The following appeared
as an Op Ed in the Waterbury
Republican Newspaper on Feb 11, 2009.
Regrettably taxpayers lost, as the Democrat-controlled State
Legislature allowed the referenced contract to go into effect, costing
taxpayers $86 million!
Unions
vs. taxpayers: Who will win?
If the public sector unions
don't cooperate,
let
the unemployed, private sector apply for their jobs!
Rep-Am op-ed by Susan Kniep, February 11, 2009
The cheering you
hear is emanating from taxpayers who are witnessing Gov. M. Jodi Rell trying to wrestle the helm of our Ship of Fools from
the public-sector unions that have been allowed for years to steer our state
and local municipalities off course and into a sea of debt. If you look
closely, you can see some of the men and women from our Democrat-controlled legislature who have pirated $86 million of the taxpayers
money to give to one union, as the state faces budget deficits of nearly $1
billion in 2009, and $8 billion to $10 billion for 2010-11.
If
our Governor can bring this ship to shore by Friday, she may be able to save
taxpayers the $86 million which after that date would be handed over to 5,200
union members, some of whom would benefit from wage increases as high as 6
percent.
House Speaker Christopher Donovan is trying to keep this
Ship of Fools afloat. With taxpayer money burning a hole in his pocket, Donovan
felt he needed someone to do his talking for him, so he hired a mouthpiece at
$165,000 a year, which with benefits could grow to $200,000. The recent hiring of Douglas Whiting follows
the hiring by Donovan of union promoter Rick Melita.
Donovan appears to be building his own fiefdom to promote the public-sector
unions at the expense of taxpayers.
Donovan and his fellow Democrats lack the courage to cast a
vote publicly on the $86 million union contract. To do so would demonstrate
whose side they are on. This contract will set precedent for other state and
municipal union contracts that will follow.
Connecticut taxpayers pay one of the highest property-tax rates in the
nation, second to New Jersey.
About 85 percent of local property taxes finance the lucrative wages, pensions
and benefits of town and Board of Education employees because of state
binding-arbitration laws.
Under
Gov. Rell’s proposal to limit mandatory subjects of
binding arbitration to salaries and benefits, the unions would lose some of
their control over state and local budgets. The ability of arbiters to
transfer management rights to the unions would end. Unions no longer would control town-owned
cars being driven home, the number of teachers in a classroom, the number of
firehouses, the work schedules of police officers and more.
Gov.
Rell’s proposal to suspend binding arbitration for
two years would allow municipal leaders some breathing room to formulate their
local budgets.
Taxpayers
have a choice during this legislative session. They can support the unions and
the Democrat-controlled legislature that embraces the status quo, or they can
support Gov. Rell’s no-tax-increase budget and
the policies she has proposed to control local and state government costs.
It’s apparent the governor’s budget was designed to address
the state of the economy, which is in a free fall. Americans are losing their homes, their
savings and their jobs.
Recently
released national unemployment figures are grim, with 1.77 million workers
thrust onto the unemployment line in the last three months. This equates to
591,000 jobs lost monthly. In the past year, manufacturing lost more than 1 million
jobs, with the auto industry alone giving up 197,000.
On
the home front, Connecticut’s unemployment
rose to 7.1 percent in December, while Connecticut
officials continue to predict a loss of 60,000 to 80,000 jobs during this
recession.
With
job loss comes the threat of honest, hardworking
Americans losing their homes because of tax-lien sales by municipalities when
property taxes cannot be paid.
As
the private-sector worker is trying to hold on to his job, the public-sector
workers want more as does the state union demanding the $86 million payment to
settle its contract.
In Connecticut,
the unions have launched an expensive campaign.
Their slogan, “It Won’t Work,” referring to Rell’s
budget, is right in one aspect: Her budget won’t work for them.
It
will work for taxpayers as Gov. Rell looks for $298
million in union concessions. Other governors have much the same quest. Ohio’s governor is
looking for $250 million in concessions. California’s governor, with the
blessing of the state Supreme Court, will furlough 238,000 employees two days
each month to battle a $42 billion deficit.
If the unions do not cooperate, the Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations proposes those state and local public-sector jobs be put to bid,
thereby giving the unemployed private-sector worker an opportunity to submit a
resume, references and salary requirements for the job.
The
federation also encourages CEOs of the 169 towns to follow Gov. Rell’s lead by adopting local budgets with no property-tax
increases while seeking givebacks from local unions.
The
federation applauds and supports Gov. Rell in her
proposal for no tax increase and will continue to pursue a cap on local
property taxes; additional reforms of binding arbitration and prevailing-wage
laws; a requirement of towns, boards of education and the state to put their
checkbook registers online; citizen audits; an opportunity for early
graduation for high school students; school vouchers and
more. - Susan Kniep
(fctopresident@aol.com), president of the Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations, is a former mayor of East Hartford.