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“In 2010, government employees unions campaigned against Walker’s “5 and 12” plan. It requires government employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pension plans. (Most were paying less than 1 percent. Most private-sector workers have no pensions; those who do pay, on average, much more than 5.8 percent.) Walker’s reform requires government employees to pay 12.6 percent of their health-care premiums (up from 6 percent but still less than the 21 percent private-sector average). Defeated in 2010, the unions now are demanding, as frustrated children do after losing a game, “Let’s start over!”
Like children throwing tantrums against the rules of a game going badly, in 2011 petulant Wisconsin Democratic legislators fled to Illinois to disrupt the Legislature. Walker’s reforms included restricting the issues subject to collective bargaining. This emancipated school districts from buying teachers’ health insurance from a provider entity associated with the teachers union. Barrett used Walker’s reform to save Milwaukee $19 million.”
The Wisconsin communist teachers and state workers believe Peter Pan was real. http://t.co/uV184XKu
What the union activists and major news media in Wisconsin refuse to acknowledge:
(1) FEDERAL “public employees” have NEVER had collective bargaining rights, although there are at least 3 federal employee unions that offer social events and supplemental insurance at reduced costs. Their salaries and benefits are set by the Accounting & Finance Office (federal). They know when the apply for a job exactly what their pay and benefits will be, what career and promotion opportunities exist, what training is available at government expense and what they would need to pay for themselves. They also know when they start their careers how long they must serve (emphasis on “serve”) to be eligible to retire and basically what the retirement options will be.
(2) Federal employees EARN their personal and sick leave by staying on jobs that typically pay more than 25% LESS than comparable jobs in private sector. They know exactly how much leave they are earning, and manage that leave themselves, as needed. They get their pay docked if they use more leave time than they’ve accumulated.
(3) Federal workers pay for their own retirement via payroll deductions under the original Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The government collects the money, invests it, then gives it back with interest when the worker retires. CSRS workers also pay 7% of their gross salary while working for Medicare benefits after retirement. There’s no “free ride” involved, and the annuities are fully taxable when they are paid.
(4) Federal workers can also participate in a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) to which they can contribute up to 10% of their gross salary, which effectively reduces their adjusted gross income – and taxes on that income – while they’re working. The plan is privately managed via various investment programs that are vulnerable to market fluctuations. Annuity plans based on these funds are taxable when paid like any private 401-type annuity.
(5) Federal workers hired under the newer Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) pay for their retirement in another way. Unlike the original CSRS, newer federal workers pay full Social Security via payroll deductions. They also must contribute to the TSP, because their retirement will be based entirely on a combination of Social Security and TSP annuities. They can contribute up to 10% of their base salary, and the federal government provides limited matching funds. Their pay while working is reduced by both Social Security and TSP deductions, which reduces their income taxes somewhat, but they are taxed on their annuity income after retirement.
(6) Federal workers pay for their own health insurance. They select from a variety of private plans and can switch plans at any time for any reason. Health insurance coverage is deducted from their pay, and they can elect to keep whatever plan they’re using when they retire – again, at their own cost. The federal government does not pay their workers’ health insurance costs… unlike members of Congress, who have an entirely different plan and retirement system.
I offer the above from personal knowledge and experience, having recently retired from federal service after 44 years.
The propaganda being circulated in Wisconsin suggests that asking public employees to at least HELP pay for their retirement and medical coverage is somehow an injustice. These people get paid much more on the average than federal workers, and they want a free ride on benefits plus bargaining rights for their salaries. How any state can afford such a wasteful use of taxpayer money is beyond comprehension. Wisconsin was on the verge of bankruptcy, with a multi BILLION dollar deficit, when Gov. Walker and a group of fiscally conservative legislators were elected – BY WISCONSIN CITIZENS who recognized the wasteful practices of the liberal state government we’d had for years. The Walker administration managed, rather quickly, to reverse the deficit and accumulate a funding SURPLUS that is being used to help local schools and other public services. The unions, who potentially lost revenues and certainly lost a good deal of power, made an immediate attack on Walker et al, which has continued to this day. Today we are participating in an election intended to recall Gov. Walker and his assistant governor, instigated by unions and Obama’s political machine and paid for largely with taxpayer money. Of course, both the unions and Team Obama have heavily funded the propaganda, and dumped a couple million more dollars into the effort on the eve of the election. Now it’s up to Wisconsin’s voters to go to the polls and re-elect those it elected during the last general election – OR lose the state to the liberal forces that are wrecking our economy!