Boston Globe Profiles, Praises NAGE Member
February 18, 2009
The February 18, 2009 edition of the Boston Globe features a lead story about the increased workload at the state’s Department of Unemployment Assistance by focusing on a NAGE member who treats callers with dignity and empathy.
Debra Riddick, who takes unemployment calls at the DUA’s Lawrence call center, was herself out of work for nearly a year after a layoff in the 2001 recession. She told the Globe that her experience as a laid-off single mother helps her treat victims of the current recession with patience and care. “You want to treat people the way you’d like to be treated,” she said.
“Debra’s a terrific example of what state workers can bring to the people of Massachusetts,” said John Mann, president of NAGE Local 292, which represents Debra and DUA workers. “I’m very happy that the reporter paid such close attention to the professionalism and humanity Debra shows her callers.”
He called Debra and hundreds of her colleagues at DUA the “unsung heroes” of the Commonwealth, as they work substantial extra hours to assist Massachusetts workers who have lost their jobs.
Read the entire story at Boston Globe