An Open Letter to the People of Wisconsin

The following is an open letter to the people of Wisconsin, written by a group of concerned Academic Staff members at UW-Milwaukee:

An Open Letter to the People of the State of Wisconsin from Concerned Employees of the State of Wisconsin/University of Wisconsin-System:

The last six months, candidates for public office and elected officials have made statements defining State employees as overpaid and overcompensated in their benefits (including retirement plans), thus making State employees the scapegoat for the economic crisis the State of Wisconsin currently faces. A small group of State employees who have dedicated their careers to providing quality service to the citizens of Wisconsin feel it is time to clarify the facts and provide perspective.

Governor Walker has an interesting perspective on his dedicated band of state employees. “You are not going to hear me degrade state and local employees in the public sector,” Walker said. “But we can no longer live in a society where the public employees are the haves and taxpayers who foot the bills are the have-nots.” (Walker looks at showdown with state employee unions, Lee Bergquist and Jason Stein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/7/10)

1.All State employees HAVE paid taxes. We pay sales tax, income tax, property tax, all the same taxes everyone else pays. We help to ‘foot the bills’. 2.We HAVE gone without a cost of living increase as long as most state employees can remember (including one person who has worked with the state in a clerical position for nearly 40 years). 3.We HAVE an annual salary that is approximately 5% less than what we would receive in the private sector (8-12% for University of Wisconsin-System non-classified staff and faculty). 4.We HAVE given up salary increases in the past in trade for not contributing to our pension, a fact we have never seen mentioned in any coverage regarding our retirement system. 5.We HAVE taken 8 furlough days per year equivalent to a three percent pay reduction for the past two years. 6.We HAVE given up a 2% legislatively approved salary increase from the 2007-2009 biennia, which has not been restored. 7.A large number of us HAVE been asked to provide services at an increased rate – additional duties, overload, expectation of working more than 40 hours per week, coverage for other staff during furlough days – with no additional remuneration. 8.After adding the reductions to benefits directed by the currently proposed Budget Repair Bill for Fiscal Year 2011, State employees will HAVE endured an approximate 15% reduction in income. But what is most important is that we HAVE given good service to the State of Wisconsin! Here is a short list of some of the services we HAVE provided:

We educate your children at all levels including universities We clean your buildings at all state-run facilities We maintain those same buildings to protect your tax dollar investment We maintain the infrastructure of our highways and places of public domain We offer people with disabilities a chance at full employment We provide health care for many who would have no other options We insure the health and safety of our citizens We uphold the laws governing Wisconsin We plan for the future We provide valuable research addressing great concerns

To provide these services, we HAVE had to make many countless, undocumented sacrifices that are seldom reported. We HAVE kept our doors open while we stagger furlough days so there is no noticeable interruption in the service we provide. Many, many state employees HAVE to work more than one job to make ends meet. Our colleagues HAVE had to retire before they had planned as they watch their annual salaries shrink. Many State employees HAVE had to sell their homes to make ends meet. We are just like YOU.

The future does not look much better. There are many who will HAVE to leave public service when these new cuts come into place. There are thousands that will stay and HAVE to take on another job – in some cases, another 20-30 hours per week – in order to continue providing the service they see as vital to the welfare of the people. There is real concern that our entry level classified staff will HAVE an annual salary dangerously close to the poverty line.

We are dedicated to the people of this state, welcoming its visitors and promoting the great way of life Wisconsin has to offer. Please consider how state workers HAVE contributed to the high quality of life in this state that has kept our doors “open for business”.

This open letter is being distributed to media outlets across the state in the coming days.

I could make the obvious argument that the UWM academics most likely still have a better deal overall (by way of compensation, employee benefits, pensions, and job security) than most in the private sector, but rather than do that, I note the complete disingenuousness and cynicism inherent in this letter:

This letter was prepared a "a group of concerned "Academic Staff members," i.e. professors.

Yet, the authors state that they are simply "concerned employees of the State of Wisconsin/ University of Wisconsin-System" and imply that they represent all state employees by claiming to "clean your buildings at all state-run facilities . . . maintain those same buildings to protect your tax dollar investment . . . maintain the infrastructure of our highways and places of public domain . . . insure the health and safety of our citizens . . . [and] uphold the laws governing Wisconsin."

It makes for a more sympathetic pitch, but I doubt seriously that many, if any, UWM academics are seriously, significantly engaged in cleaning and maintenance of state property, law enforcment, or public safety. Instead, the authors recognize that whatever services they may provide are far from essential, and thus seek to ride the coattails of cops, firemen, highway workers, and other state employees who perform more important and useful services for the taxpayers of Wisconsin. I wonder if the authors consulted any of the non-academics they purport to represent, or even give a damn what any of those people think if those views don't agree with their own agenda.

1.All State employees HAVE paid taxes. We pay sales tax, income tax, property tax, all the same taxes everyone else pays. We help to ‘foot the bills’.

With money collected FROM TAX PAYERS

2.We HAVE gone without a cost of living increase as long as most state employees can remember (including one person who has worked with the state in a clerical position for nearly 40 years).

What about those of us that in 1991 where making 80 and this year made 20K? I’m having REAL trouble feeling your pain.

3.We HAVE an annual salary that is approximately 5% less than what we would receive in the private sector (8-12% for University of Wisconsin-System non-classified staff and faculty).

Sounds like it’s time for a job change. Whats that? the benefits are not as good in the private sector.. huh.. imagine that. I have a GREAT idea. Since the pay is better in the private schools and colleges lets just PRIVATIZE your school and or college? whats that? Oh, I didn’t think so.

4.We HAVE given up salary increases in the past in trade for not contributing to our pension, a fact we have never seen mentioned in any coverage regarding our retirement system.

What is this “pension” you speak of?? I think I heard of them, back in the day.

5.We HAVE taken 8 furlough days per year equivalent to a three percent pay reduction for the past two years.

I was laid off 6 times for 1-2 weeks last year before losing the job I was thankful to have. Boo freak’n who.

6.We HAVE given up a 2% legislatively approved salary increase from the 2007-2009 biennia, which has not been restored.

awww... so sad.. Wait. No it’s not.

7.A large number of us HAVE been asked to provide services at an increased rate – additional duties, overload, expectation of working more than 40 hours per week, coverage for other staff during furlough days – with no additional remuneration.

I hear the want ad section is a good place to look for a job. Maybe www.carrierbuilder.com?

8.After adding the reductions to benefits directed by the currently proposed Budget Repair Bill for Fiscal Year 2011, State employees will HAVE endured an approximate 15% reduction in income. But what is most important is that we HAVE given good service to the State of Wisconsin! Here is a short list of some of the services we HAVE provided:

Again, tell the 18-28% of the unemployed about your problems. Heres a tip though. Do it with a keyboard, because in person if your lucky, they will only laugh in your face.

Great! Now with out the liberal indoctrination or the flat out BITCHING about your job. Don’t like it, find one you do like.

I am working 2 part time jobs and building and running a small business just to pay whiny little SOB’s like this. I for one and sick and damn tired of it.

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