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Old 12-07-2008, 02:38 PM
 
1,312 posts, read 4,767,843 times
Reputation: 1988

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Quote:
Originally Posted by westsideboy View Post
The furlough days are not really any different than Saturday and Sunday. The work sits on your desk over the weekend and you don't get paid for not being there. I work for the state and am thrilled to have a couple of extra days off. Rumour has it, the first of those days are going to be Dec. 26th and Jan. 2nd, days where most people are off and very little work needs to get done anyway.

In tough times everybody needs to be willing to make a sacrifise. In Western Maryland a state job and benefits is enough to support a family, own a house, and live the bourgeois life style. As a result we have educated, competant people working state jobs out here and I will stand by our customer service and work output.
For an office job, I see your point. As a firefighter, my husband works 24 hour shifts, which means he works approximately 9 days a month. So if he gets furloughed, each day is 24 hours of pay. That's a lot of money for us to go without, let alone 6 shifts.
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Old 12-07-2008, 08:20 PM
 
Location: Between Frederick and Westminster
196 posts, read 794,177 times
Reputation: 68
It seems when they say "days" they mean 8 hour days. Which would mean 2 24 hour shifts, not 6. I hope.
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Old 12-08-2008, 05:59 AM
 
Location: Baltimore
1,802 posts, read 8,150,576 times
Reputation: 1975
Quote:
Originally Posted by westsideboy View Post
The furlough days are not really any different than Saturday and Sunday. The work sits on your desk over the weekend and you don't get paid for not being there. I work for the state and am thrilled to have a couple of extra days off. Rumour has it, the first of those days are going to be Dec. 26th and Jan. 2nd, days where most people are off and very little work needs to get done anyway.

In tough times everybody needs to be willing to make a sacrifise. In Western Maryland a state job and benefits is enough to support a family, own a house, and live the bourgeois life style. As a result we have educated, competant people working state jobs out here and I will stand by our customer service and work output.
The work may sit there for some of you, but nothing just "sits" where I work. The work that needs to be addressed and resolved comes in daily, weekend or no weekend (requests are accepted from citizens on-line and by email, so the fact that there is no mail delivery on weekends and holidays is irrelevent). Many on my staff put in extra time at home in the evening and on weekends without compensation - no overtime pay and no comp time. They do it because they are a staff of professionals and they realize that the work needs to be done, and there aren't enough hours in the day to do it.

The problem is that state employees are also citizens and taxpayers, so all of the sacrifices that other people in the state have to make, such as higher taxes and fewer services, are also made by state employees. But unlike in private industry, when things are good and the state has a surplus, which has happened over the years, the state employees are not rewarded with bonuses or pay increases. But whenever there is a shortfall, we have to bear a higher burden than everyone else. And maybe you can support a family easily in Western Maryland on state salaries, but it's much harder to do it in the Baltimore Metropolitan area.

As an aside, the agency I work for is a revenue-producing agency. The more employees we have, and the more hours they work, the more revenue comes in. It makes no sense to have to make the same cuts in our budget as in those agencies that do nothing but spend. There is so much uncollected revenue based on laws already on the books that is not being collected simply because we're not given the resources we need to get it done.
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Old 12-08-2008, 08:39 AM
 
1,763 posts, read 5,987,277 times
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Originally Posted by 7th Direction View Post
An old Onion article from 2003. Strip out Ehrlich and put in O'Malley.
The good news, though, is that MD always takes budget deficits seriously. I think the state has demonstrated that if necessary, they can take whatever action is needed to balance our budget. The fact that the slots initiative passed probably helps the state in terms of revenue, too [whether or not it should have passed].

Now if we really want to talk about budget deficits, how about Calif???
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Old 12-08-2008, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Cumberland
6,949 posts, read 11,219,367 times
Reputation: 6142
Janetvj, congrats for going above and beyond the call of duty. It sounds like you and your staff are used to working without pay, so the furloughs are really just like any other unpaid day off for you.

I just think we have it very good. Compare our situation to that of autoworkers, or bank employees, or those in service jobs, or any other private sector job that just disappears.

No we don't get bonuses. We choose a more secure work environment than one that is high risk and high reward. What you rather have had a nice bonus the last 5 years and now not have a job at all?
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Old 12-08-2008, 12:40 PM
 
Location: Baltimore
1,802 posts, read 8,150,576 times
Reputation: 1975
Quote:
Originally Posted by westsideboy View Post
Janetvj, congrats for going above and beyond the call of duty. It sounds like you and your staff are used to working without pay, so the furloughs are really just like any other unpaid day off for you.

I just think we have it very good. Compare our situation to that of autoworkers, or bank employees, or those in service jobs, or any other private sector job that just disappears.

No we don't get bonuses. We choose a more secure work environment than one that is high risk and high reward. What you rather have had a nice bonus the last 5 years and now not have a job at all?
I do understand your point. But that's why those of us who work here agree to take a job for less pay than in the private sector - we give some things up for the security. Over the 30 + years I've worked here, the security has eroded away. Giving up a week's pay basically means I've been laid off for a week. Yes, that's better than being laid off indefinitely, but if the job was truly secure I wouldn't be laid off at all.

To be honest, the thing that really bugs me is that I am hoping to retire June 30th. Since the pension is based on the 3 years of the highest salary, and since now that salary is being reduced by a week, my retirement benefit is also reduced. I'm certainly not the only person being affected by this. It may be only a few dollars, but if I'm lucky enough to live another 30 years, it adds up. I just wish the governor would give us the option of either giving up a week's pay or giving up a week of vacation days. I'd much rather give up 5 days vacation than 5 days pay right now, and it would still save the state the same amount of money. After all, they have to pay me for the vacation days I've accrued when I retire, so what's the difference? That way, my pension wouldn't be affected.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent.
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Old 12-08-2008, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Baltimore
1,802 posts, read 8,150,576 times
Reputation: 1975
Quote:
Originally Posted by twotimer View Post
What deficit? Not in PG!

washingtonpost.com

Don't you just love it!
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Old 12-08-2008, 02:08 PM
 
703 posts, read 2,937,533 times
Reputation: 675
Isn't the number of furloughed days tied to the salaries of the employees starting at those making 60K or more, where lesser-paid employees take fewer days than higher-paid employees? How many receptionists and paper pushers makes that much more than 60K and would really be affected here? I don't see a big deal here since it'll essentially be a one or two days of unpaid leave for those at the 60K range and up to four days of unpaid leaves for those way above 60K.

BTW, Firefightermom, emergency and public safety personnels are exempted from the furlough requirements. Md. governor decides to proceed with furloughs - wtop.com (http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1525499&nid=25 - broken link)
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Old 12-09-2008, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Cumberland
6,949 posts, read 11,219,367 times
Reputation: 6142
I agree that it would be great to be able to use paid time off instead of being forced to not get paid. In the end it would save the state the same amount of money. I guess the state wants to save the money NOW and not defer the savings over a longer period of time.

The graduated scale of furloughs is true. It is a very progressive (in the progressive vs. regressive tax meaning of the word) way of doing it. The more you make, the more proportionally you are expected to give up. That is the MD way isn't it?
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