My father wrote a blog post about this editorial from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
As a state worker myself, I feel it necessary to give my input as well since this has the potential to affect me directly.
I've been working for the state for 7 years now and I have worked my way up in the ranks to a somewhat more stable income level. However, I have been denied cost of living increases (usually 2%) for more than half of that time. I have also been denied my mandatory step pay increase (usually around .45 more an hour) half of that time as well. Now, this may not sound like a big deal to most of you, (I am grateful to have a job at all) however, I am making significantly less than I would in the private sector and I have a family to care for where I am the sole income provider. It has been a rough few years for us, barely scraping by. Even resorting to selling possessions to make ends meet.
I love my job dearly. I enjoy what I do. I am already very under paid for what I do. If I could make it in the private sector I absolutely would go there, but it is a VERY vicious market right now, and I am secure where I am.
While I can somewhat accept that state workers will always be the scapegoats in a budget crisis, I find it hilarious and depressing that the people calling for our heads refuse to take ANY cuts in pay themselves. In fact, they're usually issuing massive bonuses to each other. Yes, legislators, why don't YOU take one for the team this time. Sacrifice your income for a few years. End the ridiculously large bonuses you issue, cut down on the excessive spending on your food or chauffeurs... (Learn to drive and bring a lunch, it's not the end of the world if you do!) I wonder how much that would save the state each year. My guess is quite a hefty number.
Cutting down on the state workforce is not the solution. Neither is cutting our pay. Especially with the increasing number of retirements recently. In case you hadn't noticed the boomers are starting to retire en masse. I have seen so many employees at my workplace retire in the last two years, or planning to retire this year, I can barely keep track. The problem with this is, we are losing a lot of management and a lot of knowledge. Why? Because the state doesn't pay diddly squat compared to the private sector so younger workers straight out of college don't stick around for more than a year. They get the experience on their resumes and bolt for the private market to make three times what they did here.
I have a solution for that. Instead of continually trying to hire new people who you KNOW aren't going to stay, promote from within. Give the people without the degrees but who do the same darn jobs the better paying jobs. Let us work our way up to management positions. That way you won't keep losing very vital knowledge that can take years to regain.
Instead of cutting pay, perhaps offer better pay for the jobs that bring money into the state, like mine does. Give some incentive for the younger generation to stick around. If this retirement rate keeps up and the mass exodus of young people continues, there will be half the workforce here trying to do the job of the full one. I realize this is the ideal for you, budget wise, but I can tell you right now, where I work, that is an AWFUL idea. This agency brings in more money than any other in the state. Losing that many workers will mean huge delays in getting work done, and massive losses on income. Bad idea.
In the end, if you really really really want to eliminate the deficit without sacrificing the jobs of hard working employees, legalize marijuana and tax the hell out of it.
Problem. Solved.
You're welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment