Voters, he warned, would no longer accept wages and benefits for government employees that had grown more generous than their own. They would no longer pay for public services whose costs were growing half again as fast as the cost of services in the private sector.
Nor would the public tolerate continued union resistance to efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of government services. Through tax caps, outsourcing and charter schools, governments were already finding ways to circumvent public employees unions and limit their political power. Unless the unions moved quickly to strike a new "grand bargain" with government officials and taxpayers, Bluestone wrote, they would soon face an even more painful "day of reckoning."
Barry Bluestone is not just any economist. He is the son of Irving Bluestone, a legendary UAW negotiator, a reliably liberal, union-friendly scholar who has spent a career studying the declining fortunes of the American working and middle class. And since his op-ed, things have only gone from bad to worse in terms of the financial distress now faced by all levels of government. The "day of reckoning" that Bluestone forewarned has now arrived.
A recession-weary public is now well aware of New York firefighters who retire after 20 years at half pay, of California prison guards who rake in $120,000 a year and of New Jersey teachers who pay little or nothing for health insurance. A parade of actuaries and economists has stepped forward with estimates of unfunded retiree obligations for state and local governments that now top $1 trillion.
GO HERE to read more.
Nor would the public tolerate continued union resistance to efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of government services. Through tax caps, outsourcing and charter schools, governments were already finding ways to circumvent public employees unions and limit their political power. Unless the unions moved quickly to strike a new "grand bargain" with government officials and taxpayers, Bluestone wrote, they would soon face an even more painful "day of reckoning."
Barry Bluestone is not just any economist. He is the son of Irving Bluestone, a legendary UAW negotiator, a reliably liberal, union-friendly scholar who has spent a career studying the declining fortunes of the American working and middle class. And since his op-ed, things have only gone from bad to worse in terms of the financial distress now faced by all levels of government. The "day of reckoning" that Bluestone forewarned has now arrived.
A recession-weary public is now well aware of New York firefighters who retire after 20 years at half pay, of California prison guards who rake in $120,000 a year and of New Jersey teachers who pay little or nothing for health insurance. A parade of actuaries and economists has stepped forward with estimates of unfunded retiree obligations for state and local governments that now top $1 trillion.
GO HERE to read more.
5 comments:
Union have absolutely no place in any government job!
Especially teachers unions.
This guy is right on. Union benefits, salaries and retirement benefits for government employees has gotten seriously out of hand. The Ocean city council - cutting back benefits and freezing salaries - is doing what they were elected to do. Pay attention Pollitt, County Council and BOE!
Change the game for new hires if you want, but no matter who you are or where you've worked, changing promised wages and benefits isn't fair to the people who have worked for it. It's not the current employees' fault that the government mismanaged and spent too much.
8:58
You don't get it. The promissed compensation and benifits will change for the union government employees. There isn't enough money to pay for it. Period.
It will change because the current level of overcompensation is unsustainable. Union grunts, brace yourself for the correction that's coming your way!
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