One city employee union is fighting against a wage freeze for the upcoming year on Wednesday, and another may follow suit this fall.
The City and Borough of Juneau and the International Association of Firefighters will participate in a fact-finding hearing starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The hearing will be open to the public.
City Human Resources Director Mila Cosgrove said the fact-finding hearing is part of the rules of procedure and occurs when labor negotiations are at an impasse. A facilitator, someone who is a neutral party, will hear both sides and write a recommendation.
Cosgrove said that Attorney Robert Landau of Anchorage will be that facilitator.
“They will make a recommendation in writing for how they (both parties) should resolve their issues,” Cosgrove said. “If they still can’t arrive at an agreement, the outstanding issues are forwarded to the Assembly. … The basic process will be both parties will explain why their position is a reasonable one and the fact-finder will make some determinations from there as well.”
Cosgrove said the only issue on the table for IAFF is the wage article in the agreement.
“The city is not — our position is we do not want to increase pay this year through a general increase,” she said.
Initially, the city also scheduled a similar hearing for Thursday for the Public Safety Employees Association. That hearing has been cancelled at this time, but the issues have not been resolved.
“We were trying to fast track it because Mr. Landau would be here,” Cosgrove said. “The union is requesting access to financial data we don’t have available yet. It’s not resolved, at least at this point. It’s always possible before we get to fact finding.”
Cosgrove said if it doesn’t reach a resolution, a hearing will likely take place in September or October.
While this option for a hearing has been in city policy a long time, and the encompassing policy updated a few years ago, it hasn’t really been used before. She said that it hasn’t been enacted during her tenure before and when asking around she had heard that there was a very limited issue on health insurance for hospital employees that went to the Assembly “many years ago.” Other than that hint of action, the policy has largely not been utilized before.
More details on IAFF and CBJ arguments on the issues will be available at the public hearing on Wednesday.
• Contact reporter Sarah Day at 523-2279 or at sarah.day@juneauempire.com
Comments (31)
Add commentPublic Union Greed
This is a good example of why public sector unions should not exist. There was a time when public employees were paid less than the private sector. The trade off was that the public employees had retirement systems and stable jobs. Now the public sector employees are paid far more than those working in the private jobs as well as medical, paid vacations, and benefits that most people only dream of. Lay offs are hardly heard of and the Unions just keep soaking the taxpayers for more and more. Fact is that is half the public employees were laid off, most no one would notice. Wage freezes in the current economic situation are fair. At some point the taxpayer must draw a line and stop being hostage to public union greed.
We need unions! Who else
We need unions! Who else works to protect workers from abuse?
What we need is cost control over all goods and services so that everyone wins.
I watched a show the other night about how some people made their millions. The episode I watched was about a gal that was making doggie clothes for Wal-Mart. It was all fine and cute up to the point where this gal indicated she had just spent the last 3 months in China getting all the manufacturing details worked out there.
I thought China??? Why not make them here in the US!
I think our fundamental way of doing things has to change, because in striving to make millions we our destroying our country.
Everyone is out for themselves, this has to change.
@ Dingdong
Your blind dislike of the public employees and thier union shows in your comment.
First of all, public employees are paid far Less than thier counterparts (with the equivalent education/experience) in the private sector.
Second, current public employees hired after July 2006 Do Not have a pension retirement...they are on a Defined Contribution (401 K) plan like many privately employed individuals.
And third, it is because of the mostly dedicated (there are slackers in every group...even yours) public employees that you have many of the services that you take for granted. Then next time your house does not get robbed or burn down, the next time you cash a PFD check or even drive down a road in your community - just remember the work of a public employee made that happen and if you cut that workforce in half don't expect all of these services to be possible.
I challenge you to look for facts Before spitting your jelousy or blind hatred regarding groups of people.
Agree Dingdong:
I have to go along with Dingdong on this one. Going to China to have her product produce is most likely due to the cost of having it done here by union jobs. Something is wrong when someone gets 50-60 dollars an hour to stand in the same place all day and screw in the same bolt day after day. I don’t like it but that is the way it is.
