Quote:
Originally Posted by
Beth http:///forum/thread/384076/well-hello-mr-governor-say-hello-to-your-fans#post_3364158
Conservatives talk a good deal about how outrageous it is to for state employees to expect to keep the salary and benefits they have but, as a state employee myself, I have to protest. When an employee accepts a job, salary, leave, and benefits, its all a part of a package, and agreed upon at hire. In fact, in my state the benefits are often touted as reconciliation for such lousy salaries! LOL It certainly has been to me often enough. It is true that lousy salaries are not necessarily the case in strong union states, likely higher than the national average for comparable work, as are federal jobs. Still if you go to private sector, get a job, the job is offered to you as a package deal, which includes your salary, your leave, 401K, etc., what happens if the employer reneges?
That some private sector jobs are poor on benefits, doesn't mean that you can void out your obligations mid-stream. If a private contractor to a private business was told that what was offered in the contract was not going to be honored, that business would get sued, and the contractor would win too. Saying that reneging on state employee job obligations to spare them layoffs is a conniving talking point. Layoffs also means you have to lower your expectations on what must be done because you have had to dismiss many staff....however, state employees' workloads are never lowered, just handed out to whoever remains. Layoffs or not honoring hiring commitments never result in less work for less money or less staff.
While Republicans gained momentum mid-terms, I'm not sure that will hold for the presidential election 2012 if the streets of the USA look like Cairo did a couple weeks ago.
In the case of the private sector employer no longer being able to financially support obligations made to employees................the business fails, employees go home, a new business that does not overextend itself takes it's place, then workers are hired to fill positions.
Government steals the money from other programs to support obligations it should not have made in the first place. I'm not opposed to government employment, but there are way too many government jobs with bloated retirement. I can post dozens of 6 figure bonuses that recently went out to government employees in Ca. Sheriffs taking in a quarter million dollars annually in retirement benefits. That's just plain wrong. Taxpayers are helpless to stop it because Sacramento is run by the labor unions and their money...which, in the case of unionized government employees, comes from the taxes I pay. This makes my blood boil. I'm paying to keep the viscious cycle alive and untouchable.
This only one of the problems bankrupting our system. The others belong in threads of their own. Everybody wants someone else to take the cuts, but it's nigh time to pay the piper.
