Per today’s Rutland Herald:
In what Gov. James Douglas called a “critical step” toward resolving the state’s budget woes, the administration Thursday announced a two-year labor agreement with the state’s workers that will cut union salaries by 3 percent.
In addition to pay cuts, the tentative settlement eliminates pay raises and annual cost-of-living adjustments in a deal that will result in about $2 million in general-fund savings in fiscal year 2011.
Douglas Spokestooge Lunderville, however, made it clear that this isn’t just about state employees:
While pay cuts for state workers represent an important measure on their own merits, Lunderville said the agreement also sends an important message to public-sector employees around the state, particularly school teachers.“This agreement today does provide a blueprint for school districts and municipalities to follow as they try to find savings and keep taxes low,” Lunderville said. “This is a new standard for public employees, and one we hope folks around the state will look to.”
Because what we really want to be doing right now is demoralizing teachers.
I wonder if Salmon’s employees are still getting those raises.
pushing public salaries lower
Salomon celebrates raises in his department will Douglas party on the occasion of precedent setting salary reductions?
In hard times, I guess you could say Jim=Jobs just levied a 3% short term tax on the Vermonter who mops the floor, in order to solve his budget problem. Having been so anti Snelling temporary tax adjustment for the big payroll folks that are Jim’s friends (the people who will move across the river if taxes go up) he is happy to hit the families who can least afford it. The sad part is that if you look at the history of the discussions, the VSEA folks had offered adjustments over the last year that would have made fulfilling Jims agenda unnecessary. This was about gutting wages and health care for Jim, just as it seems to be about gutting healthcare and retirement benefits for the Spaulding Commission.
Is that really the type of Democratic/Republican agenda sharring we need??
State services are necessary to us all and are more global than the “welfare state” that most right wingers will cry about. So, the burden of providing those services should be on the plate of ALL Vermonters.
Jim just doesnt seem to be about fairness.
to choose a different profession. Education isn’t valued here.
…the non-unionized state employees are getting the same cut. And the contractors, for that matter. Will the vaunted EBay contract be cut to $48,500?
Just askin’.
Gov. D is great at saying that it’s hard times and we all need to chip in to help.
Well, if that’s what he really felt there is an easy way to do it – – raise the income tax.
Instead of distributing the pain (to those rather immune to such things) he’d rather have the hard working people shoulder the burden and leave the wealthy unscathed.
Its amazing that this is the way things are done in a country that’s supposed to be a democracy. In Vermont we need to let our legislators know in no uncertain terms that this reverse Robin Hoodism is unacceptable!
PJ
Putting politics aside for the moment, if the private sector is cutting expenses and is dealing with pay reductions or worse, and it is this same private sector that has to pay for the public sector, why is it so over-the-top unreasonable to expect the public sector to do the same?