“Everyone is out for themselves, this has to change.” Words of a true liberal. Haily, why not go out on your own and come up with an idea to make money. So you too can have that dream of making it for yourself and quit worrying about what others make.
Blah Blah Blah
An obvious attack by a public employee! HA HA HA! Spewing falsehoods about the pay of government employees will not change the facts: government employees are better paid and doing better than the general private sector. PERIOD. Also the Dingdong's comments are aimed at all government employees, not just the local group. No one can dispute that there are excellent employees in the public along with some deadwood ones too. Point is this is not the time to be asking the taxpayer for more because at some point the taxpayer will decide that self sufficiency is preferable to paying an ever increasing burden to those on the government dole.
@ Milspec
Do you really think people are making $50-$60 on an assembly line? The uneducated comments by you and "dingdong" are not helping your arguments...
@dingdong: where are you finding your "facts?"
Try, just try, looking at the Facts before posting the knee jerk reactions.
@beanie
So bean where do I look for your supposed fact regarding pay rate comparisons? Are you basing it on private sector unionized workers or private sector nonunion workers? I doubt even private sector union workers get an 80 percent reimbursement for child care.
I too have a 401,why should someone I pay thru taxes be entitled to anymore of a benefit then me?
& to your last point.... I,we are paying them. If they don't want to do the work they can change jobs. I see no good reason for 2 cbj employees driving around emptying trash cans & filling potholes.
PS. I like my job, do the work pay into my benefit package & (due to weak economic times) have seen & do not expect to see a cola for the last 3 years.
So basically all the
So basically all the complaints against public employees here is that the private sector has been reducing wages and benefits and by golly, why should public sector employees have it better? Sounds like you just want EVERYONE to be miserable, to me.
Why not try working towards making the private sector fair again, hmm?
However, that doesn't change the fact that the idea that public employees are paid more than private employees is wrong.
@isldandhopper
Who is getting 80% child care reimbursement?
SOA DCAP (Dependent Care Assistance Program)
http://doa.alaska.gov/drb/ghlb/dcap-questions.html
Child Care of Federal Employees
http://www.childcare.gov/xhtml/links/g_1/t_21.html
And I did not find a program for city employees.
Confused
I am a little confused. Don't union employees pay taxes? Don't they contribute significantly (especially in a town that has so many fed, state, and city employees like Juneau) to the local, private sector economy? Do they not shop at SuperBear, eat at Subway and Breeze-In, and when it comes time to paint their homes - make a stop at Valley Paint?
I understand the frustration of watching your money go out the door, especially when it looks like it is going directly into someone else's pocket. What about all of the money that union represented employees put into your pocket?
I, for one, would very much miss the economic and tax base contributions if 50% of the unionized workforce was laid off.
For the record...
...oh and for the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been union represented.
Bean:
I have relatives who work on a line at a BMW plant in SC and are making over $50.00 an hour. That’s only about 104K a year, I wouldn’t call that rich. Then Factor in all the benefits and that escalates to over $75-80 hour.
PP, thanks for that comparison between public and private. Very interesting. I have always said there are go-getters and those who are not. If people were to educate them selves they would most likely find themselves in better positions. Private or public.
Daffy, I have a friend in the private sector who hates Federal workers; I have tried to explain to him what you just posted. It’s like talking to a wall. The interesting thing is his income comes from about 80-90% of state and city projects.
OMG, p - your fancy little
OMG, p - your fancy little chart on pay (which by the way, can you tell us how to post stuff like that?) is beyond garbage. The Board of the Economic Policy Institute has 8 union presidents!!!!! What would you expect them to put out there for public consumption? Just a little biased, I'd say.
Here's a look at who's putting this stuff out -
http://www.epi.org/pages/board/
From Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/2011/02/24/public-sector-unions-opinions-thomas-co...
"For example, since 1980 average compensation growth for state and local government workers has exceeded that in the private sector, with average state and local government employee compensation of about $68,000 in 2008 compared to about $60,000 in the private sector. And this differential does not include unfunded pension fund and retirement liabilities due state and local government workers."
How about these statistics from USNews -
http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2011/07/08/public-sector-...
