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The only powerful unions left are those for municipal workers, and they benefit off the backs of all the private sector people who haven't had union represetation in a long time. The corrections officers crying on the radio about "losing their pensions", when the truth is that they've only been scaled back, and mostly for new workers. $0 towards health care, $0 towards retirement. Unsustainable, unfair to the taxpayer. I feel bad for the all people working crazy hours in retail, barely getting by on LI. Those are the people who need a union.
I know, "they made a bad career choice".
ya'all know where you can stick that.
Whine, whine, whine. You've been beating that horse to death for years. It's getting real old.
And considering the "bad career choice" issue that you keep bringing up, remember, "he who protesteth too much ..."
The pension system doesn't get federal funds. The reason for the shortfall was that the system collected less than 1% of payroll during the go-go stock market years of the 90s. And now the politicians and all of the municipalities who didn't anticipate a day of reckoning are paying the piper. It's all about politics.
The school districts were most certainly supported by federal funds through TARP. Yes, both municipalities and unions were rewarded by stock market gains of 1990's and they were also punished by the downturn. They began to invest over half of the pension in stocks the last few decades, it will take years to recover from the recent downturn, hopefully they learned their lesson. Cuomo's Tier 6 is a step inthe right direction.
Almost 60% of NCPD sit behind a desk and never see the street, should they be given full health care?
That pretty much invalidates any other 'point' you've tried to make in your post, and that you know nothing about the subject.
If we went by your percentages, there's less than 18 cars on patrol in the entire county right now, or just above 2 a precinct; since most precincts only have 3 or 4 cops working inside on any given tour and turn out around 23 cars for patrol, I think your numbers are a bit off.
LOL. That's hilarious! I bet retail workers get shot a lot more often than cops and firefighters do. ESPECIALLY on Long Island. Try telling that to a bank, convenience store, bodega, deli worker. (Do bank tellers count as retail workers too?) They all have plenty to worry about and have similar things in common: NOT compensated like corporate executives for a minimal education, have to buy their own clothes for work (not uniforms), NOT able to collect pensions and free healthcare EARLY IN LIFE and work another full time job at the same time, etc., etc. ... need I go on?
So being a retail worker on Long Island is dangerous? If you seriously think most of Long Island has a high crime rate then you should visit Albany, NY, Camden, NJ or run-down parts of Detroit, Philly, Baltimore, and Miami. Now those places maybe retail workers are at danger, not Long Island. It's ridiculous to argue that being a retail worker on Long Island is more dangerous than being a firefighter.
When did this thread become about unions? Long Island has high taxes and its something we have to deal with it. You think the suburbs of NYC, aka the capital of the world, are going to be a cheap place to live? Everything is expensive on LI from housing, gas, groceries, insurance, so why wouldn't taxes be? I stick with my belief that you only live on Long Island if you can afford it, and these days you need to make an income $150K+ to have a decent living here. Plus teachers, cops, and firefighters pay property taxes here too, so technically they help pay their own salary.
That pretty much invalidates any other 'point' you've tried to make in your post, and that you know nothing about the subject.
If we went by your percentages, there's less than 18 cars on patrol in the entire county right now, or just above 2 a precinct; since most precincts only have 3 or 4 cops working inside on any given tour and turn out around 23 cars for patrol, I think your numbers are a bit off.
You are just looking at precincts, you need to look at all the administrative positions in both HQ and the precincts, crime lab, PAL, captains, deputies, community affairs, special units, lieutenants, etc.
They were criticized several years ago for having one of the highest percentage of police in other than front line positions. What would you expect the percentage to be out of the workforce.
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When did this thread become about unions? Long Island has high taxes and its something we have to deal with it. You think the suburbs of NYC, aka the capital of the world, are going to be a cheap place to live? Everything is expensive on LI from housing, gas, groceries, insurance, so why wouldn't taxes be? I stick with my belief that you only live on Long Island if you can afford it, and these days you need to make an income $150K+ to have a decent living here. Plus teachers, cops, and firefighters pay property taxes here too, so technically they help pay their own salary.
