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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With John Silva, John Wagner

Aired September 29, 2002 - 11:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: For workers who faced being laid off from the state welfare agency in Massachusetts, donated salaries helped save some of those jobs. The generosity is the brainchild of John Wagner.
He heads the Massachusetts Welfare Department and he is joining us live now as is John Silva, whose job was saved by the selflessness of his co-workers. And the men join us both live from Boston. Good to see you gentlemen.

JOHN SILVA, MASSACHUSETTS WELFARE DEPARTMENT: Good morning.

JOHN WAGNER, COMMISSIONER, MASSACHUSETTS WELFARE DEPARTMENT: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Mr. Wagner, let me begin with you. You were facing the second consecutive year I guess of layoffs. You had been on the job only five or six months and you decide, "I've got to come up with something and I want to help save some jobs."

Explain how your idea came to fruition.

WAGNER: Well, you're right. We faced a pretty difficult year on top of a difficult year. And we had about a $5 million gap that we had to address in our administrative funding.

So we did go forward with crafting a layoff plan, which targeted 174 jobs. And at the same time my senior staff got together and we all thought about -- it would be a great idea to have what we had a layoff mitigation strategy or allow workers to donate their savings from their payroll and their own salaries to a fund that would actually be used to call back some of these people that were facing layoffs.

WHITFIELD: But honestly what did you think that reception would be like? Did you think most people would say, "No way -- I need every dime, every penny?"

WAGNER: Actually we had no idea. There were some people who that thought there would be a pretty good response and there were others that thought we would have a minimal response. And we were very pleased because what we were able to do was save over $1 million worth of payroll costs.

WHITFIELD: And you were able to obviously save jobs. And that, in fact, rolled over to Mr. Silva -- that was your case -- you were facing a layoff. But instead the generosity of colleagues helped save you.

SILVA: Yes. Well, it's been a rollercoaster ride to say the least. It's also quite humbling to think that these are working professionals -- average working professionals -- who are agreeing to forego a portion of their salary to save fellow co-workers. And these are people with families and mortgages -- bills to pay.

It can be a little overwhelming when you get the opportunity to sit down and think about it.

WHITFIELD: No kidding. Now you being the beneficiary now of such generosity -- you think -- or the other way around -- do you think you would have been one of those who would have stepped ahead and said, "OK -- I want to ..."

SILVA: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yeah? Sometimes people might not feel that they would be so apt to do that until they were in that situation and realize, "Wow! It really does benefit someone."

SILVA: Well, it's a dual benefit in that you do -- the unpaid furlough is based on having a day off a week, which is unpaid.

If it's presented in that manner -- as a dual advantage -- not only saving jobs but if a person can afford a little bit of their payroll can be reduced then that also gives them the opportunity to take that extra day -- perhaps get some extra training, some schooling that they wanted, spend a little bit more times with the kids, maybe pursue a hobby -- that kind of thing.

So it's not just a matter of giving up pay -- there's also a little bit of an advantage to take as well.

WHITFIELD: A little time off.

SILVA: Yeah. Provided, again, that you can afford it. It's a very personal decision ...

WHITFIELD: Right.

SILVA: ... for everybody.

WHITFIELD: So, Mr. Wagner, you led by example. You gave up -- what was it -- nine days?

WAGNER: Yes, I did -- I gave up nine days.

WHITFIELD: And you knew immediately that by leading by example that perhaps the ball would get rolling and maybe others would jump onboard?

WAGNER: Well, as I explained in the beginning when we did roll this out is this is a very personal decision and this can't be a mandatory type of program that everyone is facing their own circumstances and we recognize that but, having said that, I did decide to take the nine days.

And senior managers responded very well with this. Managers across the department participated. Over 77 percent of the management of the department of transitional assistance did donate some time that eventually contributed to saving these jobs.

WHITFIELD: Do you see having to do this again in the near future, though, given the status of the economy?

