State Workers and the budget crisis (Cranston: how much, house, employment)

[1979]

I was at a cookout over a friends house in Cranston and there was a discussion stating that Rhode Island has more state workers per capita than any other state. I was wondering if anyone else has heard this?

It's interesting how there are cities in this country that have a lot more people than Rhode Island such as NYC, yet have a much small percentage of the city/states workers than we have. The audacity of some of the city workers unions amaze me. Imagine, the crossing guards in the city of Cranston have a NO LAYOFF clause.

Can anyone imagine a company in the private sector with a union with the audacity to demand NO LAYOFFS.....EVER!

[ljd1010]

Last week, there were multiple state employees scrambling to retire so they could still retire with FREE, fully paid health care for the rest of their lives! Gov. Carcieri recently amended this to require them to pay a portion of their health care benefits, hence the rush to retire before this went into effect. Who wouldn't have wanted to be a state employee with those perks?

[dgthree]

Don't forget we have state workers in each municipality. This is a huge problem in a state the size of RI we should have 35 or so superintendents for public schools. We should have about 5-10 maybe 2 for each county. Most states have one per county and others have less depending on the population. There are of course other problems, but the fact that each municipality runs on its own is a huge problem.

There was an article a while ago looking at salaries of state employee's too and its amazing how much some of them make.

[ThosewhoKnow]

I beleive the municipalities have a far greater burden with their own employees. Police, Fire, Teachers, Principals, Superintendents far surpass the cost of state employees. If you knew the saleries involved per each catagory you would astounded. What this state needs, but will never ever get is one or two school districts and of course limit the size of the police and fire departments. All we have to do is look at what other states do. This state is run like a brothel. And incidently, The govenor keeps on hiring 6-figure salary buddies.

[Golden1]

Here's the sign of the times... people are annoyed with state workers such as corrections officers who have solid benefits and a retirement. We all have choices. If you wanted to work as a state corrections officer where were you when they NEEDED people over the years and doing radio commericals for recruitment. Now people with masters degrees are trying to get in because the private sector is ridiculous and critiquing "perks." There are times when the private sector is more lucrative and attractive than a reliable state job and these aren't those times as people now want desperately to get into government jobs and suddenly find entry level government jobs to be the way to go.

[Golden1]

I think it's human nature to assess each other from time to time.

I've worked for the state of CT for a long time. I've friends who work the private sector. One was a recently laid off executive who used to take his family on vacations with his bonus check. He always made a lot more money than me and had a bigger house and far better cars. None of this was ever held against him. It's just the way things are or were. Every now and then I used to wonder what it was like to get some of his "perks" but I didn't go that route and was probably not qualified anyway. He used to express surprise at me working certain shifts or holidays. He didn't want that way of life and I didn't want a desk. There was no argument or anger. We both understood what we were doing was apples and oranges. Now since he's been laid off and having a hard time landing a similar paying job he's suddenly VERY AWARE of my work and benefits and when we speak there's some sort of underlying negativity that wasn't there before and a preoccupation with my being lucky to have job security. For years he made more than twice the money I made and received substantial bonus checks and drove a 40K car, but now he seems to resent my choice of working for the state or his choice in NOT working for the state. A feeling that wasn't there before or at least never surfaced, but now it's suddenly out. He knew about my benefits years back and wasn't really impressed, but times change and so does people's needs.

These are really rough times and people are being put in situations the likes most haven't seen for decades. It's a terrible time when people are clammoring for the safety of a government job that is not as available as it used to be and many companies are losing out on major talent and brains. All I'm saying I guess is when times were good most people aren't exactly paying attention to state jobs or town crossing guard jobs and now a lot of people are on an anti-government employee kick. It used to be a calling but now it's a safety net that people are frustrated isn't there as readily as it was through previous years. I'd knock pro baseball players before I'd knock state workers though. It's not exactly glamorous living. I guess it's good conversation though

[GermanSpy]

Originally Posted by 1979

Can anyone imagine a company in the private sector with a union with the audacity to demand NO LAYOFFS.....EVER!

Yes, I can actually. Every heard of that small company which offers lifelong employment to their workers? What was the name...hmm...oh, right, Toyota.

[Golden1]

The funny thing about this discussion is I don't think crossing guards take home very much money. Their impact on the economy has gotta be near zero. If you fire 3 crossing guards what do you save 20K? 30K? It's a part time gig for seniors and stay at home moms.

What's next anger toward teens working fast food places because they can grab some fries or a coffee on the side and not pay for it? The nerve.

The problems we're facing goes a hell of a lot beyond state workers, teachers and whatnot. It's the people at the top and management who have been devastating our nation and our economy with terrible decisions. Lay off 3 teachers but keep some administrator whose making the combined salary of the 3 teachers and not in the classroom. As I said this is a truly rough time and everyone is looking at avenues they never looked before and looking over their shoulder at the next person and their occupation. Scary world when entry level government and school jobs are now highly sought after and a sad commentary on our times.

[Huckleberry3911948]

the state here is doing furloughs and the workers love it. FYI the only way you get to use your vacation time here is if you retire. forlough coupled with use of annual leave (usually huge use or lose balances bek vacation is discouraged) will work fine for many state workers.

[1979]

Originally Posted by GermanSpy

Yes, I can actually. Every heard of that small company which offers lifelong employment to their workers? What was the name...hmm...oh, right, Toyota.

This is ridiculous! Toyota is a non-union company, therefore occupational employees do not negotiate with management, and do not "call the shots." Toyota hires everyone as a temp employee, and lays off a large percentage of them before they come to term. However, the process you might be referring to might be one similar to what AT&T used after deregulation was imposed on them in 1984. What it did, was allow for employees who became laid off to move to another AT&T office anywhere in the country that had opennings. This saved AT&T a lot of money by not having to train new workers in the long run. Also, keep in mind this wasn't a situation where the union employees "demanded" this right.

There is a huge difference between union employees in the private sector, and union employees in the public sector. In the public sector, traditionally, politicians would not stand up for the taxpayer, and would only stand up for the state workers. Only recently, now that the budget woes have gotten so out of control, politicians are figuring out, its the tax payer who they are suppose to be supporting.