Yes taxes are high and we are dealing with it, that is why we now have a Tier 6, won't help us for decades but still progress. I have a choice on all those other things you mentioned like groceries, not the same with taxes.
Where did you get the $150K number for wage earners, do you have any idea what the median or average wage is on LI.
Yes taxes are high and we are dealing with it, that is why we now have a Tier 6, won't help us for decades but still progress. I have a choice on all those other things you mentioned like groceries, not the same with taxes.
Where did you get the $150K number for wage earners, do you have any idea what the median or average wage is on LI.
Yes the median/mean wage for LI is about $70-$90K. Doesn't make much sense since the COL is so high. In order to get a decent house on LI (especially western LI) you'll pay $500K+. And a decent house I mean with a 2 car garage, good size backyard, outdoor deck or patio with sliding doors, big kitchen with an island, 3+ bedrooms, and finished basement. Any house with all those amenities here is overpriced. Housing is what is going to be driving people out of Long Island, not taxes. It's ridiculous to pay $350-400K for a house with no more than 3 bedrooms, small kitchen, no basement, and tiny backyard. Why should pay $350K for a small house on Long Island when I can get a huge house and property for that price in the suburbs of Dallas, Denver, or Atlanta and still have access to big city amenities.
One of the reasons I left Long Island is because I can't afford a good house, not the taxes. As I said in a previous post I'm not paying $350K for a house with no basement and small kitchen in Levittown and I'm not paying $800K for a house on a main road with a tiny backyard in Garden City. Taxes are cake prices here compared to the housing prices.
You are just looking at precincts, you need to look at all the administrative positions in both HQ and the precincts, crime lab, PAL, captains, deputies, community affairs, special units, lieutenants, etc.
So Special Units never go on the streets? Same with Lieutenants or other supervisors? what about the special units such as ESU, BSO, etc where everything they do is on the street? Deputies are under the Sheriff's Office and not NCPD. Even with the special units with admin positions it's nowhere near the 60 percent you claim. Don't pull made-up statistics out of your ass to make a point.
Last year was bad, the pension shortfall will be worse this year, and next year, the numbers are staggering.This was masked over in previous years due to federal funds that have dissapeared. Districts are now lobbying NYS for additional funds, and the comptroller DiNapoli is offering borrowing for the districts to meet their budgets, big mistake.
Not much budget drama thus far from my school district.
All staff will have their wages frozen for the second consecutive year. Several teachers and teaching assistants are losing jobs due to declining enrollmnent and class size tweaking. Apparently NEXT year's budget planning will also be helped by declining enrollment, cutting electives at the high school level, and looking at transportation costs.
One administrative posiition is being cut due to declining enrollment. The district has cut several of its excess administrators over the past five years so there is not much to cut from that area - we are down to principals, assistant principals, two assistant superintendents, one superintendent, one athletic director and that is about it as far as administrative postions are concerned. I think the district has cut a total of seven (plus their staff/secretaries) of these high cost positions - heavens knows what they actually did since there has been no effect.
Accordidng to their info, they are aiming at a budget increase of under 3% while staying within the 2% tax levy increase. Pension costs does NOT seem to be a budget buster thus far - of course this can all change at any moment.
People who work retail do have a union. When I did I was in a union. Cops and Firefighters shouldn't have to pay for healthcare because a lot of the health issues they have arise from the job that other professions don't have to worry about, such as retail workers. Retail workers don't have to worry about getting shot investigating a burglary, hit by a car, inhaling smoke and other garbage during a fire trying to rescue someone, injurying themselves in a pursuit, etc during the course of their employment.
Kind of a moot point. All workers are covered for medical for on the job accidents or injury. It's personal/family health insurance the poster is referencing.
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