Perhaps we should be ready to take notes on what they do right, and what they do wrong, when the real fun starts.
Posted on 05/05/2006 9:56:51 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
[Members of] the United Public Servants of Puerto Rico (SPU) marched to the Governor’s Mansion and the Capitol yesterday to hand Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and House Speaker José Aponte two giant banners with a layoff letter for each which announces that they will have to take leave without pay just as the 95,000 public employees who are unemployed since Monday.
The march left Colón Square in Old San Juan towards the Governor’s Mansion, where an SPU delegation including its President Ellie Ortiz and its founder José La Luz were received outside by the Governor’s legal advisor Hugo Díaz.
According to Ortiz, during the meeting with Díaz which lasted several minutes, they gave him the announcement and once again presented the concerns of the public employees who, since May 1, remain unemployed, and established next Monday as the deadline when they will return to their respective jobs.
“[The announcement] is effective today [(Thursday)] until that time when the rest of the 95,000 laid-off employees return to their duties,” the letter reads.
Upon their arrival at the Governor’s Mansion, the demonstrators met police officers who impeded access to the gates of the Executive Mansion. At all times during the march, however, the union leaders reminded their membership of their interest in a peaceful protest that would not get in the way of the officers’ work.
The demonstrators then left for the Capitol to repeat the same action with the House Speaker.
At one of the side entrances to the Capitol, Frankie Moreno received the SPU delegation on Aponte’s behalf and in the presence of reporters. “Be assured that he is going to receive this letter. The House Speaker’s priority is the public employees,” Moreno said once the reason for the visit was explained to him.
According to La Luz, the letter was being given to Aponte so he may know how a worker who has been impacted by a cost-of-living increase feels, to which Moreno replied that, on a daily basis, the Representatives are working towards finding a solution that would end the [shutdown] situation.
The SPU, which represents some 25,000 public workers, is, for the moment, the only labor organization that supports a [Government Development Bank] loan and a sales tax.
Why so many employees in P.R.? 95,000 is a lot for that small an area, and smacks of political patonage. Let them all go find another job and rehire about 30% or less.
Government vs. the People. Here in the Pacific N.W. states of Washington and Oregon we have a similar dynamic where the citizens try to reign in government spending using ballot initatives only to have the executives and friendly judges frequently throw them out.
Puertorican politics are so melodramatic.
Perhaps we should be ready to take notes on what they do right, and what they do wrong, when the real fun starts.
*ping*
"...smacks of political patronage..."
tragic truth.
There around 269,000 employees of the state government of Puerto Rico. They laid off less than half of them. They only closed 43 out of 118 government agencies they have.
Take a wild guess as to how many employees the 78 municipal governments have.
LOL!
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