New Haven Independent

posted by: Leslie Blatteau on August 12, 2010  8:07am

What concerns me about the city’s decision to privatize their workforce is how it could affect the children of the workers.  I think I can safely assume that union custodians’ children attend New Haven Public Schools.  Therefore, if these kids’ parents’ jobs/wages/benefits are cut, their families suffer.  As a teacher, I know economic stress on families is a major interference with learning in the classroom.  It is also why teenagers have to prioritize work (both legal work and illegal work) over education.  Healthy schools depend on healthy families.  Healthy families depend on good jobs with living wages and benefits.  There is no way to operate in a vacuum.

posted by: Townie on August 12, 2010  8:57am

I am sure most of the custodians can get jobs with the private cleaning company. However, the BOA and the Mayor have an obligation to the tax payers to cut costs whenever possible. As I see it, this is a good move. The argument that privatization will cause automatic corruption is hyperbolic. There are a lot of corrupt labour unions, some of which I am sure operate in and for the city. 
If the Union wants to remain employed, they should offer a lower bid, a pay cut would hurt, but not as bad as unemployment.
If the city really wants to cut cleaning costs they should make the students clean the schools. 6 hours of study, 2 hours of work.

posted by: Mark on August 12, 2010  9:07am

A Sharp Coherent Message.

DeStefano has become a Reganite Republican union busting mayor.

posted by: Brian V on August 12, 2010  9:33am

Here is how this ends.
The King will take privatization off the table when he gets the $1.5 million in savings he is looking for -Not the $7 M of the tax payers money he should fight for. That way he can claim to ‘cut the budget’ AND ‘save the union’. He is shrewd that King of ours.

posted by: observer on August 12, 2010  9:41am

at this point in the game, the Mayor has yet to propose salary cuts for his staff, furlough days, targeted layoofs, etc.  He targets the most vulnerable city workers and cuts those things that will incite the most people (xmas trees, etc.) in order to coerce others into caving in.  Can’t wait until the next election.

posted by: Walt on August 12, 2010  9:44am

Hamden changed to private collection many years ago after Town employees set up a contract re recycling whereby each recycling employee worked a 4 hour route,  but was paid for 8 hours.

Worked out very well for taxpayers who had to work full-time   to earn full-time.

Subsequently Hamden privatized trash collection itself and got better service at less cost.

Hamden is now moving to privatize the collection center and will save further $$$$$  after the initial mess-up   is corrected

New Haven is way behind on clean-up of past practices but is finally making a good move.

posted by: This is digusting on August 12, 2010  9:58am

First off Townie did you not see the part that the company pay’s 12.50 an hour and you can only work 20 hours a week.I would love to see you or better yet any other big shot live on that income.Will Calrk 146,000 Mayo over 200,000 plus perks then add in all the others saleries Carolina and new Priciple husband income.Hey why are we not seeking to privatize that.All that money and what do you have to show for it.And if anyone really believes private company’s dont screw taxpayers that is a joke.Look into what Aramark cost you.This is nothing more then beat the people on the bottom Mayo and his team should be proud oh wait as long as they get theirs who cares about others

posted by: who would want this guy on August 12, 2010  10:05am

Lamont spoke of making sure people had jobs.Meanwhile his big Democratic friend Desteafano is trying to put 200 custodians out of work.All this while he let’s all the others get a raise and continues to hire.Lamont no wonder why you lost the election.

posted by: roger huzendubel on August 12, 2010  10:10am

i live around the corner from this billboard on olive street. I want so badly to spray paint “so does unionization”. as a member of a union i am disgusted with the way many of them act the (NYC teachers union, Transit workers (MTA, metro north)and now new haven janitors. keep asking for more, youll end up with nothing just like sikorsky a few years ago.

posted by: Democrats what a joke on August 12, 2010  10:15am

This Mayor is allowed to keep hurting working people and Democrats still entertain this man.It is embarrassing to be a Democrat now.Where are all the big name Democrat hopefuls now.Anyone going to come out against this guy for how he is treating theses people.Blumenthal,Delauro,Dodd,Malloy,Lamont (still believe in what you said about good jobs) I am waiting to see someone come forward on this guy.This is what makes the Democrats look like fools they all talk jobs but support a guy that gets rid of decent jobs in exchange for poverty wage sounds like Bush Wal Mart to me.This might be a good time to be a Democrat and speak up.Who will be first.

