Sen. Brown Goes To Bat For Government Unions

From the Wall St. Journal:

The Senate is moving closer to passing legislation that would require states to grant public-safety employees, including police, firefighters and emergency medical workers, the right to collectively bargain over hours and wages.

The bill, known as the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, would mainly affect about 20 states that don't grant collective-bargaining rights statewide for public-safety workers or that prohibit such bargaining. State and municipal associations, as well as business groups, oppose it, saying it will lead to higher labor costs and taxes, at a time of budget deficits.

The bill, backed by at least six Republicans in the Senate, prohibits strikes and leaves to states' discretion whether to engage in collective bargaining in several areas, including health benefits and pensions.

If the legislation passes and states choose not to grant the minimum collective-bargaining rights outlined in the bill, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which oversees labor-management relations for federal employees, would step in and implement collective-bargaining rights for these workers.

You can bet that once the federal government becomes involved that the states will be over-ruled by a board packed with labor allies. The police and firefighters will soon be receiving the gold-plated benefits of federal employees. It doesn't matter if the municipalities and states can afford them or not. They will be compelled to raise taxes. We shouldn't be spreading the budget busting policies of CA, NY, NJ and MA to states' that haven't become hostage to the demands of public union yet.

Police and firefighter unions are the biggest advocates of the legislation. "A year after this law passes most of these executives who are fighting it won't be able to remember what they were scared of," said Jim Pasco, executive director of the 325,000-member National Fraternal Order of Police. He said unions wouldn't be able to negotiate wages and benefits that governments couldn't afford.

Yeah right, all these union folks will be looking at what Ed Kelly squeezed out of Boston. A 2.5% raise just for taking a drug test will go national.

The other Republican co-sponsors in the Senate are Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Here's a look at what Sen. Brown is supporting. This is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing. As Gov. Christie is talking about a "day of reckoning", Sen. Brown is trying to make it worse. The wages and benefits of public employees are already greater than those in the private sector to the point that they are threatening to overwhelm budgets across our country. They should be treated like an epidemic, quarantine them and fix them where they are, don't let them spread. Has Sen. Brown missed what is happening in Greece, Spain, Britain, Italy? The $50 Billion for public union workers that Bailout Barry begged Congress to pass on Saturday?

Are State Public Pensions Sustainable? Why the Federal Government Should Worry About State Pension Liabilities

Assuming future state contributions fund the full present value of new benefits, many state systems will run out of money in 10-20 years if some attempt is not made to improve the funding of liabilities that have already been accrued. The expected shortfalls raise the possibility that the federal government will be faced with a decision as to whether to bail out states driven to insolvency by their pension programs.

Enough is enough Sen. Brown

Government Workers Are Bleeding Taxpayers Dry

Here's a recent example from Philadelphia:

Camille Cates Barnett will get nearly $50,000 annually from the city pension fund for the rest of her life after June 30, when she leaves her post as Philadelphia's managing director after two years, five months, and 24 days.

On the same day that a City Council committee moved to close the loophole that allows short-time employees such as Barnett to buy credit in the city's pension fund based on public service elsewhere, the Board of Pensions and Retirement revealed that Barnett had done just that.

Barnett has paid $122,303 to become vested in the pension plan, according to the Mayor's Office and the Pension Board, a privilege unionized employees are entitled to only after serving five years.

She had already made some payments toward the buy-in this year, and paid the balance of $106,564 on April 15.

She is guaranteed to recoup her "investment" in less than three years,and after that it's all gravy, courtesy of the property owners of Philadelphia.

Closer to home we have:

The council is considering whether to fund an arbitrator’s award, which gives jakes 16.5 percent raises over four years, including a 2.5 percent hike for drug testing. City officials say the raises are boosted to 19 percent with longevity bonuses.

Firefighters have been without a pay raise since 2006. Under the union’s new offer, the 2.5 percent raise for drug testing would be deferred until June 30, 2011, which could save the city up to $6 million in salaries and overtime.

The sweetener 2.5% raise for submitting to drug testing was thrown in by the supposedly impartial arbitrator at the last minute. Random drug testing is becoming a routine requirement in many occupations and shouldn't be treated as a way to boost pay. The fact is that the public has the right to expect that its employees are not impaired when they are on the job. Mayor Menino will fold and take the deal, but he shouldn't.

Teachers, Cops and firefighters because of the nature of their jobs are considered untouchable. Basically, whatever they want they get and the rest of the government union folks ride their coat-tails to ever higher pay and benefits. It's time to draw a line in the sand and tell Ed Kelly that simply deferring a pay raise is unacceptable, the raise should be scrapped entirely.

Boston has a proud history and it's time to add a new chapter. It's time to stand up to the public unions before their pay and benefits bankrupt our cities and towns, our state and eventually our nation.