As a former Union member and Executive Officer in a private sector Union I am a strong supporter of Unions in the private sector. In the private sector Unions know that the business they are in have to make money in order for them to get the raises they want or the benefits they want so there is the incentive to make money for the business. In their symbiotic relationship there is a balance that needs to be worked out in order for both to survive.
Unions in the public sector however do not make money. They take money from the citizens when they ask for ever higher wages and better benefits and nice retirement programs. Show me private sector unions which make 6 percent increases ever year. I know the one I was in didn’t and that company made hundreds of millions of dollars. We are at a point where those on the taxpayer dollar are making more than the ones supporting them, how can this be seen as fair. I know teachers perform a needed function and should be paid a fair wage, but they need to realize in lean times sacrifices need to be made. Before the complaint is made that they pay taxes also, they are merely returning taxes that someone in the private sector has already put into government coffers. They are not generating new money but recycling old tax dollars so in reality they are not adding a dime.
As I have said there is no doubt that teachers need to be paid a fair wage but it has to be reasonable and they have to realize that their pay comes from those in the public that do not live off the taxpayer which all government employees do. When times are lean it is easy for them to say tax more, while private sector employees are taking hits in pay or more likely benefits they are then saddled with the additional burden of the higher taxes.
While teachers complain about long hours they are not the only workers in this country that do more than eight hours work a day and don’t get extra pay, many people in the private sector work after they go home. If you don’t like it, take a job where you are not only off the taxpayer payroll but become a real contributor, but you can work your eight hours punch out and go home.
David K. Kyle
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.ar.contracts26jan26,0,2703403.story
Arundel schools' raises in doubt
Funding problems may affect system's ability to fulfill pacts, officials say
By Ruma Kumar | Sun reporter
Anne Arundel County school officials say they might have to renege on promised raises to thousands of teachers, administrators and support staff.
Though County Executive John R. Leopold said he is trying to find ways to foot the $51 million bill for teachers' raises, schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell said he doesn't believe the county can afford the $72 million price tag for all four union contracts. The county has issued a bleak budget forecast because of sharp cuts in state education aid and real estate tax revenues.
"It's my belief that I will not receive enough to fund the teachers' contract, let alone the other three," Maxwell said.
The move could create a credibility crisis for a system struggling to hire and retain qualified teachers and administrators, spark political fallout for Leopold in a state where public employee unions carry influence and draw retaliation from the more than 6,000 county teachers who say they are underpaid.
Since the early 1990s, at least two other area school systems, Howard and Carroll counties, have been stung after backing out of contracts because of funding shortfalls. In Howard County, the school board reneged in 1991 on the last two years of a contract that promised teachers annual 8 percent raises. Outraged, teachers retaliated for months by working only contracted hours and refusing to write college reference letters for students, a task they had done on their own time.
"These public employee unions are not only powerful, they're politically active," said Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus in political science at the Johns Hopkins University. "When they get crossed, union members get mad, they organize, and they can really grind things to a halt."
Anne Arundel County teachers expected the third-straight year of 6 percent raises. Administrators also were scheduled to get 6 percent, while support staff like secretaries along with cafeteria workers, bus drivers and custodians had forged contracts for 3 percent raises. The raises made up a large chunk of the $100 million increase Maxwell is seeking for school funding.
Though the contracts are contingent on funding being available, backing out of them could severely handicap the recruitment efforts of a system that loses about one in 10 teachers every year, half of them leaving in their first five years. More than a dozen administrators resigned last year to seek better pay elsewhere.
"When you renege on a contract when you're recruiting it hurts you," Maxwell said. "For how many years will we be plagued by 'You didn't fund the contract'? If you were thinking of coming here, would you trust us? Would you take a chance taking a lower-paying job in a district that failed to honor its agreements?"
News of the possibility had a local teachers union official warning of a range of retaliation, including picketing job fairs to dissuade prospective employees from joining the school system and leaving immediately after the final bell, grinding to a halt hundreds of after-school activities they oversee.
"We would go back to the negotiating table and all previous bets are off," said Tim Mennuti, president of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County. "If this happens, you'll see the resignation [and] retirement rate would go right through the roof, as it did the last time this happened."
In July 2003, then-County Executive Janet S. Owens didn't fully fund the budget request and the system scrambled to renegotiate contracts and offer teachers a midyear 1 percent raise.
Leopold told local legislators last month that the governor's changes in a landmark education funding formula along with anemic housing sales will amount to about a $20 million loss in revenue for the county this year. Given that reality, Leopold has said the schools budget is "an ambitious request in difficult fiscal times."
Still, John Hammond, Leopold's budget director, said the county executive remains committed to providing the 6 percent raises for teachers, but he was careful not to promise the raises negotiated with the other three unions.
Through a spokeswoman, Leopold said yesterday that he has asked directors of every county department to cut their budgets by 5 percent to help pay for teachers' raises and other needs.
Despite the assurances, schools officials announced this week that they are immediately eliminating 50 unfilled nonteaching positions, and cutting the budget for substitute teachers to help beef up their reserves.
More cuts might be imminent: The system is launching a wholesale review of its operations that might result in outsourcing jobs.
8 comments:
Joe, great stuff. Who's David Kyle, the man with two first names?
David owns a Blog Site called "The Candid Truth." He has been having issues with Blognetnews and asked to be removed from their Site and they refused to release him, therefore he chose to shut down his Blog. We welcome his work here on Salisbury News to create a more well rounded Blog from all areas of the State and I truly welcome his great work and hope everyone welcomes him as well.
