Pretty decent article by Brad Shannon of the Olympian - speaking for myself as an individual It is important to realize. I think, that this contract continues a pattern of most general government state employees, 81 percent, receiving less pay than folks both employed by other public employers and private sector employees who do the same type of work . Worse yet is that a full third of general government frontline employees 20,000 people, are paid 25 to 45 percent less than their peers doing the same type of work. I think that is an outrage and I think frontline state employees should draw a line against this trend with a No vote and I did vote No on a CBA, for the first time. As far as the COLA, the CPI increased 10.5 percent between 2008 and 2014, frontline employees received a total COLA during that same period of 2 percent, and State Managers and Executives (WMS and EMS) received an average increase of 19.6 percent for the 2008 to 2014 period, including an average increase of 6.2 percent in the last twelve months. Now I agree that people that make in the $70,000 to $150,000 a year range deserve Cost of Living Increases also, but those of us of more modest salaries deserve the same percentage COLA, relative to our salaries. This persistent disparity is another primary reason why I voted No. Frontline General Government Employees deserve a better contract than what has been proposed.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 05:55:31 +0000