MASON CITY – On January 4th at 1:30 PM, AFSCME Member and Construction Technician Daryl Erickson will speak out on Governor Branstad’s double standard for political appointees and middle class state employees at a press conference at the Mason City Public Library (225 2nd St Southeast, Mason City, IA). He will join his AFSCME brothers and sisters in speaking out at six simultaneous press conferences across Iowa.
On January 5th, public employees will begin working with Governor Branstad to determine how effectively we can continue keeping our neighborhoods safe, healthy and strong. Unfortunately, Governor Branstad has chosen to vilify and attack public employees in order to score political points.
When Iowa was in the depths of the recession, state employees stepped up and made big sacrifices in pay and benefits to save jobs and assist our state. Today, the state has surplus and reserves of well over a billion dollars partly because of sacrifices made by state employees. Governor Branstad is using the surplus to reward his friends and cronies rather than investing in Iowa’s neighborhoods. He is using the surplus to pay massive bonuses to his Department Directors, pay corporations as much as $648,000 in tax incentives per permanent job created, and propose huge tax breaks for major corporations all while demanding major concessions by middle class state employees.
AFSCME will speak to how we are ready to work with the governor in the coming days, but will not stand for a double standard that puts the governor’s cronies and friends ahead of Iowa’s middle class and our communities.
In Iowa, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represents 40,000 public employees including law enforcement and correctional officers, home health care and child care providers, firefighters, mental health workers, professional school staff, emergency responders, and many other workers. AFSCME represents 20,000 state employees covered by AFSCME’s contract with the State of Iowa.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2013
WHAT: AFSCME to speak out on Governor Branstad’s double standard for his political appointees and middle class state employees.
WHO: AFSCME Member and Construction Technician Daryl Erickson
WHERE: Mason City Public Library Classroom
225 2nd St Southeast
Mason City, IA 50401
WHEN: 1:30 PM
Citizen, maybe you should stop being so jealous of people who have made something of their lives and attained a good paying job with benefits and go educate yourself so you can do the same. All the time you have spent on the computer hating people who are obviously better educated than you could have been spent in a night class “trying” to make something of yourself. I’m sure the taxes generated from your job wouldn’t cover the cost of a band-aid. If you think Branstad is going to cut you a check from all this tax money collected from union workers you are fool!! Now, go crack a book or something!!
Wow, some peoples comment. Goverment should make it a law for every citizen to pass an ignrance test before voting. Hobby Lobby, good marketing ploy. You won’t make your profit off me. If I were to show my support for you , I would voice my opinion and write my elected officials. I fail to see how spending my money in your store supports you in any way outside your increase in profits. How much do you expect to gain off this issue? I support the United States of America, do you? How much of your retail is american made? How many adults over the age of 30 think this is a womens issue? This is a man and women issue regardless of which sex takes the pill. It takes a male and female to impregnant the women. Every male should use a condom if he dosent want a child or the responsibility. Some religions don’t belive in Drs. Or medicines. Here’s a tip for all business owners, adopt that religous belief and you’ll save money. Then encourage the public that spending money in your store shows who they support. Again Hobby Lobby good marketing.I think the Americain Public will buy into it.
@ a citizen, January 4th 9:33 pm. I see how you are, just because I don’t agree with you, it’s not a meaningful dialogue. So your saying that my comments aren’t meaningful, even though they are true. I’ll make a suggestion, just bite your lip when I make truthful comments you don’t like, and don’t comment on them, and I won’t comment on yours. Oh, one more thing, this article is not about your fathers sayings, it’s about Government spending and public employees, lets keep to the subject.
You people still don’t understand the problem. A business furnishes a product or service and reaps a profit from it. Any wages/benefits come from these profits. To increase either of those, the business must raise its prices and still try to remain competitive. Public sector doesn’t work like this. They don’t have to worry about raising prices because they have nothing to sell or offer. When they want more, govt just raises taxes. So it’s really not just the public sectors greed that is the problem, it’s govt allowing unions to dictate the terms and not feeling it necessary to negotiate. Again, they just raise the taxes. Taxpayers are getting tired of it. And with govt spending so out of control, politicians had better start listening to those taxpayers.
I can’t believe all the jealous people in this area-it is sickening! If you want a state job then apply for one. Must be a reason you haven’t applied or they haven’t hired you. Your taxes will continue to go up regardless. Let these employees have a couple perks-most don’t make much of a wage for the jobs they do each day. Many put their lives on the line and provide a solid service. I’m not a state worker, wish I was but I don’t hate on other’s who might have a few benefits that I wish I had. If the so called leaders want to take away from the middle class-they will give it back to the upper class so tax payors are out either way. Don’t kid yourselves.
First off, this article concerns public employees, their benefits, and their union. People are not anti-union per se. The main issue is that the people paying the taxes which are used to pay the public employees wages and benefits are getting less pay and benefits then the public employees themselves. As I said before, all that taxpayers ask is that public employees get in line with mainstream working Americans. By this I mean wages, insurance, retirement, vacation days, and I am sure there are other issues I am not aware of. I am not anti-union, just pro equal.
since 1978 CEO’s salaries have increased an average of 725%. The people that work for them wages have increased 5.7%. This is do in large part to the demonization of unions. As unions lost power the workers wages fell. Over the last 35 years the US workforce has been brainwashed to despise unions and now they seemed to be blamed for the shrinking working middle class. The upper management of companies must be laughing all the way to the bank. Every benifit that anyone working for a wage has now is due to unions.
Public employees are guaranteed pension outcomes. Those charged with making good on those guarantees do not receive the same. This is a classic lose-lose scenario for starters.
Public employees need to work till retirement age as do private sector employees and rely upon defined contribution plans – not defined benefit.
When the unions are gone, you ALL, will be making minimum wage. Look around, do you really think that any company is going to pay YOU top dollar, when they can put it in their pocket. When the unions are gone there will only be two classes, the richer, and the poor.
I think the union and state employees are more then willing to work with the state but when you have govenor branstad double dipping from IPERS and getting a state salary its kind of hard to a reason for the low wage worker to give anything up. The elected officials need to give up their free health care before they start asking working people to pay more. Hopefully this will help people realize what a puke we have for govenor in this state and make changes when the time comes.
No one likes to give up something they have,and that summarizes the public employees union. But times have changed, and now is the era for compromise. Public employees are not irreplaceable. And no amount of doomsday scare tactics are going to work. The union at Crystal Sugar tried that. Foretelling of accidents, injuries, bad product, late deliveries. There may have been some, but within a short while, it was business as usual. All we taxpayers ask is that public employees get in line with mainstream working Americans. And just because it’s tax money does not mean it’s free money.
States all over the copuntry have realized that they just can’t afford this crap anymore and are doing something about it. Iowa is just now starting to wake up and the unions don’t like it. They can easily be replaced.
Ridiculous benefits are gonna do to Iowa what they did and are doing to auto manufactures, any federal government (dis)organization, bankrupt states like Calif, the whole northeast and now the rest of the country. Way to go Iowa, soon you’ll have nothing to draw any business or jobs to your state. The whole state/country suffers for a few(in comparison). Wake up, it doesn’t work anymore!!