“They are definitely bankrupting NJ”
Same here in CA. When you pull up the county employee salaries and list them by the highest first, behind the doctors at the county hospital ( none of whom has a name you can pronounce) come our beloved Firefighters. Thanks to their union “work rules,” the average FF earns about $200,000. plus benefits. Most of them have side businesses because they have so much time off, and they “work” the sick leave ( you know, I’ll cover for you, then you’ll cover for me, and all of it is on OT). These practices get some of the more “energetic” ones annual pay in excess of 250,000. And to top it off, they retire at 50. We’ve had two fire chiefs retire in close succession. They made $188k, but they are retiring at about $100k more than than. Do the numbers, if these thieves (and their spouses) live to be 80, each one of them will cost the taxpayers $10 million for a 30 year stint being retired! It simply isn’t sustainable, so I just wonder how the financial crash will happen, and when. It isn’t a question of IF!
We had a report out recently about the number of cops here in NJ raking in 6 figures; many of our firefighters are volunteers (though the paid ones, holdovers from when we were a manufacturing economy, are underworked and overpaid - sleeping all day in the firehouse before going to their second jobs). Our teachers are the worst, with union work rules that make them the heaviest burden (and present in every area, unlike police which are unaffordable to some of the more rural communities in NJ). While arguing the nonsense that they are underpaid, teachers and cops want to keep the public distracted from the real death blow they deal to the state: their retirement costs & benefits. A nearby town (Rutherford NJ) had a police chief retire recently, and he was owed over $300K in unused time (on top of his pension, and the cost of his replacement). The town eventually agreed to pay it out over three years (due to solvency issues); I’m sorry, but I hope the parasite doesn’t get to enjoy one cent of it.
They have literally destroyed NJ, which at one time was a great place with mountains and the ocean just a couple of hours apart, plenty of farmland/open space, and plenty of jobs.