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Thursday, August 4, 2011

An Open Letter

An open letter to New York State citizens:

There currently are a pair of contracts proposed for the State workforce. The two unions, CSEA and PEF, have or will be presenting the contract proposals to their memberships for ratification. To give you the down-and-dirty, here are the highlights of the proposals:
Term of the contract is 5 years.
0% raise for the first three years, 2% for each of the fourth and fifth year.
$775 lump sum payment in April 2013 and $225 lump sum payment in April 2014.
5 days off with no pay the first year, never to be recovered.
4 days off with no pay the second year, with repayment at the end of the 5 year contract. The state has 18 months to amortize the repayment.
Guaranteed no layoffs in the first two years unless “material or unanticipated changes in the State's fiscal circumstances, financial plan or or revenue will result in potential layoffs” or “as authorized by legislation or Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission determinations are excluded from these limitations.”
Cost shift in health insurance. Currently, using the Empire Family plan (the most common plan) the state pays 90% of the cost, employees pay 10% of the cost. State proposes the new ratio becomes 84%/16%. This represents a 24% increase.
Increases in co-pays for doctor visits, lab tests and medicines.

What's wrong with these proposals? Plenty. And the sad thing is that the public at large has been sold a bill of goods about public employees.

Everyone has heard or told stories or jokes about state, Federal or city employees. How many employees does it take to fill a pothole? To change a light bulb? To process a worker's compensation claim? We've all heard them, and for the most part, we state employees don't disagree. After all, we're taxpayers too. We see and use City, State and Federal services, just like you. We see the waste, and sometimes fraud, more than you do. We get it.

But here's the problem, regardless of where you come down on the contract issues. There are many issues involved, and frankly some of the participants will dispute what is said here.

A couple of phrases come to mind. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” and “politics make strange bedfellows”. Each apply here, in differing amounts.

The first is that the discussion amongst CSEA and PEF members that draws people of differing political persuasions together to fight what they perceive to be the right course of action.

The second is that Governor Cuomo, a Democrat, is acting like a conservative: Cut government, cut waste, live within your means. From where I sit, that makes sense. And it's nothing new among Democrats. Witness Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Jerry Brown in California. All three are doing things that would make Tea Partiers proud. This flies in the face of what liberalism is supposed to be about.

Frankly, there is much discussion and disagreement between union members. There are those who are determined to vote yes because they're convinced that turning down the State's contract offer will condemn 9,800 employees to the unemployment line. Conversely, there are those who will vote no just because of greed (I got mine, too bad about yours.)

I will vote no because it's a lousy deal. The biggest thing, for me, is that voting yes in order to save jobs will result in not saving jobs. The governor seems determined to lay off people, regardless of how the unions vote. Read the exceptions to the 'no layoff' clause.

Yes, we should feel the pain that everyone else does. And you know what? We do. We pay for fuel. We pay our taxes. We pay for food. Our costs have gone up the same as every one else's.

Here's the scary part: the governor and the folks supporting him have taken the same approach that Scott Walker has – namely, they are demonizing the state workforce. And we're an easy target. And in some cases, yes, we deserve it. It's our fault the state is in financial crisis. We have it so much better than non-public servants do. Our benefits are better, and that's not fair. Staties can screw up and still have a job. Well, I'll give you that one. The unions have been pretty good at protecting incompetent/lazy/goof-off employees.

But that's the thing. In order to be accepted, every lie must have elements of truth. Yes, there clearly have been state employees who should have been fired. Whether for incompetency, laziness or just generally being a screw-up, they should have been gone. And in the private sector, maybe they would have. After all, nobody wants to support that kind of behavior with their tax money.

And we get the fact that people have a right to expect that their tax dollars are supporting the services they need and the people who provide them. That's reasonable.

What's not reasonable is the seed the Governor and his staff is planting amongst the citizens – that ALL public employees are lazy, that ALL public employees are taking advantage of the system, and that ALL public employees are responsible for the fact that the politicians have spent more money than they've taken in. They are creating in your mind the illusion that we are the enemy, that we should be punished because we are greedy and have more than you. That is frightening. Just as any dictator, they can implant the idea that there is a common enemy – even if it's not true.

Do we have it better than you? Clearly, I cannot answer that. Statistically, our wages are less than the private sector but that's compensated for by the benefits we enjoy. Whether that's true or not, I cannot say. My particular job does not transfer cleanly to the private sector. I spent most of my working life in the private sector, and did take a pay cut to come to public service. But the wages and benefits were predictable, so it was a reasonable tradeoff. No regrets on my part. If you're unemployed, clearly the matrix changes. No wonder you might condemn public employees. Just remember that it will not help your position to have someone in the hole with you. It just makes it more crowded.

The purpose of this letter is to show that there are negotiations going on that can and will affect you as members of the community. Maybe you agree with the State's position, maybe not. But there doesn't seem to be anyone telling you what's really going on. Maybe this has helped explain what's going on. I'm not looking for your sympathy. I'm not asking for you to write your assembly person or state senator demanding fair treatment for your public employees. But you have a right to know what's happening with your tax dollars.

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