Posted on 08/13/2014 6:34:43 PM PDT by MichCapCon
Despite having no horses, the water and sewerage department for the city of Detroit employs a horseshoer.
Yet even with a department so bloated that it has a horseshoer and no horses, the local union president said it is "not possible" to eliminate positions.
Union rules have turned the department into a government jobs program, some critics say.
The horseshoer’s job description is "to shoe horses and to do general blacksmith work … and to perform related work as required." The description was last updated in 1967.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) has a large debt, rising water prices and inefficient services — using almost twice the number of employees per gallon as other cities like Chicago.
A recent independent report about the DWSD recommends that the city trim more than 80 percent of the department’s workforce. The consultant who wrote the report found 257 job descriptions, including a horseshoer. Capitol Confidential sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the department for the salary, benefits and job description of the horseshoer position.
In response to the report, John Riehl, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 207, which represents many of the DWSD employees, told the Detroit Free Press that the department needs more workers.
"They don't have enough people as it is right now," Riehl said. "They are just dreaming to think they can operate that plant with less."
(Excerpt) Read more at michigancapitolconfidential.com ...
Another example of union tyranny.
I used to belong to AFSCME. Makes SEIU look like the girl scouts.
I make Buggy Whips. I should apply for a job!
The DWS sounds like it is crying out for privatization.
The incompetence of the Detroit government probably has no rival but I’m guessing that the horseshoeing position morphed into a metalworking/welding position decades ago.
I again ask, and no one here on FR has answered this, as this question has come up before. The Detroit Police Dept has Horses and yes it maybe mis-appropiations of funds but was this farrier used exclusively for the DPD’s Horses? Given the dysfunctionality in Detroit I could see how they might have another Dept foot the bill even though is was wrong, wrong, wrong...
Yet even with a department so bloated that it has a horseshoer and no horses, the local union president said it is "not possible" to eliminate positions.
Many union contracts carry many union job positions that are archaic useless position that are no longer filled by management.
Why would the water department fill the position after the last employee to actual do the job retired?
If the management of the department failed to make the decision not to fill the job when it became vacant it is not the fault of the union.
Perhaps, but it would be the first time I've ever heard of a union job morphing. After all, that would require initiative...
If the Farrier is good at his job he could make a heck of a lot more freelance.
He is probably in it for the benefits and retirement.
Sits in his office waiting for horses to shoe. When did the Water Department last have a horse?
Yes, and they all wear watches that run two hours slow.
You guys are so mean! Think of that poor horsie who is in pain and needs a good farrier’s help -— well, it could happen that a nice Mr. Ed just might limp into Detroit someday. Someday. Maybe. Anyway, what would you do with him, sell him to that big burger chain store? You’re just a bunch of really cheap meanies! ( smile, smile.
I know a government bureau which paid a draftsman for years and years when it had no drafting work to do. He was a nice enough fellow and did offer to help with other tasks at least But there’s a lot of this sort of thing going on I think)
The Detroit Police had a mounted division until some felt is was better business to give real job slots to virtual union employees. Volunteers took in the retired horses, giving them an easy, well-earned retirement. The police officers either transferred elsewhere, or retired.
The farrier position was civilian, and AFSCME. With no Mounted Division, the only place left to guarantee him lifetime employment, and no horses was the water department, which had a position for a farrier on the org chart for the last 120+ years, but no horses for at least 80 years. So they transferred him there. The poor guy would probably go into shock if someone actually brought in a live horse, even as a joke.
If a report says that Detroit has 2x the "workers per gallon" compared to that model of honesty and efficiency, Chicago, it means there's about a 1-1 ratio of real people (not necessarily all of them "working") and phantoms whose paychecks go into the pockets of the well-connected.
That's also why the Detroit water system is surrounded by a wall of secrecy. It's the biggest honeypot left as far as corruption goes, and they'll fight to the other guy's death to keep the sunlight out. Detroit companies and residents get an automatic pass if they don't want to pay even their subsidized rates, so nobody in the city gets too worked up about water.
Since the DPD is down to five horses it would make sense to transfer the farrier to another division. One would think that he would still tend to the animals though.
Thank you 300winmag. Man does the Water Dept need a house cleaning....
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