posted by: Moe on August 12, 2010  10:18am

How can the city think that paying workers 12.50/hour, which is equal to $26,000 a year at 40 hours per week is a good thing for our community? This is not a living wage. Saving money on the BOE budget by paying the lowest paid workers less is penny-wise and pound foolish - not to mention greedy. These custodians live in our communities, know our kids, and deserve a living wage ($17/hour comes a little closer). Privatization is a short-term, quick hit solution. And it stinks.

posted by: Townie on August 12, 2010  11:24am

Firstly, CGA is identified as a preferred bidder, not the selected bidder. Secondly, why should custodians make any more than $12.50 per hour? (I didn’t see the 20 hour cap and I don’t think it exists). Some labour is worth more than other labour. If someone doesn’t want to get paid a custodian’s wage than they should gain the skills and knowledge needed to advance. A lot of people, myself included, make about 26k per year (I’m not a custodian) and do just fine.
Now, if you want wages to be equalized and not determined according to skill or function than so be it, but there is a word for that, socialism.
Finally, I’m all for getting rid of the Mayor’s office. We would do just fine with just the BOA. Also, a serious suggestion, the taxpayers should demand a referendum on the final choice of the custodian bid. Let the people decide.

posted by: Moe on August 12, 2010  1:01pm

Why is it that every time someone speaks up for the working class, they’re labeled socialist?  That’s inevitably followed by the “lift yourself up by your bootstraps” rhetoric.  It’s not easy to pursue higher education/training while you’re raising kids, working 2 jobs, etc. etc. And why should CEOs and top-level administrators make more than 10 times (or more) as much as the lowest paid workers? Unions are not perfect, but I think the past few years have proven that neither is the private sector!  Pay rates aside, my concern as a taxpayer in the city of New Haven is that privatizing custodial services will actually end up costing MORE money, not less, AND hurt some of our citizens.

posted by: Morris Cove Mom on August 12, 2010  1:09pm

I still cannot wrap my head around this.  $12.50 an hour, part-time status only, I’m assuming no benefits?  And the schools still aren’t clean.

My kid goes to Nathan Hale School, and every day tells me there’s no toilet paper, no soap, no Purell, in those expensive hand sanitizer pumps they installed during the H1N1 scare.

My biggest concern is that while the city is trying to figure a way to save money and face, the workers are still being treated unfairly, and the schools are still dirty.

Can we scrap these talks and use school staff for this?  If they are already being paid, what would a few more hours, a few more dollars be?  Either that, or hire Merry Maids.

We are wasting so much money even having these talks, and for what?  To try and save money on substandard cleaning services?

If the city ran itself the way a family would run a small, family-owned business, we would not even be in the situation we are now.

posted by: Vladamir on August 12, 2010  1:39pm

The problem in the city is not the custodians. The problem is the city doesn,t know how to manage. The City can,t fund these pensions especially the police and the fire dept, something has to give.

posted by: Threefifths on August 12, 2010  2:00pm

posted by: roger huzendubel on August 12, 2010 11:10am
i live around the corner from this billboard on olive street. I want so badly to spray paint “so does unionization”. as a member of a union i am disgusted with the way many of them act the (NYC teachers union, Transit workers (MTA, metro north)and now new haven janitors. keep asking for more, youll end up with nothing just like sikorsky a few years ago.

History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.” 
Martin Luther King Jr.

Wendell Phillips:
The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth.

