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Mud Run worker owed $114
By Bob Dyer
Beacon Journal columnist
POSTED: 06:12 p.m. EST, Jan 12, 2009
We're frequently advised to avoid sweating the small stuff. But if we don't sweat the small stuff, it can add up to big stuff.
Even when it doesn't, some of the small stuff is so infuriating that you feel morally obligated to take it to the mat.
Case in point: Ed Simkanin.
Simkanin, 65, made a decent living during his years at Davis Printing in Akron. He did well enough, in fact, that he's now kicking back in a nice retirement community in central Florida.
So $114 isn't going to make or break him. But the city of Akron has owed him that much for more than a year — for no good reason.
''This is a disgrace,'' he says. And it's hard to disagree.
Simkanin was among those who applied for a part-time job when Mud Run Golf Course opened in 2003 on the southwest edge of the city.
As workplaces go, Mud Run is a delight — an undulating, nine-hole layout that winds alongside 60 acres of protected wetlands. The city-owned facility also has a nice clubhouse, a driving range, a practice green and a pavilion.
Simkanin landed a job in golf-course operations, earning an hourly wage.
Things went fine until 2006, when he noticed that union dues suddenly were being deducted from his paycheck. That was puzzling, because he wasn't in a union.
Not that he had anything against unions. He belonged to one for most of his working life. But he was never in this one.
Simkanin complained and was quickly reimbursed.
The following summer, though, he started getting docked again. This time, he got nowhere.
He complained to his boss, who sent him to the union, which promised to fix things. When things weren't fixed, he talked to his boss's boss, who also promised a speedy resolution. Didn't happen.
Today, the issue has lumbered all the way to the desk of the deputy mayor of labor relations.
Everybody involved says a check is ''in the works.'' So is a Cleveland Browns Super Bowl.
''It's not the money,'' Simkanin says. ''It's the idea they can dip into somebody's paycheck and do this.''
No kidding. Some faceless person programs a computer to take out union dues for a union Simkanin's not in — and then nobody pays him back?
''Yeah, unfortunately, it has taken longer than it should have,'' says Greg Kalail, manager of the city's recreation bureau.
''Labor, finance and the union are still working on it, from my understanding.''
Well, sort of, says Steve Pickard of Local 1360 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Several months ago, Pickard says, he gave the city a letter from the union's comptroller in Columbus saying Simkanin's dues would be taken from the next check the union sent to Columbus.
''I just assumed it was taken care of,'' he says.
Pickard says the letter is in the hands of Deputy Mayor Jim Masturzo. A spokeswoman for Masturzo says he is out of town this week, but that he is ''aware of it and trying to get something done.''
Meanwhile, Ed Simkanin is disgusted with both the city and the union.
''I don't know who's handling it downtown, and I don't really care,'' he says. ''I just don't think it's right.''
Nobody does. But nobody cares enough to fix it.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
We're frequently advised to avoid sweating the small stuff. But if we don't sweat the small stuff, it can add up to big stuff.
Even when it doesn't, some of the small stuff is so infuriating that you feel morally obligated to take it to the mat.
Case in point: Ed Simkanin.
Simkanin, 65, made a decent living during his years at Davis Printing in Akron. He did well enough, in fact, that he's now kicking back in a nice retirement community in central Florida.
So $114 isn't going to make or break him. But the city of Akron has owed him that much for more than a year — for no good reason.
''This is a disgrace,'' he says. And it's hard to disagree.
Simkanin was among those who applied for a part-time job when Mud Run Golf Course opened in 2003 on the southwest edge of the city.
As workplaces go, Mud Run is a delight — an undulating, nine-hole layout that winds alongside 60 acres of protected wetlands. The city-owned facility also has a nice clubhouse, a driving range, a practice green and a pavilion.
Simkanin landed a job in golf-course operations, earning an hourly wage.
Things went fine until 2006, when he noticed that union dues suddenly were being deducted from his paycheck. That was puzzling, because he wasn't in a union.
Not that he had anything against unions. He belonged to one for most of his working life. But he was never in this one.
Simkanin complained and was quickly reimbursed.
The following summer, though, he started getting docked again. This time, he got nowhere.
He complained to his boss, who sent him to the union, which promised to fix things. When things weren't fixed, he talked to his boss's boss, who also promised a speedy resolution. Didn't happen.
Today, the issue has lumbered all the way to the desk of the deputy mayor of labor relations.
Everybody involved says a check is ''in the works.'' So is a Cleveland Browns Super Bowl.
''It's not the money,'' Simkanin says. ''It's the idea they can dip into somebody's paycheck and do this.''
No kidding. Some faceless person programs a computer to take out union dues for a union Simkanin's not in — and then nobody pays him back?