WAGNER: I hope not in the near future but we do recognize in Massachusetts, like the rest of the country, that we are facing serious economic challenges right now and they probably are not likely to let up in the next few months. This is something that will go on for a bit.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Wagner and John Silva -- thank you very much, gentlemen, for being with us -- we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 29, 2002 - 11:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: For workers who faced being laid off from the state welfare agency in Massachusetts, donated salaries helped save some of those jobs. The generosity is the brainchild of John Wagner.
He heads the Massachusetts Welfare Department and he is joining us live now as is John Silva, whose job was saved by the selflessness of his co-workers. And the men join us both live from Boston. Good to see you gentlemen.

JOHN SILVA, MASSACHUSETTS WELFARE DEPARTMENT: Good morning.

JOHN WAGNER, COMMISSIONER, MASSACHUSETTS WELFARE DEPARTMENT: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Mr. Wagner, let me begin with you. You were facing the second consecutive year I guess of layoffs. You had been on the job only five or six months and you decide, "I've got to come up with something and I want to help save some jobs."

Explain how your idea came to fruition.

WAGNER: Well, you're right. We faced a pretty difficult year on top of a difficult year. And we had about a $5 million gap that we had to address in our administrative funding.

So we did go forward with crafting a layoff plan, which targeted 174 jobs. And at the same time my senior staff got together and we all thought about -- it would be a great idea to have what we had a layoff mitigation strategy or allow workers to donate their savings from their payroll and their own salaries to a fund that would actually be used to call back some of these people that were facing layoffs.

WHITFIELD: But honestly what did you think that reception would be like? Did you think most people would say, "No way -- I need every dime, every penny?"

WAGNER: Actually we had no idea. There were some people who that thought there would be a pretty good response and there were others that thought we would have a minimal response. And we were very pleased because what we were able to do was save over $1 million worth of payroll costs.

WHITFIELD: And you were able to obviously save jobs. And that, in fact, rolled over to Mr. Silva -- that was your case -- you were facing a layoff. But instead the generosity of colleagues helped save you.

SILVA: Yes. Well, it's been a rollercoaster ride to say the least. It's also quite humbling to think that these are working professionals -- average working professionals -- who are agreeing to forego a portion of their salary to save fellow co-workers. And these are people with families and mortgages -- bills to pay.

It can be a little overwhelming when you get the opportunity to sit down and think about it.

WHITFIELD: No kidding. Now you being the beneficiary now of such generosity -- you think -- or the other way around -- do you think you would have been one of those who would have stepped ahead and said, "OK -- I want to ..."

SILVA: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yeah? Sometimes people might not feel that they would be so apt to do that until they were in that situation and realize, "Wow! It really does benefit someone."

SILVA: Well, it's a dual benefit in that you do -- the unpaid furlough is based on having a day off a week, which is unpaid.

If it's presented in that manner -- as a dual advantage -- not only saving jobs but if a person can afford a little bit of their payroll can be reduced then that also gives them the opportunity to take that extra day -- perhaps get some extra training, some schooling that they wanted, spend a little bit more times with the kids, maybe pursue a hobby -- that kind of thing.

So it's not just a matter of giving up pay -- there's also a little bit of an advantage to take as well.

WHITFIELD: A little time off.

SILVA: Yeah. Provided, again, that you can afford it. It's a very personal decision ...

WHITFIELD: Right.

SILVA: ... for everybody.

WHITFIELD: So, Mr. Wagner, you led by example. You gave up -- what was it -- nine days?

WAGNER: Yes, I did -- I gave up nine days.

WHITFIELD: And you knew immediately that by leading by example that perhaps the ball would get rolling and maybe others would jump onboard?

WAGNER: Well, as I explained in the beginning when we did roll this out is this is a very personal decision and this can't be a mandatory type of program that everyone is facing their own circumstances and we recognize that but, having said that, I did decide to take the nine days.

And senior managers responded very well with this. Managers across the department participated. Over 77 percent of the management of the department of transitional assistance did donate some time that eventually contributed to saving these jobs.

WHITFIELD: Do you see having to do this again in the near future, though, given the status of the economy?

WAGNER: I hope not in the near future but we do recognize in Massachusetts, like the rest of the country, that we are facing serious economic challenges right now and they probably are not likely to let up in the next few months. This is something that will go on for a bit.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Wagner and John Silva -- thank you very much, gentlemen, for being with us -- we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com