Posts tagged state employees.
N.J. public worker premium hikes, Murphy deal with unions will cost taxpayers. Leaders are baffled.
October 18, 2022 // Murphy, a Democrat, did strike a deal with several state worker unions to mitigate their costs, enraging local leaders and unions representing town and county workers who warn of higher property taxes and layoffs. In the end, New Jersey taxpayers will shoulder the lion’s share of the rise in costs, but exactly how much remains a mystery. The Murphy administration hasn’t provided an exact amount and did not answer questions from legislative officials during budget negotiations.
OPINION: Spin Control: How did state reach its deal with its unions? Have to wait to see
October 12, 2022 // The Office of Financial Management rejected Mercier’s request for the opening offers. The contracts have not yet been approved by the Legislature, it said, so the agreements are tentative and anything leading up to them would be “exempt as part of the deliberative process” under the state Public Records Act. The problem with that reasoning is that the contract approval equals biennial budget approval, which isn’t going to happen for at least six months. The Legislature rarely rejects the negotiated contract and can’t even make changes, like shaving the raises by a fraction of a percentage point or reducing the bonus for getting a shot designed to keep workers from getting sick.
Still-Unreleased Union Deal Rains Cash on State Workers
June 28, 2022 // The still-unreleased deal between the Hochul Administration and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), state government’s largest group of unionized workers, would award bonuses, backpay, and guaranteed raises the next three years, documents sent to union members show. The tentative agreement, which was negotiated behind closed doors, covers about 56,000 blue- and white-collar state employees in executive branch agencies, including SUNY.
HOW AMENDMENT 1 COULD GIVE ILLINOIS MORE ARSONISTS AS FIRE CHIEFS
May 27, 2022 // Analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute shows the language of the amendment would allow abuses of unionization and collective bargaining rights to nullify more than 350 existing state statutes. The amendment creates new threats for a wide variety of sectors, including policing, child care services and education. The impact of Amendment 1 would likely be felt by virtually all Illinoisans – including children.
COLORADO WINS EXPECTS TO KEEP ITS MEMBERS IN LINE WITH LIES
May 10, 2022 // To be specific, Colorado WINS vows it will not accept opt-out forms that clearly cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME
Don’t Expect Unions To Make a Comeback
April 18, 2022 // The biggest problem for unions, it turns out, is that workers are making real progress without them
Opinion: Connecticut Hits Its Taxpayers With a Huge Payoff to Unions
April 6, 2022 // If Hartford lawmakers consent, state employees will pocket $2,500 bonuses, back pay averaging nearly $2,000, and raises of 2.5% to 4.5%. Another $1,000 bonus and more raises await in July, around the time their unions will decide whether to offer Mr. Lamont’s re-election bid the same intense backing they delivered in 2018.
Act 10 Savings Tops $15 Billion Since 2011
March 27, 2022 // Before the unions convince you that contributing 12.6% towards health insurance is an unfair and undue burden, think about this. A state employee in Wisconsin pays $2,952 a year for the regular family plan with dental. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual worker premium contribution is $6,015 a year. State employees pay roughly half of what the average taxpayer pays for health insurance and the state employee is receiving platinum coverage for that reasonable amount.
OP-ED | A Better Approach to the Silver Tsunami
March 18, 2022 // Too often, for unions, the customers are themselves rather than the public, which is why the state should be taking advantage of retirements by focusing on modernizing, reorganizing, retooling, and outsourcing as much as possible. The major advantage in choosing among hiring private employees/services is that change can be made quickly to accommodate the needs of customers. Not working well? Terminate the contract and find a better solution in the marketplace.
Labor organizers and anti-union activists square off again on membership, dues issues
March 18, 2022 // “It codifies the process by which an employee may exercise this right and safeguards that person’s ability to exercise it at any time,” Vernuccio said. “It does this by having the public employees tell their employers directly that they wish to have money taken from their paycheck, instead of employers taking the union’s word for it.”