The O’Malley administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have agreed on a three-year contract that would turn furloughs into paid days off, give employees a $750 bonus, and schedule raises and cost-of-living adjustments. The roughly 24,000 members of AFSCME, which represents the vast majority of state employees, are now voting to ratify the contract. The contract proposal was finalized within the last week, state and union officials say, and was posted on AFSCME’s website this week.
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10 comments:
This costly venture will insure that at least 3,000 employees lose their jobs.
This will be the only way the state can afford this scam.
I say , don't give em anything!
Maryland taxpayers, you've been scammed AGAIN! Read the whole article!
Absolutely ridiculous! They save money and then turn around and spend it. How about holding on to it? Yes the employee's may have had to take a few days off, but it's better than losing your job. There's an idea..release some of these over paid people and allow the rest to keep their job without furloughs or pay cuts. I bet they actually wind up saving money....unless the state decides to spend it...state and federal just don't get it. The programs, unions and back office deals are costing this state/country. Sometimes you have to move backwards to get ahead and these elected morons just don't care. Take a look the next time you see our lavish state employees working out in public, like on our roads. If they're not sitting around, or riding around in trucks doing nothing, they have 8 or 10 others there doing what 1 could have done. Pathetic!
Has anybody done the math on this one? $750 Bonus for 2,400 employees equals $1.8 MILLION! And on top of that you have the pay guaranteed 3% pay raises that they are demanding! So say that these 2,400 employees have average a salary of $40,000/year. That's an annual pay increase of $1,200 which comes up to an addition $2.88 million this year, $2.96 Million next year, $3.05 million the year after and so on. AND they want 5 paid furlough days for the years represented in the Contract-so they basically want 5 extra vacation days for the next 3 years! At the same $40,000 average salary, that's $769 per employee per year. $769 x 2,400 x 3 = $5.53 MILLION! The State will be dishing out AT LEAST $16.22 MILLION conform to this ridiculous contract!
Now I understand that people what their salaries back-as do I since I had to take furloughs over the past two years and expect nothing less for the next budget, but I know how bad it is in the REAL world! The private industry is suffering thoroughly and if they don't do business then their employees don't get raises or, even worse, don't have a job! So now these State employees feel ENTITLED to raises and BONUSES?!
What does this mean for the common tax payer? One of two things are going to happen if this "Contract" goes through.
1-Your taxes increase to pay for said contract
OR
2-Your services and government provided luxuries (ie: Education, Roads, Public Safety, etc) decrease to in order to reallocate funds to pay these greedy State employees.
I'm all about recovery, but I'm not about to rob Peter to pay Paul when Peter is hurting just as bad if not more than Paul! We're all in this together; even you folks with cushy State jobs. My salary comes from the tax payers but you don't hear me whining! I had furloughs, I tightened my belt and I dealt with it because I'm just happy to still have a job!
Hey AFSCME union members, how about you EARN your wages and raises!?
oops, I'm sorry, multiply those figures by 10, I was using 2,400 instead of 24,000!!!! So it will cost us $162.2 MILLION! Enough to FULLY fund Wicomico County's operating budget for the next year and a half!
Now for what has actually happened.
For the last three years, State employees took a 2% pay reduction. They also had to take additional pay cuts through furlough days. They didn't get any cost of living increases and they didn't get the upgrades they were supposed to get. The workforce was also reduced. This saved the State and the taxpayers quite a bit of money even though services to the taxpayers weren't reduced.
During this three year period the State of Maryland spent over 120 million dollars to buy nontidal wetlands so "they wouldn't be developed". Guess what - you can't develop wetlands without a permit issued by the State and the Corps of Engineers. So this money was wasted. Obviously there were quite a few other things that State spent money on that it didn't need to or shouldn’t have. However, high up State Officials, made those decisions not people like me.
We did not ask for 5 paid furlough days and we did not get paid furlough days. Do to the budget the State decided to close down State office buildings for long weekends to save on energy costs. For the last three years employees have been furloughed for these five days. Next year, the State will close those same five days but the employees will be on administrative leave on those days instead of furloughs. Again, something that the State decided to do, not something that employees required. The State is in control and only gives what it wants to give.
State employees are not wasting the taxpayer’s money; they are doing the work they are paid for. Yes there are State employees that are lazy. There are also lazy sales clerks, lazy plumbers, lazy painters, etc. The majority of State and local workers are just like the rest of society and work hard for their pay. As an example, many years I have brought more money into State coffers they my paid salary and benefits.
State employees are not greedy. They like everyone else want and honest wage for an honest day’s work. The fact of the matter is someone in my job capacity in the public sector gets paid quite a lot more than I do and because of both State and Federal laws and regulations their jobs are secure.
As for the union, while Maryland does have a collective bargaining agreement, it doesn't have binding arbitration and employees aren't allowed to strike. Because of this, the union doesn't have a hammer and is only given through negotiations what the State wants to give them.
These are the facts, not speculations by someone that doesn't care to know the truth.
Oh yeah, the $750. We might get $300 of that after the State and Feds take out there share!
3:05...the lazy sales clerks , plumbers, and painters don't get paid with my tax dollars. I do have the facts, as I know people that work for the state. They know how good they have it. Cost of living increases? Do you realize the economy is in the tank and your state is spending to go broke...I don't know of anybody getting raises or COL increases...unless of course-state and fed employee's. Sorry...I'm not buying it.
So in essence Anonymous 4:22 you would rather spend your tax dollars on worthless projects and other frivolities that the State wastes money on rather than pay the people their salaries.
Those lazy private sector employees, who do you think pays them? You do. Every time you shop or have to purchase a service you are paying the good as well as the bad, but you don't complain about that.
State employees are just like all other employees, they just want to get paid fairly for what they do. No more. No less.
If you are having hard times, I am sorry. These times aren't easy for me or your other public servants either.
Almost ALL democrats as well as a few Republicans treat staet and federal employees as a portion of the electorate whose votes must be bought.
They say "vote for me and I will give you money"
The majority of state and federal employees realize it and go along
This contract is ridiculous! My husband works for the state and we are incensed.
5 PAID furlough days - WTF! WHY??
There are plenty of holidays already.
All we ask is to not have any furlough days (Unpaid ones) and no service reduction days (basically the same thing - extra days off with no pay). Just pay the salary that is due him, provide adequate health care benefits (no....not picking up the whole tab), and guarantee that the pension he has been contributing to all this time will be there.
3:05 is right - most state employees are not greedy. They just want a salary that is comensurate with the work that they do. Raises are great but not now....not when the state is in such bad shape. We pay taxes too so for everything that they give us in one hand they will take away with the other in taxes to pay for all of this @#$%.
And yes....STOP BUYING LAND!!!!! Conserving land is a good thing but NOT NOW.....the land isn't going anywhere. Resume conservation efforts when coffers are in better shape!
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