Did the Town Manager/Mayor take a pay cut yet? How about the other top brass??

Unions have no place in public sector / govt jobs.

No, and that's becoming one of the issues.

I believe in leading from the top, and the before the first fireman or police officer was let go, they should have taken a pay cut. Seems they have not. And it's odd that we are asking our city employees to pay more of their benefits when the city council gets unlimited benefits for life. That's screwy.

But it's an unrelated issue. Right now in front of us is the union issue. We are no on week three of their strike. Three weeks ago the city issued it's "last and final" proposal. The union seems to think this is a starting point for discussions, and the city is standing firm saying "That's still our final offer". In the mean time my garbage was picked up yesterday, and my kid's bus is still running on time.

Seems they had a meeting last night. The city stood firm and refused to budge.

One guy passed out and was taken to the hospital.

The cost of living keeps going up so pay should continue to keep up with inflation. Doesn't matter if they are union or not.

If the city is broke its not the workers fault. It starts with the elected officials, both current and past. I promise they probably make more than the union workers

You should learn how to read. That text talks about FEDERAL employees, no city employees.

BIG difference.

:2 cents:

besides the fact the dog warden here makes 75K a year (along with 17K in taxpayer paid benefits and pension per annum)....LOL

point taken, but there is not that big a difference.....


Source

carefully "read" page 3
:winkwink:

there's even a nifty chart showing state/local

So your saying keep the bus drivers and the guy who maintains the parks, but let go of the police officers and firemen? Because that's what happening here. We've laid off police officers, laid off fire men, and even gone so far as to close down entire fire stations. But heaven forbid should the fucking garbage man not get his fucking 100% paid medical benefits?

Whenever I see one of these 'union' threads I have to wonder how many posters have actually any real life experience with unions? By that, I mean directly from either side of the aisle that is. Union or management (other than baddog).

:2 cents:

I was in a union for five years. In fact, I think it was the same union Baddog was in - CWA, Communications Workers Of America. (Phone company.)

To be honest with you I didn't give it much thought back then. Seemed like a huge waste of time to me. Anytime there was any kind of disciplinary the union had to sit in on it. On top of that, thanks in large part to the union, we had employees who worked there for twenty years who performed at the bare minimum. It was sick really.

Fiddy baddog's.

As was I.

I had done time on both sides of the aisle as a union steward, and then later took a management job. I believe there is still a serious need for unions. Anyone can cite some of the extreme examples for union's abuse or excess. In return, I can easily point back at the difference a CEO makes in comparison to their average worker wages over the past 10/20/50 years.

There is plenty of abuse on both sides. However, I can only shudder the level of abuse that would have existed back in telco without the union involved.

Week four, the city employees are still on strike. The bus system is running on time, garbage has been picked up, and our water is still on. It's costing the city more, but you can argue that since we aren't paying city employees to do it (and their benefits) it's about the same.

The Union is screaming saying that they've sent a new contract to discuss, and the city is saying they sent their "last and final" contract three weeks ago.

In the mean time, all of the Union employees are loosing money and our city services continue on as if nothing is wrong.