Clarence Darrow:
With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men

posted by: Townie on August 12, 2010  3:43pm

What’s wrong with being called a socialist? Socialism has some good points and we should not be afraid to adopt socialist programs.
Anyway, Unions have done a lot of good, but they’re useless now. They had a chance to really change things but they stalled, thanks in part to corruption, and now they’re just vessels of power- mongering and cronyism. Thanks to Unions almost all of our industry has been moved to foreign shores. I could go on, but I’ll spare you the boring rhetoric on the idea of progressive labour and its failure to stop neo-liberalism.
Like I said before, let the citizens decide who should get our tax money. The union or the private company. I vote private company.

posted by: Sean Matteson on August 12, 2010  5:15pm

The negotiations with Local 287 have all been in an effort to explore cost savings and improved results in school facilities.  It is unfortunate that the talks at an impasse.  In short, the City and Board of Education have been seeking a contract which gets us cleaner schools at a lower cost to taxpayers.

To accomplish this goal the City issued a request for proposals (RFP) to explore opportunities for privatization of custodial services. The RFP process yielded eight bid responses which all further justified the fact that the same, if not more work, could be done in NHPS facilities at a significant savings and with improved efficiency across the board.

As underscored by the RFP responses, New Haven Public Schools can be cleaned and maintained for nearly $7 million less than presently done. Considering the potential for savings for taxpayers, the City has been working to negotiate a new contract with the Union that would either provide for a model of privatization or achieves competitive cost reductions.

On any given day the BoE could have 1 in 4 janitors not at work because of contractual work rules which promote abuse of sick time and excessive call-outs.  These work rules result in unnecessary cost burdens on taxpayers, greater hardships on those janitors which do show up to work and they foster a lack of accountability and discipline difficulties for those that abuse the system.  Work rules which years ago granted janitors handsome amounts of sick and personal time were extended to the workers at time when they were low-wage earners as part of a compensation package Those days have passed and today’s janitors in the schools are making north of $15 per hour and cleaning less space per square foot than their private industry brothers and sisters.

All of these challenges can be eliminated by privatizing custodial work in New Haven Public Schools. Currently the City and Board of Education have successfully privatized similar work at City Hall, the Police Department, Libraries and Board of Education Leased spaces.  Privatizing the work does not necessarily mean the end of the union either.  The City has taken the municipal golf course and privatized the facility work, while keeping the employees in the union, and it has become a money-maker for the city, not a money looser.  The Water Pollution Control Authority privatized the work through the creation of the authority successfully.  Those workers remain union employees today just as they were when the work was being done by the City. In each instance, the privatization has yielded more cost effective, reliable and efficient cleaning operations.

I do not blame workers cleaning the schools for some individuals which abuse the work rules.  Rather I put my focus and blame on a set of work rules which foster these types of abuses.

Another example is the ability to move janitors from a “clean” building to a facility that needs more work.  This week the Union refused BoE request to be able to temporarily assign Custodians from buildings which are completely clean to schools where more work needs to be done.  The private sector would simply assign to need.  But under current work rules, with bidding and shift rights, the BoE has limited rights to move the workers to the location of greater need.  The result is that a janitor will sit in a cleaned building that can essentially be locked up while we expend over-time and/or scramble to finish schools where we had summer programs.

The rules must change, the next contract must change and both the City and the Union leadership must change their thinking in the way that business gets done. 

This extraordinary change responds to a growing need to cut spending and make the operation of City schools more efficient.  I believe that the work rules must change in order to achieve savings and cleaner schools.  Not only do the taxpayers of New Haven deserve it, but so do our school children which attend these facilities.  What we seek is a fair contract not just for the workers, but the taxpayers as well.

posted by: William Hosley on August 12, 2010  5:39pm

“Privitazation = Corruption” is the most perverse, arrogant and inscrutable slogan of the decade. Who but the rankest insider even knows what it means? Of course they’d be offended to be asked for examples and would NEVER provide any.

Corruption - if it is consistently derived from anything - happens where competition doesn’t. Generally speaking, the public sector hates competition and therefore is prone to corruption.

We can’t have public sector unions choking our economy to death.

Privatize everything. Whatever it takes.

posted by: Threefifths on August 12, 2010  6:08pm

posted by: Townie on August 12, 2010 4:43pm

Anyway, Unions have done a lot of good, but they’re useless now.

I disagree.Look what happens when you have no union.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WutW8usfTTg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgl7vDZ-jF8&feature=related

Thanks to Unions almost all of our industry has been moved to foreign shores.

