anyone heard of Collective Bargaining?

Well thank you Magnolia for giving me the type of opinion that I was looking for. I may not agree, but you presented you point clearly and honestly.
This is the type of feedback I am looking for.

Only public employees actually have a dog in this fight, but it will eventually trickle to all areas of the state and employees. I would think most people would welcome reform and embrace a chance to get a higher wage.

SEANC dues are affordable and in trade off you basically get them membership free if you take advantage of the services they offer. They have a great new optical plan and other insurance available and a discount program for all sorts of stuff. SEANC has been representing public employees for a long time now and they and their growing political clout are what is responsible for the increase in wages and the new PPO plan. Many people thought the mew medical plans were a gift from the state but that is not true. It’s worth the $9 bucks a month. Plus you get knowledge at the meetings that might otherwise pass you by and a PAC in legislature that tries to get the employees the most they can for the least cost.

 

No polen...she's referring to the SEANC dues being $9 a month. Medical for dependents starts at over $200 a month for state employees...much closer to the real world.

 

THe state employees health plan for families ranges from $414 to $594 per month.

so where is the freebie in that?

Now how does that affect the maintainence guy making 23,000 to 25,000 who needs to cover a wife and kids?
Employee and child is over $200 per month - how does that effect a single working mom or dad?
Lower paid employees are not getting all that much. The higher ups are, because they can afford it a bit easier.
Dental is extra...family plan..$62.00 to 115.00 per month
Employee child....$34 to $63
Oh yes optical......$14 to $21
all per month.......

I'm not seeing the freebies here???!!!!!

Yes the public employees at least have the option - but it costs.

 

Full disclosure though, state employees (and retirees such as myself) do not have to pay a monthly premium for our health plan, which is an advantage over many in the private sector. In addition, its highly unusual this day and time for retirees to have free health insurance(getting fewer and fewer all the time), if any coverage at all. So that is one great advantage that state employees/retirees have.

 

That's the thing pepper, health care is not a RIGHT. You and the unions claim so many things are a right when the fact is very few things are(ie safety). I don't have dental coverage, do you see me crying about it? You are due NOTHING in this life, it's what you make of it. You want the big bucks job with a healthy retirement and killer insurance? Learn the skills for it and stop trying to suck off others.

 

Ok. Here is my opinion...for what it is worth...not much I am sure..:lol:

My husband is a state worker. He has been a state worker in Maine and Oregon as well. (I was a state worker in Oregon). Oregon has a union. There were some good things and bad things about it.

The good.
They "seemed" to help with bargaining with state about Health benefits and cost of living wages. Wage comparison with private sector varied. Admin seemed to make more than private but the IT guys made half of what the private sector made.

The bad.
You had no choice about the union. If you did not want to be a member you still had to pay the $50 membership dues. (in which case you might as well join)
They really spent all this money politicking. We were bombarded with flyers and mailers and such. They spent alot of money supporting "their" choice of candidates.
In Oregon we noticed alot of "campers" that worked there. You know the people that have had the job for a while and they just want to do the bare minimum to get by and wait until retirement. They were very opposed to change or progress. (this may be in every state but we are still new here) Because of the union they got away with it as long as they showed up for work. Also, I don't know it this had anything to do with the union but we had to go to so many "classes" (workplace harassment, P.C. workplace, etc) And the money wasted was just insane. Of course some of that had to do with the specific managers. (ex: Our manager spent well over $4000 to buy new office chairs for the admin staff. Each chair was custom sized for each person (the other chairs were not ergonomic and therefore contributed to a hostile work environment) Everyone got to pick their own fabric and a guy from the company came out and measured us. On one hand, being very short, I did have a problem with some of the other chairs but this could have been solved with a small stool to rest my feet on or a way less expensive chair...(ps. I did not ask for the chairs) Or every time a new employee started they were allowed to order all new desk supplies (inbox, file holder, etc.) in the color they wanted. This was done because our manager felt that using the old stuff brought a "bad vibe" to the new person. WHATEVER!

I brought up many ways to save paper, time, and money but was always told that "this is the way we have always done it".

