Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A state oversight agency on Thursday declared Nassau County to be in a state of financial crisis and imposed a wage freeze on all county workers.
The board of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority voted unanimously to declare the crisis and ordered that all scheduled salary increases be suspended.
The freeze is expected to save $10.5 million by putting a hold on police pay hikes that were to take effect April 1 as well as stopping scheduled increases in longevity pay -- annual employee bonuses that grow with years on the job.
County Executive Edward Mangano requested the move as he struggles to cut costs and raise revenue to cover a $176-million deficit identified by NIFA in this year's budget.
Union leaders are expected to go to court to challenge the agency's wage freeze, arguing they are in the third year of a $50-million concession plan negotiated with the former administration.
So it doesn't matter whether unions are a positive force for the working class (and society in general), because they've lost in the court of [uneducated] public opinion, they should be dismantled? I mean you've done nothing here but claim unions are sparking shifting jobs to Indonesia and screwing over the US car industry. Why should I or anyone else believe anything else you have to say? It seems to amount to declaring that the Earth is flat because it looks flat from your window, and it looks flat from your neighbour's (ahm, neighbor's) window.
The largest growth industry is public unions because they figured out they can pu tmoney in politicians pockets and have their way. Public unions are making their gains at the expense of the middle class if that's what you call a positive force representing the working class. Salary increases that result in higher taxes are a good thing. who do you think is paying the salaries?
I have no issue with most of the unions on LI but you can't tell me that a county where you have police and others averaging well over 6 figures is good for LI.
I don't think the head of the PBA is the best spokesman for public unions.
"Union leaders who attended the NIFA public meeting in Uniondale Thursday immediately declared they would sue to stop the freeze. "We don't feel that a wage freeze is appropriate at this time," said Police Benevolent Association president James Carver."
"NIFA Chairman Ronald Stack opened yesterday's meeting by saying Mangano's new budget still is not balanced. "Virtually all of the major items have yet to be implemented, may require approvals by the county legislature or the state and are thus unacceptably fraught with risk."
A state oversight agency on Thursday declared Nassau County to be in a state of financial crisis and imposed a wage freeze on all county workers.
The board of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority voted unanimously to declare the crisis and ordered that all scheduled salary increases be suspended.
The freeze is expected to save $10.5 million by putting a hold on police pay hikes that were to take effect April 1 as well as stopping scheduled increases in longevity pay -- annual employee bonuses that grow with years on the job.
County Executive Edward Mangano requested the move as he struggles to cut costs and raise revenue to cover a $176-million deficit identified by NIFA in this year's budget.
Union leaders are expected to go to court to challenge the agency's wage freeze, arguing they are in the third year of a $50-million concession plan negotiated with the former administration.
Wow, this is big news. I thought they couldn't touch the PBA contracts though? Unless the "bullet-proof" clause in them doesn't apply under NIFA control period?
I'm hearing the 3rd precinct is on the chopping block as well..that will save a ton of money for the county, mostly on brick-n-mortar costs.
The largest growth industry is public unions because they figured out they can pu tmoney in politicians pockets and have their way. Public unions are making their gains at the expense of the middle class if that's what you call a positive force representing the working class. Salary increases that result in higher taxes are a good thing. who do you think is paying the salaries?
I have no issue with most of the unions on LI but you can't tell me that a county where you have police and others averaging well over 6 figures is good for LI.
I agree that there is a problem on LI (and Westchester), although much of that is due to duplication and overlap among school districts, police departments, and municipal agencies. There was an article floating around here not long ago that detailed the waste involved in those areas and comparing them to regions like Reston, VA, that have similar socioeconomic makeups and get equal results while spending far less per student. We on LI could achieve similar results just by consolidating school districts, shuttering local PDs, unifying water districts and other municipal boondoggles with their associated, overpaid "commissioners" who draw pensions and benefits, etc., long before we have to screw the hard working rank and file.
Something does indeed need to be done when we have NCPD patrol officers collecting over $200k/year in overtime. But I resent the anti-union movement that has taken place since the tea baggers came to town. Generally, nationwide, public sector workers make less than private sector workers, even factoring in benefits. Weakening unions by removing collective bargaining rights isn't about balancing budgets (obviously not, since these moves are often coupled with tax breaks for the rich and corporations), it's about breaking the power of the main source of funding for Democratic politicians.
Generally, nationwide, public sector workers make less than private sector workers, even factoring in benefits.<--WRONG!
Weakening unions by removing collective bargaining rights isn't about balancing budgets (obviously not, since these moves are often coupled with tax breaks for the rich and corporations), it's about breaking the power of the main source of funding for Democratic politicians.
Do you have a link to back up your first opinion? Because everything I've seen, including BLS.gov data, points to public sector workers making 44% more than the private sector. In Nassau County, it's probably a lot higher than 44% (NCPD is 3x, or 200% higher than the county median income for full time employee in the private sector; see here and here in a WSJ article).
Unsustainable. The private sector is the engine for growth in this country.
Do you have a link to back up your first opinion? Because everything I've seen, including BLS.gov data, points to public sector workers making 44% more than the private sector. In Nassau County, it's probably a lot higher than 44% (NCPD is 3x, or 200% higher than the county median income for full time employee in the private sector; see here and here in a WSJ article).
Unsustainable. The private sector is the engine for growth in this country.
I'm not sure if public sector workers as a whole make more or less than private sector, however when taking education level into consideration, private sector workers make more than public sector workers across every education level.
Public sector workers make 44% more than private sector. Let's not forget what "no-layoff-provisions" and tenure are worth, which almost no one in the private sector gets and doesn't show up as a monetary figure for the public sector; ie, public sector pay would be even higher than the 44% disparity, factoring this in. The private sector has lost 7+ Million jobs over the last 3 years while gov't jobs increased 100k!
Quote:
however when taking education level into consideration, private sector workers make more than public sector workers across every education level.
I don't buy that at all. Maybe when you're talking about teachers? But your average local, state or gov't employee; CSEA, PD, AFSCME (the majority of the public sector), most likely have equal or less education than the private sector.
Public sector workers make 44% more than private sector. Let's not forget what "no-layoff-provisions" and tenure are worth, which almost no one in the private sector gets and doesn't show up as a monetary figure for the public sector; ie, public sector pay would be even higher than the 44% disparity, factoring this in. The private sector has lost 7+ Million jobs over the last 3 years while gov't jobs increased 100k!
I don't buy that at all. Maybe when you're talking about teachers? But your average local, state or gov't employee; CSEA, PD, AFSCME (the majority of the public sector), most likely have equal or less education than the private sector.
Granted this is Wisconsin, and not nationally, but I wouldn't be surprised if its similar nationwide
Granted this is Wisconsin, and not nationally, but I wouldn't be surprised if its similar nationwide
That's a crock of Sh*t. Let's stick to nonpartisan FACTS please. EPI is a liberal, left-wing "non profit" (pffft) organization. They even left out GED/non-HS diploma pay and probably benefits too, I'm sure that data didn't jive with the "sponsor" of that research.
WIS is a little ot, but I took a glance at their 2 largest counties on census.gov, Dane and Milwaukee county.
Dane County: Median household income=$59,546
per capita income= $31,846
Milwaukee County: Median household income=$43,848
per capita income= $23,670
Wisconsin is #8 in highest 'property taxes to income ratio'.
The misinformation (chart) doesn't match the Bureau of Labor Statistics or reality, Smash.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wage Freeze
