DES MOINES – AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan released the following statement regarding the latest round of layoffs announced by Iowa Workforce Development Director Teresa Wahlert in an e-mail to IWD employees:
“Iowa Workforce Development employees provide Iowans with needed services. For instance, they help Iowans find jobs and monitor workplace safety. These cuts will cost 25 AFSCME-contract covered employees their jobs and will curtail the quantity and quality of workforce services provided to Iowa workers and communities. These cuts are completely contrary to Governor Branstad’s stated goals of creating jobs and raising Iowa families’ incomes.
“These cuts could have been avoided. Director Wahlert clearly knew about this budget situation for months. When you consider that the funding shortfall is $3 million to $4 million and that the state entered the legislative session with over a billion dollars in reserves and ending balance, it becomes clear that the Branstad Administration and Director Wahlert chose to make these layoffs.
“There was ample opportunity to work with the legislature to use state funds to eliminate the need for cuts. There was ample opportunity to discuss this issue with our Union. Instead, Director Wahlert kept her plan secret until the last possible moment.
“This is yet another example of the Branstad Administration’s failure to live up to its promises of open government.”
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Kerry Koonce, IWD spokeswoman, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that Iowa Workforce Development faces a $3 million to $4 million budget shortfall.
These unions will soon get the fact that at some point in time you run out of other peoples money. It only took forty years for the unions to take Detroit from the most prosperious City in the Country to Bankruptcy.
^^^^I should have said 60 years, all under Democrate control the whole time.
Oh – I’m supposed to feel sorry for public union employees getting laid off? Why? They’ve have two bites at the apple; at the polls after making contributions to Democrats and through their public union. Further, they get defined benefit pensions courtesy of taxpayers who will be called on to make good should IPERS come up short in the future.
What do all other taxpayers get? The bill.
Two words: Governor Bumstead