Michigan, Wisconsin state employees don't get the day off.

Hansen's bill had a hearing in August and now appears stuck in committee, according to John Wagnitz, Hansen's legislative assistant.

Wagnitz said there has been resistance to the bill, most notably from business owners who feel the bill would be an economic hit. But "we're hoping to still move it this legislative session and get it through the state Legislature," he said.

Hansen introduced the bill because "he believes it's the least we can do for our veterans who have sacrificed so much for this country," Wagnitz said. "...The day is meant for them. He thought it was ironic that people who work for the federal government get the day off, but individuals who are actual veterans, because they work for the state or for private companies, are unable to take that day off. We thought that was not fair."

Bills are also pending in Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.