''Yeah, unfortunately, it has taken longer than it should have,'' says Greg Kalail, manager of the city's recreation bureau.
''Labor, finance and the union are still working on it, from my understanding.''
Well, sort of, says Steve Pickard of Local 1360 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Several months ago, Pickard says, he gave the city a letter from the union's comptroller in Columbus saying Simkanin's dues would be taken from the next check the union sent to Columbus.
''I just assumed it was taken care of,'' he says.
Pickard says the letter is in the hands of Deputy Mayor Jim Masturzo. A spokeswoman for Masturzo says he is out of town this week, but that he is ''aware of it and trying to get something done.''
Meanwhile, Ed Simkanin is disgusted with both the city and the union.
''I don't know who's handling it downtown, and I don't really care,'' he says. ''I just don't think it's right.''
Nobody does. But nobody cares enough to fix it.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Akron, oh
Posted 06:41 PM, 01/12/2009
This is the city sponsored hood tax.
Bizarrebertucky, OH
Posted 06:43 PM, 01/12/2009
The least they could do is pay interest to him for the money he is owed. Although it would not be much,it's the principal of the matter that counts.
Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 06:56 PM, 01/12/2009
Sorry, Mr. Simkanin, but unless you inadavertantly signed sonme type of union membership card that directed the deduction of union dues from your paycheck, the union has absolutely nothing to do with any of your payroll decuctions.
Please see the City of Akron management-weenies...those good folk who are the reason-d'etre of public unions, eh?
Akron, OH
Posted 09:17 AM, 01/13/2009
Mud Run. Akron's only course where your clubs shouldn't be your only weapons.
Green, OH
Posted 09:29 AM, 01/13/2009
rupert54 - Maybe so, but you are overlooking the fact that the union DID receive his money.
Posted 10:16 AM, 01/13/2009
And people reaaly think it would be a good idea for the government to be in charge of our healthcare! LOL
cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 11:23 AM, 01/13/2009
unions are justa bunch of crooks, no matter what the issue is here...want to know why Detroit is crying for a bailout and a new car is $30,000? ask the guy getting $81 plus on the line...he's easy to find; laid off at home because no one can afford cars when the workers make as much as an attorney...
unions are parasitical scabs on the American heart...i notice the Teamster's Union doesn't need a bailout, just their membership
My Heart Is In K-Town, .
Posted 12:16 PM, 01/13/2009
@ TruthPatrol - now what kind of remark is that? Had you said it about Good Park, I wouldn't have flinched. Take it back!
Mud Run happens to be a major highlight (enhancement, etc.) in K-Town.
My Heart Is In K-Town, .
Posted 12:19 PM, 01/13/2009
@ swami squeegee - the editorials are so bad lately it was only a matter of time until someone would get the Detroit bailout conversation going somewhere else.
Posted 12:35 PM, 01/13/2009
Well, if Masturzo is involved, the poor guy will never get the money.
Akron, OH
Posted 01:42 PM, 01/13/2009
PacMan, the only people that'll mug you at Good Park is the management.
The Great City in, OH
Posted 04:29 PM, 01/13/2009
TruthPatrol
Akron, OH
Posted 09:17 AM, 01/13/2009
Mud Run. Akron's only course where your clubs shouldn't be your only weapons.
_______________
Huh?!!
I'm missing something here. Mud Run is a nice little course.
I've only played there a handful of times but it is where I like to go when my regular game takes a hiatus.
I play that course well and it makes me feel good when I tackle Ellsworth in Hudson; that course hates me, especially the back nine.
The Great City in, OH
Posted 04:34 PM, 01/13/2009
TruthPatrol
Akron, OH
Posted 01:42 PM, 01/13/2009
PacMan, the only people that'll mug you at Good Park is the management.
___________________
Now I'm feeling you!
One year I made reservations at Good Park and found the fees rather high for a public course; I was on a scouting mission and looking for a course for some out of town guests.
When I got there, the people were so rude, I just turned around and have never went back; I have never played there nor do I want too!
Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 11:04 PM, 01/13/2009
Class of 68...I agee with you, absolutely. If I was the union rep involved I'd have cut the man a check as soon as I'd checked the union roster, then gone after the employer for the money!
Perhaps there's some legality involved here concerning fiduciary responsibility, eh? The payroll department of the employer is the one ultimately responsible for any and all payroll deductions.
Do you think Mr. Simkanin could take the City to Small Claims Court?
akron, oh
Posted 01:41 PM, 01/17/2009
Typical just plain typical...
Akron, OH
Posted 08:48 AM, 01/18/2009
Dyer, ol' buddy. Y'all should leave these sort oif stories for Jewel to handle. She's so mus=ch better at them. Stick with the traffic reports.