Not true Check out this you tube on How the corporate vampires use the HB1 VISA to keep americans out of work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU

I am sick and tired of when I call AT&T,T-Mobil
AOL I can not understand a word the service rep is saying.No the corporation are at fault,Not the union’s. And By the way foreign workers are starting to demand union protection.

posted by: HewNaven?? on August 12, 2010  9:02pm

“Thanks to Unions almost all of our industry has been moved to foreign shores. I could go on, but I’ll spare you the boring rhetoric on the idea of progressive labour and its failure to stop neo-liberalism.”

While I would agreed that Unions have failed to stop the destruction caused by neo-liberal policies, it doesn’t rest on the notion that organized labor itself is to blame. The real reasons are fairly complex and I too will spare everyone the details. It’s enough to say that the non-technical causes of our dilemma are greed, acceptance of inequality, and a reverence for consumption and growth. That some unions have adopted these same tendencies is only evidence of the strength and ubiquity of these cultural trends. Therefore, what is required is that we abandon these destructive tendencies and adopt more creative solutions. This is not a vision of the world holding hands and singing, it is a realization of common sense and dignity.

posted by: Paulf on August 13, 2010  6:34am

... We can,t have public sector union jobs chocking our economy.The average custodian makes $17 an hr what chocking, and as for SEAN MATTISONS comment, yes it probably could be done cheaper so could everybodys job in the city. Don,t blame the union rank and file for the promises that the mayor an the union bosses can,t fulfil.The problem in the city is the pension and not the custodians pension.We can,t let people retire at forty or fifty yrs of age with pensions that at more then their base salaries.

posted by: Townie on August 13, 2010  7:16am

To threefifths: We can cite the auto industry as an example of Unions compelling corroborations to move off shore for labour, or go bankrupt all together. The UAW is a powerful union, or was. It could have reorganized the business so that labour actually owned the means of production. But, they didn’t. Instead they became just a powerful lobbying group that failed to recognize the tenuous position of America’s auto industry. Rises in costs of labour affect a company’s profits. Owners, having no other choice, will either move to a source of non-union labour or go out of business. Detroit now stands as a waste land because of UAW, and other unions. We can use the textile or electronic manufacturing industries as examples as well. Labour Unions are intended to be progressive bodies that gradually replace the owner-worker paradigm. American fear of Communism along with American greed destroyed the progressive nature of organized labour.
As stated by another, Neo-Liberalism is complex, but I truly believe that organized labour had a duty and a real opportunity to impede its proliferation.
Anyway, as for New Haven and the custodians. The city’s citizens should realize that taxes are high for a reason and inflated wages for union labour is one reason. Privatize the cleaning of the city’s schools and maybe lower the cost of living. Or privatize the teaching as well? Bust the teachers union and really save some money.

posted by: Cedarhillresident on August 13, 2010  8:08am

As I watch this all unfold…here and across the country I get even more confused. I grew up in a union family. Never cross a picket line…but as a tax payer and citizen of these united states I have some issues with unions. Yes they where formed to protect workers, and yes they are just doing what they are paid to do…protect them…but here is where I get confused, Unions have received contracts that are killing American jobs making it not affordable to use unions workers during the hard times. Personally I think that unions should be in DC fighting the laws that allow company’s to take there work out of this country so that the American people have JOBS…you are asking a jobless and under paid society to pay for union workers inflated costs. It is mostly the middle class in our city that are bearing the cost of this and they are BROKE!
It is not just the janitors it is all unions in general. You take the money in the good times..and most are willing to pay it. But it is not the good times right now. As a Union I have issue with the fact that it is your job to protect the employment of these workers. And in order to do that sadly…like many Americans the going rate for workers has dropped because of the lack of jobs. You need to work with what are economy has given us right now. That is the simple truth.

Until federal laws are changed to put the American workers back to work, until the state laws are changed to control the property taxes were the middle class of this state are disappearing, unions will disappear with them.

