So this has been bugging me for the past few days.
I'm tired of seeing facebook comments from people who think that Gov. Walker is trying to ruin their lives by taking away some of the collective bargaining powers of the unions for state workers.
Here are a few of the posts:
this is simply a deversion tactic. If they distract people with this issue then we might forget that there are no jobs, no new business moving into Wisconsin, etc. Aparently, they think everyone is as stupid as the people who voted for Snotty Walker"
So, here is my take on this.
At one point in time, unions were important in protecting the lives and welfare of workers. Nowadays, I think they are obsolete. We have local, state and federal regulations in place to ensure the safety of workers. I think that unions protect the poor and somewhat average worker. With some unions it is almost impossible to get fired unless you open fire on someone. Even then, the union would defend you.
Now my workplace has rules in place to dictate how I get paid, the job that is expected of me, what my work environment will be like, etc. If I fail to abide by these rules I will either get fired or suspended.
A perfect example is the worker who is barely average. They show up 1 minute before they are supposed to start, do their job with a minimum of effort, never going out of their way to put the extra effort in to do a better job. Why should they?? They are getting paid the same amount if they work hard or are hardly working. So if I'm a worker who goes the extra mile and does more than is asked of me, I would be pissed that the slacker, who started the same time I did, is getting paid exactly the same wage I am.
If I am the good worker, in a non-union shop, I may get merit raisers based on how well I did. Not how well the union negotiated for me. If the union negotiated 2% for everyone, that's all you get. The non-union worker may now get a 3-4% raise. The slacker... maybe he only gets 1%.
Moving on to one of the other topics, Gov Walker is hot on. Making the state employees pay more in health care and pension costs. I just looked at my last pay stub. I paid $36.59 for my insurance. The company I work for paid $106. That makes me paying about 25% of my insurance costs. Add to that my deductible of $3000/year. Yeah $3000 that has to come out of my pocket before insurance will even kick in. Granted the insurance will cover things like routine yearly girl exams but anything else, I'm paying for that. Now the company does kick in some money towards your HSA, if you make below a certain wage. I don't. So I get nothing. I am now putting extra money each paycheck into my HSA. I did enough this year to be able to cover my deductible. That is a big chunk of coin coming out of each paycheck. Next year, I will drop that amount down a bit and maybe consider using it. I have no plans to touch that unless I have large expenses. At least Gov Walker made my contributions to my HSA non taxable.
Full disclosure: I have a pension and don't contribute anything towards it but the amount I would get is barely enough to fill my gas tank up in the 4Runner. That was a legacy benefit that I was not around long enough to really be invested in. I have a 401(k). The state is asking workers to now contribute 5.8%. That's not alot folks. That would be pre-tax money. So the amount people would see from their checks would be not alot. I contribute 10% of my wages to my 401(k) each pay period. I plan to raise that up another percent or two this year. I usually bump it up about what my raise is each year. I wish I could get away with only 5.8% and be able to retire on.
I hope that people look seriously at Gov Walker's proposal and realize that if the state goes bankrupt, you are probably out of a job anyways. In order to get the economy to turn around you have to make some hard choices and sacrifices. Asking state employees to step up to the plate is not asking alot.
Ok, time to step off my soap box now.
1 comment:
I have to disagree with you, I think if you they had asked all state employees not just teachers more people would not be crying fowl. The same government officials who are making this decisions are also not offering to make concessions as well. I do not see Governor Walker pledging to contribute more to his health care and pension and he is also a public servant.
And as a teacher who works in a right to work state where collective bargaining is not allowed, it has hurt educators. The state of North Carolina is one of the worst states for teacher pay. And you do not work in a company or job, where you could get your pink slip at any time or be told that 10-20% of your pay will be cut to balance a state budget. And actually its not unions that prevent poor teachers from being fired, its administrators and managers. It takes paper work and frankly most administrators don't want to do the paper work.
My first year of teaching down here I was treated inappopriately by my higher ups, and I felt bullied and initimidated because I literally had no one to share my grievances with. Having an union also protects the rights of many unions, most state workers are not greedy and most unions are as well. We are simply asking for a living wage, in which we can teach your children and yet feed our own.
I work two jobs and barely make the bills because I live in a state where unions have no power. Because of this I am looking to move and possibly work overseas. I have a masters degree, years of teaching experience in high risk/low income schools, but with a gross pay of 29,000/yr and being told my our county that I could get stripped additional 10% of my salary because of state budget. It's not a good situation.
Teachers are beat down, we are responsible for educating other people's children in classrooms that are increasing sizes, cutting costs, and taking all of our means away. We didn't get into teaching for the pay, but if they pay and the benefits do not allow us to live a comfortable life, then you are going to lose a lot more in the future then just the bad teachers.
Post a Comment