These people didn't enter civil service with the intention of becoming rich (unlike politicians). They came to perform what they were told was a worthy job for a lower middle income salary with the promise that if they kept their noses clean they would be assured job security and the future benefit of a government pension (also nothing anybody ever got rich on).

The problem lies with management. Over promising benefits, then realizing the only way to meet obligations was to increase value of money collected by investing in “the market” and, of course we all know what happened there.

Now they are faced with the legal requirement to meet the obligations they made to these employees and they have 1, lost the money they had and 2, have no way to generate new monies in this busted economy. So what are they doing?

Instead of “manning up and acknowledging what happened and taking responsibility for their financial predicament, they are shifting blame on the unions and are essentially reneging on their legal obligations.

There is no fix here. Busting the Unions won't fix anything. The States are broke and all of the Lotteries won't fix it. There is going to be some harsh bloodletting coming and nobody will escape that. More likely the Governors would do far better trying to enlist the aid of the groups to help get through the coming storm. Otherwise, when the storm is over, there won't be anybody interested in working in these jobs at all. Leave the Unions and work WITH THEM instead of trying to smash them. You will only harbor more bad will. People aren’t blind. They know what you have done with the money and that isn't going to change.

If nothing else you will greatly increase your chances of ever being re-elected again for anything. Unfortunately I understand one of the first jobs to go will be the dog catcher?

WAXHAW:
Friday, March 4th, 2011
by John Tiley 

I must take issue with Governors attempting to gut state employees of their unions. Why? Simply because all of the uproar is predicated on financial woes that accompany the lack of tax income and that really doesn't have any basis in reality. Budgets will be slashed and a lot of people will lose their jobs in the near future regardless of whether the unions stay or not.

No money means there is NO MONEY. Pretty straight forward.... Rather, this is their opportunity as newly elected politicians (republicans for the most part) to make a name for themselves. They think that because the average person who is unemployed or is threatened with unemployment insecurity will lead to the support their shenagins thus giving them the opportunity to bust the unions that state workers have worked hard for years to establish. It doesn't escape us that after all, Republicans are anti union in nature. What they are attempting to make us forget, or perhaps just overlook is the simple fact that state and county employees are poorly paid and undervalued from the get go.

I ask you:

1. How many of us would have spent four plus years in collage, run up the debt, know you were going to spend the rest of your working life taking continuing ed classes, all for a low paying job (remember they only get paid for the nine months they work) when not long ago at all, you could get a job in the private sector for far better money and working environments?

2. Know that the average teacher quits after three years because of mistreatment and poor pay?

3. Find that not only are you expected to teach an overcrowded class room but be responsible for absentee parents in the child’s overall upbringing as well?

4. Oh, and most likely be multilingual as well?