Are you a public employee? Have you ever been one? Are you part of the VRS, the federal retirement program or other pension fund? Do you get a matching 401k from a government agency?
All those who can answer yes need to pay close attention and watch things closely. When will someone go for your pension or retirement fund? When will you get cut out of that for which you have worked for years?
First they came for the Wisconsin Public employees.
I didn’t do anything because I wasn’t from Wisconsin.
Then they came for the union folks.
I don’t have collective bargaining so I paid no mind.
You know where this is going……
Decent government pay means decent government!
Everyone needs to be concerned about the scapegoating of public employees and the attacks on civil servants.
What is being done locally?
Woodbridge– Last night at the monthly meeting of the Prince William County Democratic Committee, the committee voted unanimously to send a letter (attached) to Governor McDonnell criticizing him for his support for Governor Walker and continuing his campaign of abuse of public sector workers and their contributions to our society.
Bruce Roemmelt, Chair of the Prince William County Democratic Committee stated:
“The unions in Wisconsin already agreed to contract revisions that would aid in balancing the WI budget, the current issue is eliminating their ability to organize and collectively bargain. The Governor of Wisconsin is now only on a mission to abolish public sector bargaining rights.”
Roemmelt also stated, “The fact is that the Wisconsin pension funds are not the problem with their accounts among the highest capitalized in the country. “
Roemmelt state, “I’m amazed how many show total support for the Middle East peoples demonstrating for their rights and vilify public workers doing the same thing. Our fire fighters, police officers, teachers, and scores of other public employee groups ARE the middle class. We support the middle class.”
Locally? Congress is in recess while Feds are threatened with furlough and unpaid “emergency call” for the duration of the furlough the week after next. It was an utter dereliction of duty, a willful act of Congress refusing to pass the budget in October when it was supposed to. And Federal service is full of firefighters, nurses, teachers and police officers, too. And where are our representatives, the ones who gave up recess time last August to push through the healthcare reform? Why, they’re on recess!
And those 14 Senators should be booted out of office and special elections held. They are supposed to be doing the people’s work–I find it hard to believe that the people’s work only involves a single issue of protecting union interests.
Someone needs to explain to me why union dues must be mandatory. I don’t get that.
Most Federal employees have already been dinged with the freeze on raises over the next two years despite mounting inflation threats. But that’s just chump change. The long term fiscal situation looks pretty tight. People (especially Republicans who may be running the show beginning in 2013) don’t seem to have much affection for Federal employees except for the DoD. But Fed’l employee or baby boomer approaching retirement or Gen X’er, I think the nation’s fiscal problems are so severe that everyone will be affected. And it’s Friday so I’m at my most optimistic right now.
@Emma
And do those 14 serve only the Republican people in Wisconsin?
And Emma, I would agree with you about having to join the union. That is my biggest problem with unions, the closed shop concept.
To me this is all about hastening the end of the middle class. The gap between rich and poor is widening at a rapid rate. Americans have been pitched the idea that everyone can make it to the top. Many have bought in. The problem is the peeps up there want to keep their gates closed.
http://read.bi/9Gcvyn
I don’t understand why people get so excited about 13% of the country that are in unions and not the least bothered by the richest 10% that own 2/3 of America’s wealth and most of congress. And get huge tax breaks that they just salt away and save so their kids can be rich and not have to work ever! (the sure are not putting the money to work creating jobs – or not for the past 8 years – perhaps this fall) The richest 3% get their tax breaks and evil teachers lose salary and pensions. Sound fair to me ;-( NOT!!
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” Edmund Burke
bruce
I would like to see public sector unions abolished. The unions primarily protect mediocre and subpar workers. The negotiation of wages should be carried out individually between the worker and supervisor. Companies and other organizations put an enormous amount of effort and money into retaining very good, very talented employees. But lumping all workers together in collective bargaining gives the lower end of the Bell Curve far too much power to obtain pay/benefits beyond their individual worth. I would also argue that unions hurt the really talented workers, because their wages are reduced compared to what they could get if they were individually negotiated.
I think Bruce has got it right. You may or may not like unions, but you should have a choice.
This has nothing to do with acceptability of unions, it’s about depriving Democrats of financial support.