I also lived in Anne Arundel County for many years and I know MANY people have relocated here to the Eastern Shore from that area and would like to know what's going on out there every so often, perhaps more often then we thought? That will be up to David.
So welcome David and thanks for asking.
I disagee with unions as a rule. But there are exceptions to every rule and my exception is union representation of the public safety community.
In the private sector unions were necessary many years ago before there were laws that protected workers from unsafe work places, etc. All one must do is make a complaint to MOSH or OSHA and a govt. agency is breathing down the neck of the employer. Private sector unions currently provide an inferior product at a greatly inflated price. One must only look at the UAW and see the results.
I am an employer and I have learned that in the private sector you get what you pay for. If I want to hire a carpenter and I pay $9.00 an hour to start, I get a laborer with a hammer. I know that I have to start a carpenter at $15.00 per hour to start in order to get a carpenter. I have to start a laborer at $9.50 - $10.00 per hour rather than $6.15 or I will have kids who spend a good part of the day standing around if someone isnt there to tell them what to do every second of the day.
My point is that the market and good business choices dictate salary increases rather than some organization driven by the percentage they can take from my employees wages. If unions, through contracts, determined that carpenters should earn $25.00 per hour to start, that cost MUST be passed on to the customer or the business will fold. And if the prices are raised higher than what the market will bear, the business will fold. I believe that in the private sector, unions are a major contributor to inflation.
I know that some people will respond to this comment with "it's the business owners that drive inflation" and "Illegal aliens are coming here and working for next to nothing". Not true at all....not totally. Business owners raise prices because they must in order to maintain a profit margin that will permit the company to survive in an environment where overhead is increasing steadily due to increased fuel prices, increased raw material costs (because of unions), govt. overregulation which has created the need for added non-producing overhead, and excessive taxation of businesses. And as far as illegal aliens....I feel strongly that the border should be closed and that those who are here illegally should deported forthwith. But as far as salaries are concerned? Run an ad in the guide for a laborer and see how many responses you get from people who barely speak english yet seem quite able to communicate the fact that they need to start at $12.00 per hour....not cheap labor at all. They're becoming Americanized.
Public employees, however, are in a constant struggle to do their job effectively. Mr. Kyle uses teachers and to a great deal I agree with him.
But Govt. mandates, both state and federal, also place a steep burden on the taxpayer on a local level. That being said, I don't have firsthand knowledge of the teachers plight. I have an opinion but it won't be helpful for the purposes of this discussion.
Public safety needs collective bargaining for several reasons. From a law enforcement perspective, the federal govt. has taken a "hands off" approach due to the inherent danger involved in carrying out their duties. Since the law does not provide an adequate disability plan relative to the dangers faced every day, these officers need the right to bargain for it with their employers. They don't get overtime for working over 40 hours a week. They must work more than 172 hrs. in a 28 day cycle in order to get overtime pay.
There must be a mechanism in place to protect these officers/deputies from political backlash which often comes when one of these officers enforce the law and are taken to task because the violator is politically connected. Anytime the legallity of a council decision (city, county) is challenged, the govt. uses taxpayers dollars to defend itself. Who ever runs out of money first loses. Taxpayers dollars are seemingly unending and are at the disposal of the elected officials. Individual officers/deputies can never compete with the money possessed by the govt. to pay attorneys. We taxpayers in Wicomico County are getting ready to see this first hand.
If collective bargaining for public safety workers was in place, contracts would prevent this to a greater degree and can actually save the taxpayer money.
Let the teachers try their hand at a 12 month a year job for less than they make now. I am sure the attitudes would change quickly!!!!
If I knew I had 2 months off a year I would happily donate some hours for the 10 months I was in. I am sure this will piss some teachers off but too bad!! The truth needs to be spoken. The administration salaries are excessive given the workload. I would love for an administrator to try my job for 1 week.
The bottom line is in lean times the unions need to back off and let things recover. If the contracts cannot be fulfilled they should swallow that and press their goverment to reign in erronious spending(administration salaries?) The taxpayers are NOT bottomless pits!!
we all know teachers are crybabies who want more in one hand and wish in another, wish they could pay off the $100,000.00 debt they got trying to get a degree, while you are working at your union job making $38,00 an hour, in the apprenticeship program you got for free, with your big health care and benifits. Look at the sheriff dept. they got treated like crap for years and now they NEED a union to help them get a living wage, because for years they got nothing. Don't worry about the teachers they get crap, spend thousands of their own money getting a job. you are just bitchin because your job sucks and you can't get a real job paying real benifits.
Anon 10:03
They CHOSE to get into teaching. The degree is a part of that choice. I guess my college education was free. WRONG!! I work 12 months and make less than most of the teachers do and definately less than administrators. I choose to stay in my job so don't think I am whining. In this area salaries suck. It is a fact of life here. I can't force my employer to pay out more than my job is worth as unions do. Just look at the mass exodus of union jobs from the area.
Folks do the math teachers make more per day they work than most administrators that work 12 months.
Teachers need not worry about their salary but start lobbying for work conditions. I can pay a teacher 100k a year and they would still not be happy with 35 kids in a class
Why is there no information about the Wicomico Bd of Ed's program that is giving a 10% bonus to all employees EACH of the next three years if the employee retires during that period? The employee also gets the 4% that all employees received this year. That is costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and is never mentioned in articles about the budget.
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