I feel bad for these guys…but you are not allown many of us have taken pay cuts, medical increases ect. That is where we are at…I can not afford to stand by the unions if they are not willing to stand by the people paying for it.

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on August 13, 2010  9:51am

Townie,

You’re right - the teacher union cartel, otherwise known as the NEA and the AFT ought to be outlawed.  But not because they cost taxpayers more (arguably we should pay teachers MORE given the importance of the role that they play in society)but because these unions are systematically standing in the schoolhouse door blocking access for poor children of color from attending great schools. 

If teacher unions were banned, the quality, the productivity, the compensation, and most importantly - the pride of the profession would start to rise.  Yes, we would end up paying teachers more but the higher college graduation rates would pay for that increase many times over.

I agree that it is an economic issue, but first and formost its a moral issue.

posted by: Threefifths on August 13, 2010  10:48am

Remeber we at one time did have privatization of school food service andfacilitiesmanagement under the Aramark company and look at what happen.Also the problem with privatization is you can have some one geting kick back’s.Also privatization has failures that are never made public.Case in point when I lived in New York.New York City subcontracted its Parking Violation Bureau to Datacom Systems Corp. A subsidiary of Lockheed. In 1987, evidence of bribes, extortion, and stealing were uncovered. When the work was returned to the public sector, stealing stopped and the cost of the service was 20% lower. How about mob control garbage collection services.

Why the Mafia Loves Garbage
Hauling trash and organized crime.
By Michelle Tsai
Posted Tuesday, June 3, 2008, at 1:58 PM ET

Connecticut trash executive James Galante pleaded guilty Tuesday to racketeering and conspiracy charges. Galante was indicted in 2006 as part of a federal corruption probe of organized-crime activity in the garbage industry. In an “Explainer” column this year, Michelle Tsai investigated the Mafia-garbage connection. The article is reprinted below.

http://www.slate.com/id/2192843

You want to talk about tax payers footing the bill for the Custodian workers.How about the Golden Parachute’s that our politician in washington get that we the tax payers have to pay when they leave office.How about what Dr.mayo and king john will be geting whe they leave office.No you want to come after the little person.Also remeber union also fight’s for workers right to a safe work place and other job benfit,Not just for wages. Even you people who work at non-union jobs benfit from the union.

How unions help all workers
by Lawrence Mishel and Matthew Walters

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/briefingpapers_bp143/

posted by: Threefifths on August 13, 2010  10:55am

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on August 13, 2010 10:51am
Townie,

You’re right - the teacher union cartel, otherwise known as the NEA and the AFT ought to be outlawed.  But not because they cost taxpayers more (arguably we should pay teachers MORE given the importance of the role that they play in society)but because these unions are systematically standing in the schoolhouse door blocking access for poor children of color from attending great schools. 

If teacher unions were banned, the quality, the productivity, the compensation, and most importantly - the pride of the profession would start to rise.  Yes, we would end up paying teachers more but the higher college graduation rates would pay for that increase many times over.

I agree that it is an economic issue, but first and formost its a moral issue.

And so should the charter school’s that are nothing more than teacher sweat shops.

Check this out.This is why the teachers need a union.
Suit alleges exploitation of Filipino teachers in La.

By Mike Hasten, Gannett
BATON ROUGE — Hundreds of Filipino teachers recruited to teach in Louisiana schools were thrust into massive debt, unsavory living conditions and, in effect, indentured servitude, an attorney charges in a class action lawsuit to be filed today.
About 350 teachers were recruited through a placement service for Filipinos, which the lawsuit says charged them exorbitant application fees and transportation and housing costs and demanded up to 30% of their salaries their first two years.

“It was close to slavery,” said Mary Bauer, lead attorney in the lawsuit set to be filed in federal court in Los Angeles by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Federation of Teachers and the law firm Covington & Burling. “There was fraud on a number of levels here.”

Filipino teachers began arriving in Louisiana in 2007. They were granted visas through the H-1B “guest worker” program, administered by the Department of Labor, which permits foreign nationals with special skills to work in the United States. Each of the Filipino teachers has specific skills sought by school systems.