And the ONE time I could have used union help..they were more interested in having my husband (in IT) get dirt off of the big wigs computers. (which he refused to do.) So they told me they could not help me...even though I was being unfairly punished. (my computer was at the front desk and when I went on lunch a temp worker was logged on to my computer using His password and he looked a fat girl porn. When they pulled a record for the computer that came up and they tried to blame me. Even the computer guy said that they could not prove who was logged in at that time and some of the days I had off. They dropped the allegations but decided to transfer me from a Exec. Admin position to a filing clerk in another building. It was ridiculous and many of the people I worked with tried to protest but they said as long as they kept my pay the same there was nothing they could do!

Since my hubby has been working in NC, he really likes not having a union.

Terri

 

oh and that is $50 a month!

 

Thanks Chimp....nothing like someone who has had first hand experience. BTW, the union in Oregon is the same one that SEANC is wanting to join up with now, SEIU. Maybe cheap dues to start with, but $50 a month might be here before state employees know it.

 

This is rich, you blame Regan for the 11% unemployment rate which was a direct result of the economy left to him from the Nixon/Ford and Carter administrations before him. The 11% rate came two years into his presidency which, by the way, ended around 5.3% -- a far cry from the 7.2% Carter left him.

 

In late 1981 Nancy Reagan was invited to go on 60 Minutes. They brought her on to try to improve her image. Nancy had spent some outrages amount of money on new china for the white house. Mike Wallace said to her " The American people are upset that you spent all this money for new china when there are so many people out of work". Nancy replied " Well, the people need to understand that I ordered this china when my husband first took office and all of those people weren't out of work".

 

Any fool can make the economy look good if he's willing to run the national debt into the trillions of dollars. Do you remember all the jokes about the Reagan debt? Stacked in dollar bills it would go to the moon and half way back. Do you remember when they erected a sign at Times square in New York showing the Reagan National debt going up and up and up? He came out with his " Trickle Down economics", that George H.W. Bush called "VOO DOO" economics in the 1980 GOP primary, that threw the country into the worst recession since Herbert Hoover, (another Great Republican ). He partially recovered with the BIGGEST TAX INCREASE IN AMERICAN HISTORY! A record that he still owns to this day!

 

:iagree:

 

I'm sorry, I thought I was responding to your comment on the 11% unemployment -- oh that's right, facts get in the way, change the topic.

 

Change the topic? You say the unemployment rate was lower when Reagan left office than when you came into office, implying that he improved the economy. Does Bear's comment not speak directly to that implication?

 

Sure. Like I said it is not all end of the world bad but if given the choice we would prefer no union. But I do want to add that having the union in no way affected the private sector. (that you could see)

 

I did not imply anything -- I just stated the facts as they were to the unemployment fiasco that Regan acquired from Carter.

 

Oh, I see, you were talking about unemployment in a vacuum, since it has nothing to do with the economy. Got it.

 

Oh and about the dues. The really low paying state jobs had a scale for their dues. I want to say when I first started the state my dues where $28 but my first raise caused them to go to $50. And another important fact. The Managers and upper level folks were NOT part of the union and did not pay union dues. I am not sure why.

Also, in Oregon our Health benefits monthly cost was paid in full for the whole family. The benefits themselves are pretty much the same but you usually had two choices (Kaiser or BC/BS and eastern Oregon had their own choice because of how rural it was and too far from most of the covered hospitals) and the dental was a bit different than here. I don't know if it was paid for because of the union or what.

 

Thanks for all the info!! Do you remember if retirees have free medical also?

 

Let me see....
Due were $28, then $50...I guess that was per month?
now, I personally pay over $260 for my daughter's health care costs per month...
In Oregon the health coverage for families was covered within that $ 50 bucks per month according to the other post.
I Much rather pay $50 then $260.

As would anyone on this board.

SpaceC...No it is not a right to have health care but it is out there and I have always been lucky and intelligent enough - due to education - never to take a job that didn't offer it. (so stop with those barbs.) I dont leach off the system - you ask me yuo've lost your cool and your clout of this one. Usually you have pretty good, level headed imput... funny, you almost sound jealous...

Chimp... mentioned all the classes and such that were mandatory in Oregon. We have those now in NC. I have something every time I turn around. Work place violence, computer classes, harassment, saftey, and many others. So that is clearly not a doing of the union.
The chair thing... again not a union doing. I can, even with my lowly status, with one phone call, have a person from egronomics come out and evaluate my workstation and be measured. I am fine so I don't bother. Wasteful spending is not the fault of the union but of the administration.