L.A. County union workers win largest pay increase in decades (15.5% pay increse & health benefits)

Daily Bulletin ^ | 10/22/06 | Troy Anderson

[CyberAnt]

This is exactly why I hate unions.

They are greedy and after they manage to intimidate the city or other employers into giving them what they want .. it ends up bankrupting the company or the city.

Good going unions .. you must be proud .. you gained all these wages and when the city runs out of money and starts laying off all those employees - ARE YOU GOING TO PICK UP THE TAB AND KEEP PAYING THEM ..??

This is the very reason the car mfgs went bankrupt - they couldn't continue paying these outrages wages and benefits.

A company goes into business to make a profit - SO THEY CAN EXPAND THEIR BUSINESS - when all the profits are eaten up by wages and benefits - THERE IS NO EXPANSION - there is only downsizing and loss of jobs.

How come people don't get this ..??

[doc30]

California is an expensive place to live. Wages need to be much higher just to survive there. Even a nurse starting at over $60K would not have enough income to buy a modest house! How can one state have such a huge economic disconnect from the rest of the country? $30K per year is below the poverty level? Good Grief!

[pelicandriver]

The $75-$375/month child care credit is uncalled for, and unfair to the employees that don't use it. 10% increase in health care contribution doesn't tell us anything, since we don't know what the county contributes now.

If the employees recieved 5% total increase over the last three years, and are going to receive 15.5% over the next three, that equals 20.5% over six years. That's a bit over 3.4% per year. How much more, if any, is that than the increase in the cost of living?

[nmh]

Agree with ya!

[newzjunkey]

15%? Good grief!

Well at least Arnold *tried* to loosen the death grip the public employee unions had last year but the voters didn't turn out for him.

[SMM48]

"We believe this is sustainable..."

Isn't that what GM said back in the 80's?

[goldstategop]

They had to accept wage freezes and watching the buying power of their money get eaten away by inflation. Considering the price of home, gas food and utilities - people making the median income in California do qualify for food stamps. If we want the best people to keep working for government in Los Angeles County, they have to be paid what they are worth.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Lancey Howard]

LOL!

[goldstategop]

Yes, here it is. In the rest of the country 30K a year would be a decent income. Not in California. One can burn through that money in a year.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Hildy]

The only people who will be able to afford to live in Southern California - from San Diego to LA - will be State workers. And I'm not trying to be funny.

[goldstategop]

We're not talking about MANAGEMENT. Very few county workers earn $100,000 or more per year. Most of them - cops, mechanics, maintenance staff, medical personnel and social workers are just middle class folks who struggle to get by. They aren't made of money. For the last decade, they accepted wage freezes and benefit cuts and the value of what they made was eaten away by inflation. The money they get in the new contract will barely begin to make them whole. And they do work hard to serve the public.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Hot Tabasco]

A lot are making $25,000 to $30,000 a year, which for a family of four is poverty wages

Just a mind boggling wow!!!

Those kinds of wages in Honduras will pay for a house, full maid service and a full time grounds keeper with plenty of cash left over........

Poverty my ass..........Sounds like the city officials just bought themselves another 4 years of office at tax payers expense....LOL!!!

[goldstategop]

No - the only people who could afford to live here are the ulra-rich. I live in a $500,000 starter home and I have few takers for it. Even with incentives, its daunting to get people into that kind of home here and I live in a middle class suburb. Not to loong ago, only the Rich & Famous mansions commanded that kind of price tag. A lifetime ago.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[A CA Guy]

The Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles County's largest union have reached a contract deal that will give more than 50,000 workers the largest salary and merit increases in decades

Real easy to give these big boondoggle pay days when it comes out of the public treasury. Unions do NOT belong in government.

If this was the private sector without a bottomless wallet they would be forcing the business to close it's doors.

[goldstategop]

The median state income is $34,000K a year. The median home price in California is $550,000K. Do the math.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[hosepipe]

DEMOCRATS? (Eddie Murphy laugh)....
Is Mexicrats a word?.... LoL...

[dufekin]

Everything in California is so deeply disconnected from reality that I really cannot evaluate the wisdom of this contract. Given the ridiculous housing prices, desperate overcrowding of decaying infrastructure, escalated cost of living, excessive taxation, and paucity of common sense, you couldn't get me to consider moving to most of California even if you offered to quadruple my income. Perhaps southern California now experiences inflation (5% per year--this is a three-year contract) to a degree virtually absent in the remainder of the country. I'd say that the county's still ripping off its workforce--but then again, if I lived in California as a pauper, I would have joined the millions of American conservatives fleeing the state.

[goldstategop]

As soon as my home is sold, I'm fleeing California and never looking back. Its gotten absurd here. I might stay if someone offered me a ten figure salary - otherwise fudgitaboutit.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Hot Tabasco]

Do the math.

Don't have to, do the move......

[The Chid]

Amen. I did the same thing eighteen months ago. Sold the house, And drove across the country with my wife and two cats. No jobs lined up, didn't know anyone in the area, not even a place to live. We ended up north of Raleigh, NC and absolutely LOVE it here!