The lawsuit charges racketeering, human trafficking, extortion and mail and wire fraud by two employment agencies — Universal Placement International (UPI), based in Los Angeles, and a related company, PARS International Placement Agency of Manila. Lourdes “LuLu” Navarro, owner of UPI, and her husband, Hothello “Jack” Navarro, are named defendants, along with LuLu Navarro’s brother, Emilio Villarba, a principal operator of PARS.

It also names three former or current East Baton Rouge Parish school system employees who helped recruit Filipino teachers.

The Navarros’ attorney, California lawyer Robert Silverman, denied all allegations, saying they had been dismissed previously by federal immigration agencies.

“I am not aware of anyone who has forced any teacher to do anything against their free will,” Silverman said in a statement.

Attempts to contact the former and current superintendents of East Baton Rouge Parish on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Chris Trahan, communications director for the school system, said staff attorneys were “still looking over” the lawsuit.

The lawsuit contends the teachers came to Louisiana with huge debts, were limited to working only for the employer designated by UPI, were required to live in crowded housing arranged by the company and were prevented from bringing any family members with them.

“It was a recipe for abuse,” Bauer said, and anytime a Filipino teacher complained, Navarro threatened lawsuits and deportation.

“There’s a lot more to it than the money,” said Mai Ri, a Baton Rouge teacher. “It’s being free from bondage and harassment.”

Contributing: Mike Hasten reports for Gannett’s Baton Rouge (La.) bureau

Notice Townie How they are using the HB1-Visa program to keep american workers out.

posted by: Just Check First on August 13, 2010  11:07am

Morris Cove Mom : Just check with the custodians in your building and make sure the supplies your son is complaining about are actually in the building… I had this same problem with my daughters school and when I asked the custodian he should me order forms from the past several weeks… I was amazed to see the supplies the custodians ordered were not delivered. They were either Out Of Stock or they were sent 1 case rather than the the 3 they requested… That would mean it is not the custodians fault. It would fall on the shoulders of the management/supervisors who are responsible for filling these orders.

posted by: Threefifths on August 13, 2010  11:25am

posted by: Townie on August 13, 2010 8:16am

Bust the teachers union and really save some money.

Then would you also say that we should also privatize the Fire Firefighter’s and Police officer’s union’s that can boost the pension with overtime.And they make more money than the teacher’s and custodians salaries put together.

posted by: Townie on August 13, 2010  1:15pm

Three fifths: Yes, the Police and Firefighter Unions should also be busted. All city employees should be directly accountable to the citizens. Teachers, Firefighters, Police, Alders, etc. They shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind unions nor should they be allowed to hold us hostage in terms of pay and benefits. Fire-fighters should be paid well and I don’t think any rational citizen would deny them fair pay and benefits for their work, their union is not necessary.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on August 13, 2010  3:41pm

Another major reason for industry going to other countries was because we didn’t try to keep it here at all. The wealthy classes and therefore politicians were sick of industry for making cities so unpleasant to live in. Politicians, especially those involved in urban renewal, just assumed a wave modern jobs would pick up the slack left by deindustrialization and that people would simply educate themselves to get these new jobs. The high-tech, modern jobs weren’t nearly numerous enough to replace all the jobs left by the consolidation of business and commerce by national companies and chain stores and no one anticipated that white middle class flight would leave the urban neighborhoods and therefore schools in such bad shape.
Large factories that could modernize like Sargent Co. were subsidized to build new buildings and upgrade facilities, while small time industry was just taxed out of business or town. It’s only in hindsight when we realize that the new “post-industrial economy” never happened and we screwed our urban centers out of prosperity and viability.

