I have never seen anything that compares to the political beating public employees are receiving, not only in New Jersey but Ohio, Wisconsin, as well as four other states in the USA. And for what? Paying dues to a union of your choice; starting at the bottom and putting together honest, legitimate (hard fought for) contracts; joining a pension plan you had to join; making your contributions while the state you live in, work in and in some cases work for does not make their obligated payments.
There has to be some court public employees can enter to obtain justice, certainly not the court of public opinion. The taxpayers of this state are convinced…
a)
you’re overpaidb)
your pension is too good for youc)
your benefit package is too costlyWhat they do not know, nor do they give any consideration to, is that there was a time when you same public employees received, on average, 25% less than private industry was paying. That’s when they (private workers) were being given 5% raises and you were receiving 3%. It was OK then. The thinking being that that was what you deserved.
The absurdity today is that the real culprits are in denial for their outrageous behavior. I am talking about the New Jersey State Senate and the New Jersey State Assembly, as well as two Governors. I remember Christine Whitman and James McGreevey. Whitman wrecked the state pensions, $54 million owed to the New Jersey State Pension Systems. Governors balanced their state budgets by looting your pension.
Today the men and women who are members of the New Jersey State Legislature, both Democrats and Republicans do not appear to know which way to turn. Governor Christie has them all (including his Republican Party loyalists) sitting on the edge of their seats. The problem with their dilemma is that very decent, hard-working public employees are paying for the mistakes made by them over the last 16-18 years. It had to happen this way because elected officials, once they become elected, will spend your taxes as they see fit to spend to perpetuate themselves in office.
If ever there was a time when unionized workers have to stand side by side (public as well as private workers) it is now. When government fails such as it has failed all of us at the present time, the fallout does damage to all of America’s workers.
Normal times are difficult enough. These are not normal times. Cost of living is on the rise. Energy costs and food are not part of that cost. So realistically the increases in the cost of food and gasoline for your auto and heating oil cannot be used as justifications for a wage demand, not by the PERC standard.
What is happening now, to my knowledge, has never taken place before. For instance, during World War II wages, as well as food prices were frozen. The able body members of America’s workforce, with the exception of emergency workers (police, fire, health care and teachers) were compelled to work in a job involved in supplying the necessities of fighting a war. Shipyards, aircraft, tanks, ammo, weapons, etc., raises for those workers were based on cost of living. Every quarter of the year all workers were eligible for a $0.01 to $0.03 raise based upon production. Most workers received $0.03 cents or $0.12 cents per year. Public employees were not receiving that raise. Twelve cents a year sounds like nothing but most workers in America were being paid $0.80 to $1.00 an hour so $0.12 cents per year was 10% (or more) increase per hour. Figure it out. The war lasted 4 years. They received $0.12 per year times 4 years which equals $0.48.
The difference through these difficult times is that, for example, UMDNJ workers have gotten no new money for wage increases over the last 34 months. Townships like Stafford and Lacey have suffered through furloughs, which is a takeaway of their income. Stafford lost 8 days for one year alone. In Lacey, starting July 16, 2010, the DPW workers lost one day a week because of furloughs. That represented a 20% loss of their income up until the end of the year 2010. Toms River lost wages. At Teaneck BOE the custodial workforce are giving back their longevity, clothing and boot allowance, plus a three year wage freeze to help 26 co-workers retain their jobs. Randolph Township took a wage freeze. In Roxbury BOE the workers were involved in give backs.
Forgive me if I missed anything to do with our members making sacrifices. Those members and many others in the private workforce have suffered shortened work weeks, straight out layoffs or ridiculously low wage increase offerings. Few, if any, working Americans have not felt the loss of their regular income.
My concluding point…
I do not think it matters who you work for or what kind of work you perform. Those dollars will never be made up to you, certainly not if you work in corporate America or if you work for a municipality, county or state government job. Can you picture Governor Christie saying say in 2013, “The State had a good year folks. Here’s an extra 5% wage increase. It is never going to happen.
I am not trying to be funny. Anything to do with these times is far from funny. The men and women who represent you, the members of Local 97, have nothing but the utmost respect for all of you and I know I speak for everyone on our staff when I say thank you for your loyalty and support during these extremely difficult times.
Sincerely,
John J. Gerow
President