"While the overall picture painted in the report is gloomy, the bigger story may lie in cuts on the government front. In June, local governments reported job losses of 18,000, and the federal government shed 14,000 jobs. Nearly 100,000 local government employees have lost their jobs so far this year, and 464,000 have found themselves jobless since local government employment peaked in September 2008."
I'd say it's looking bad for the public sector unions and it's about time. We can't afford them.
daffy, wouldn't a town full
daffy, wouldn't a town full of public and private sector union workers only drive up the prices of everything?
Union wages put everything out of balance - like food and housing and probably even gas. Look what has happened to Detroit.
And you're ok with public sector union members only contributing pennies on the dollar for their health benefits and pensions with the remainder being made up through taxes that you and I pay? Not me - it's just not fair!
Milspec
I have a hard time believing they make that much "screwing in the same bolt."
And BTW, people are having thier goods manufactured in China because our fed government gives them tax incentives to do so...not because people here are looking for a fair wage through union representation.
"Under current law, U.S. companies can defer paying U.S. tax on income earned by their foreign subsidiaries until that income is brought back to the United States. This is known as "deferral." Deferral has the effect of putting these firms at a competitive advantage over U.S. firms that hire U.S. workers to make products in the United States. "
http://www.truckingboards.com/forum/washington-dc-holy-land/2702-bill-en...
@Calypso: I've linked to the
@Calypso: I've linked to the study the chart came from below. You're welcome to look through it and see if you can find any evidence of bias or data manipulation.
http://epi.3cdn.net/8808ae41b085032c0b_8um6bh5ty.pdf
And you can use html tags to put images in these posts. Just make sure you size it right, though.
According to Dept of Labor
According to the Department of Labor, as of 2009, there were 7,284 government employees working in Juneau (true not all are union represented, though the vast majority are). Additionally, there was another 1,300 or so employees in the mining, constuction, manufacturing fields - many of whom are also likely represented by unions. So, of the 17,529 people working in our city, my back of the envelope math says that around 48% of our workforce is unionized.
Calypso - you pose an interesting question, and one that I am struggling to answer because I am not quite sure what you are asking. Are you suggesting, as dingdong did that we should just do away with half of all government employees, or that we should just do away with unions, but keep the jobs?
American companies doing
American companies doing business overseas don't bring their money back into the states because it will be taxed again, on top of the corporate taxes that they already pay. Double taxation? That's why our tax code needs reforming.
And guess which company is keeping bazillions parked overseas - yup, GE!!
You lefties will like what Huffpo has to say about double taxation. (Is this an acceptable link, dust?!)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/tech-companies-overseas-cash_n_...
Well, daffy, in a perfect
Well, daffy, in a perfect world - get rid of public sector unions. But I'm afraid they're here to stay for awhile longer. Bloated workforces in the public sector have been the norm for years. Too many feeding at the trough. Of course we need public employees but thin them out and make government more efficient.
However, as some states are doing, getting rid of collective bargaining is a good start. Get the wages and benefits back into line with the private sector and level the playing field. There aren't enough of us tax payers to prop up the largess of these civil employees. The money isn't there.
Also, with current federal and state and city laws, unions don't serve the purpose they used to. Now it's more like power for the few up top that sway or even dictate political policies. Unions have outlived their usefulness. Only 7% of private employment is represented by unions.
@p, thanks for the posting tip.
So the folks here that are
So the folks here that are against unions, public unions then must be for the almighty powerful Government being in control of everything, how very interesting.
I also agree with Haily.
Milspec - Wow, considering
Milspec - Wow, considering the annual personal income per capita is $28,285, with a sales tax of around 6% and the highest income tax rate at 7%, and a 3 bedroom, 2 and 1/2 bath home with granite countertops just outside of Charleston goes for $287,000 (and looks like what you'd pay 450 for here) - - - - maybe I should move to SC (except for the snakes and big bugs! :-0) Surely there is lots of 'old money' there, and as you've rightly pointed out before, it's all relative, but I'd say your friends are doing very well. Good for them. I wish I could find a house here as nice as some of the ones I checked out on SC realty website for $287k here - I'd move tomorrow. The grass always seems greener on the other side......
