PrintMay 1, 2011
Nonunion civil servants restore the civility
When a news editor runs an item that is strikingly odd or outside the normal realm of our daily experiences, while also turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, the article is often labeled as a man bites dog story. In Lafayette, California, a quiet bedroom community 15 miles east of San Francisco, there is such an extraordinary story that it could be best described as man bites velociraptor.
From the Contra Costa Times we read:
The Association of Lafayette Employees, a nonunion bargaining group that includes all workers except the city manager, declined the City Council's offer of a roughly 1 percent increase for 2011-12. The move will save about $50,000, less than 1 percent of the city's operating budget."These days, $50,000 here or there can really make a difference," said Councilman Brandt Andersson. "They're willing to put a bit of theirs out there to help make that happen."The city also will keep its contributions to employees' health insurance plans flat, resulting in an increase in medical expenses for some workers.Though not as hard hit by the recession as other cities, Lafayette has nonetheless felt its effects. In December, the City Council cut more than a half-million dollars out of its budget, mostly by reducing its police and planning staff.Workers want to help out, said Mike Moran, an engineer and the unofficial head of the employee group.Employees also took no raises last year, and they agreed to a weeklong, unpaid furlough between Christmas and New Year's each year for the foreseeable future. Recognizing those sacrifices, and an increase in the overall cost of living, the council decided this year to offer workers the small pay increase. "Their counter offer was, 'No thanks,' " said City Manager Steven Falk. "I've never heard of a public employee group doing this before."
Note that the employee's bargaining association is nonunion.
American may have already forgotten that true civil servants thought about more than just their paychecks and benefits. Public service employees, until the current rise of our aberrant and thuggish unions, made significant sacrifices for the greater public good for over 200 years in this Republic. Most civil employees did so patriotically, overseeing the "general welfare" as a personal choice in helping to manage a free nation for the benefit of its citizens.
So, why did the public employee unions take the path of greed, avarice, and finally mob rule thuggery? Why do the unions continue to give 92 % of their political donations to Democrats? Why don't unions care about anything but higher pay and more generous benefits, even if it means grilling the golden goose that feeds them? Karl Marx anticipated the SEIU and the AFL-CIO when he said; "Trade unions are the schools for Socialism."
If you have the stomach for this sort of Marxist doggerel, follow this link for a chilling look at the SEIU and it's specific plans to re-distribute the $17 trillion dollars "stolen from the middle class by Wall Street."