posted by: I cant take this anymore on August 13, 2010  3:49pm

Sean Matteson is… is a former Unite here worker yes it is the same Sean.Now all this stuff he speaks against now is what he was for some years back.Maybe Sean you should blame yourself for some of this mess.Then Sean should answer why the city accepted the contracts of the bargaining units.From what I am reading the custodians contract been around for 5 odd years.Not like these issues just came to light now.Also have the abusers of sick time been held accountable I am willing to believe not.Please answer this question do the custodians retain all the benefits as they have now with the private company wait don’t bother to answer that question I know the answer already.I have seen corruption in the private sector and in fact was once a part of it. I know this will be hard to believe but yes I was paying off the people in executive management and cheating the taxpayers of course I did not care as I was making money hand over fist with them.In fact I am since retired and am all set however it sickens me when I read a post from a guy like you. Your the very same type I dealt with.As I see it it will always be the same story the rich get richer and the working person gets beat.What was that line in the Bronx tale ( THE WORKING MAN IS A SUCKER) ...

posted by: Threefifths on August 13, 2010  6:38pm

posted by: Townie on August 13, 2010 2:15pm

Fire-fighters should be paid well and I don’t think any rational citizen would deny them fair pay and benefits for their work,

Why should they.If this is the case should a An animal control officer be paid the same.How about our tax dollars going for this.

http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/house_overrides_veto_106_to_30/

Again we need to go after the big money makers.

posted by: cedarhillresident on August 13, 2010  8:19pm

JH
Fantastic point. But now how do we undo it? We need industry back…problem is it will not happen. The cost of product made here is now unaffordable. Then we came up with the bright idea of green jobs and industry…China is sucking that right now, while our leader fight in DC. It is all very frustrating. We are all fighting eachother while the open doors are shutting.

@“I cant take this anymore”
5 years ago the economy had just started to tank. Contracts where agreed on based on an economy that was far more prosperous then where we are at right now. And as mentioned above not just the janators.
But the issues should not be about who to blame but it should be about how do we fix it. And when I say fix it I mean the state of our city. We or they (the employees of the citizens of this city, yes we pay them which makes them our employees…not seans). First is all contracts need to be redone…. the only way I see this happening is bankruptcy. That will force all union contracts to be null and void. They can all be taken to arbitration. (go ahead let me have it for saying the “B” word)...anyone have a better plan?? And all departments should be high tech. We should be able to see how many people are out in each dept. on sick time, comp cases, ect. Not just the janitors, teachers administration, PW, PD and FD Economic Delv. ALL DEPTS. If you have 25- 30 firemen out of the 70 that are on shift..that speak volumes. I want to be able to see how much supplies cost weekly for each school to be cleaned..and what every dollar is being spent on… this should be put in one main data bank so that it can be reviewed by everyone…or am I asking for to much :) Being able to monitor how our money is being spent at a real time level would save us a fortune….at least in my mind I would think it would have a great effect on wastful spending

posted by: Brian V on August 13, 2010  11:26pm

WOW… A post from someone in the administration actually using their own name!
I applaud you, Sean Matteson. I think that is an honest assessment of the situation. More honest posts like this, on more issues, on a more regular basis would be great.
And you are right Sean, the rules MUST change.

Why should Taxpayers be obligated to pay so much more than the going rate for labor? Nowhere else would these people be making the kind of money/benefits they are now. Why shouldn’t Taxpayers be able to pay competitive rates for labor too? Why?

But, before anyone misconstrues this post for praise for this administration, let us not forget who signed this lavish contract 5 years ago -The King did, on his ill-fated quest for the Governor’s Mansion. Down with the King!

posted by: Threefifths on August 14, 2010  9:54am

To all who blame the union’s.How about these vampires.

New York’s jobless 99ers channel anger in Wall Street protest, demand unemployment extension

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/12/2010-08-12_new_yorks_jobless_99ers_channel_anger_in_wall_street_protest_demand_unemployment.html

posted by: cedarhillresident on August 15, 2010  11:42am

Have to echo the above statement….

DOWN WITH THE KING!

posted by: Just the facts here on August 16, 2010  9:49pm

Brian V wrote
But, before anyone misconstrues this post for praise for this administration, let us not forget who signed this lavish contract 5 years ago -The King did, on his ill-fated quest for the Governor’s Mansion. Down with the King!
Brian just so you know the custodians missed that boat as well. Others did enjoy that run but we my friend never had that opportunity and in fact if you took the time to look into facts you will find no other bargaining unit has given more concessions then custodians.Always the same people get beat down sad really just like wall street