Calypso - I would really, really love to know (generally) what you do for a living.
ding dong
You are aptly named. Organized Labor and Unions built the Middle Class, gave us a weekend, gave us sick and annual leave and gave us health coverage. The R's and their ilk would turn back the clock and impoverish the Middle Class, all in the name of Greed and scraping off all the cream from the top. Ronald Reagan called it "Trickle-Down". George H. W. Bush called it "Voodoo Economics". Btw... we're all still waiting for it to trickle down! You are a ding dong.
I don't have an issue with
I don't have an issue with unions, so much as I don't understand why, in the middle of this horrible economy, they don't think they need to tighten their belts the way those of us in the private sector have. I'll be getting a 2% increase this year after not getting any increase the last two years, which means I'm still about 6% behind the rate of inflation based on what I could find online. When times are lean and you're running a business, you know you're going to have to forgo a pay increase until times get better. That doesn't seem to be the case with many of these unions. Don't they already have annual pay raises based on time in service anyway?
coming economic peril
Many cities and states are in deep trouble financially. Bankruptcy is a common theme in the news each day. Unions failing to be content with maintaining what they have are going to push until taxpayers throw in the towel. Unemployement in the country is over 17 percent. One out of seven is on food stamps. The economy is not growing, jobs are going to China. This is not the time for Unions to be greedy. Juneau is not having any problem hiring employees. Why? Because they are very well paid public employees.
city wage freeze
if i were these people, i would thank god I even had a job and not complain. unemployment is way too high to begin with. this town is bad at hiring older workers - which i know far too well. it is biased. so quit complaining and thank the good lord you even have a job.
Wow...
These posts are embarrassing. Are people really this ignorant?
Oh how tempting it is to actually put down the benefits of working for the State of Alaska vs. working for the private sector!
It is their job to ask
@akbrdguru - I am in agreement with nearly everything you said, with one caveat. It is the Union's job to ask. Realistically, will they get anywhere? Probably not considering the City is facing a very large budget deficit next fiscal year - but asking is what the Union is supposed to do.
Wolfmagic nails it..The
Wolfmagic nails it..The rights of Labor (that means just about ALL of us) to organize and bargain collectively for decent conditions and a fair share of the wealth produced is just one of the facets of Roosevelt's New Deal from the 1930s that have contributed to 50-60 years of the greatest, broadest prosperity the world has ever known.
The rights of all workers have been under fire since Reagan, along with all the rest of the best of the New Deal: Gov't oversight of Banking and Wall Street (look around and see how THAT sabotage and neglect has worked out), Social Security: a simple, universal old age pension plan that's been alternately robbed but until now replenished, and yes, dare I say it, DEFECIT SPENDING, keeping the wolf from the door until (sadly) the enormous defecit spending of WW2 got the economy howling.
At the time, the fathers and grandfathers of today's greedheads screamed the same complaints: "Communism! Godless Treason!" Why? Same as now -- they want it all, w/no regard for their fellow citizens.
Divide and conquer has always been the way of the rich and powerful: "Unions Bad! Immigrants Bad! Gays Bad! Greenies Bad! Science Bad! democratic (small "d") Reason and Discourse Bad! (My own) Taxes Bad!"
Gee, maybe I can get work at FOX....
debt
Debt's a terrible thing, whether it's household/consumer debt or that which we all pay in our taxes; interest on the Nat'l debt. This of course diminishes the effectiveness of whatever income we do have.
One of the reasons the Bush/Obama (Barack inherited the scheme, as well as the problem) hasn't worked as well as it should have is that the very individuals who created the original near-catastrophe have skimmed and stolen the "pump priming" funds as well.
I want to see the SEC show some real teeth. I want to see televised perp walks into prison. I want to see stolen fortunes siezed and redistributed.
I especially want to see tax structures returned to at least Clinton era levels. Unfortunately the divide and conquer wealthy and their shills in Congress won't even allow discussion.....
Ummm, most of Congress are
Ummm, most of Congress are millionaires, or well on their way...