177 replies to this topic

[PulpVictor]

not the same thing, but from what I have seen, less than $20/hr

Nurses deal with peoples lives, septic tank drivers dont, so you cant compare the two.

Unionized garbagemen in Saanich make more than nurses.

[PulpVictor]

I found an online petition telling our Gov to stop bailing out pension plan funds:

http://taxpayer.com/...tm_medium=email

Hard to say if signing it will do much, but anything's worth a shot.

[14 West]

I found an online petition telling our Gov to stop bailing out pension plan funds:

http://taxpayer.com/...tm_medium=email

Hard to say if signing it will do much, but anything's worth a shot.

So what do you suggest those retirees do after the plan fails and they become destitute? Go beg on Douglas street? Welfare? Prostitution? Or are you offering to take them all in at your place?

[phx]

I found an online petition telling our Gov to stop bailing out pension plan funds.

The employees earned their pension benefits. How does fulfilling the pension obligations constitute a bailout?

[G-Man]

Certainly a large amount of my pay goes into pension each payday.

[rjag]

The employees earned their pension benefits. How does fulfilling the pension obligations constitute a bailout?

A little bit of research will show you that a lot of the pensions are underfunded...I'm not sure about the Federal one, I think BC is good but there are many pensions that under the current drawdown will run out of money due to people living longer.

[PulpVictor]

If there is no money, there are no pensions. It's really very simple. We must demand that the government balance the budget, pay down the debt, become fiscally responsible, so that we CAN retire. A government can only print money for so long, and then the whole house of cards collapses.

[Sparky]

Can we stay to the sick days topic please.

[tedward]

Can we stay to the sick days topic please.

Why? The whole topic was clearly started as nothing more than a bash-unions-fest anyway using sick days as a pretext.

Just re-title it to more accurately reflect the purpose and content and let them have their rants.

[UrbanRail]

So on the subject of sick days. Here is an old article from the US.

Should Paid Sick Days Be Required by Law?
By Adam CohenJan. 09, 2012Add a Comment


Connecticut Workers Welcome Paid Sick Days Huffington Post
'Presenteeism' Hurts Productivity, Study Says The Recorder and Times


Connecticut just became the first state in the nation to require employers to provide workers with paid sick days. The new law — which also allows paid leave for a sick child or spouse — is controversial. Opponents attack it as big government run amok and say it will kill jobs. But it is the right thing to do, both as a matter of humane treatment of workers and public health. And while the law doesn’t cover everyone, it’s a step in the right direction and other states should follow Connecticut’s lead.

Read more: http://ideas.time.co.../#ixzz2ExYqfI8V

[Doggier]

Can we stay to the sick days topic please.

Agreed. There are quite a number of posts that should be deleted from this thread.

[Benezet]

"Indeed, back home in Alberta, when the Fraser Institute trotted out the same analysis of Alberta public employees’ pay and claimed Alberta public employees earn 10 per cent more than their private sector counterparts, a more detailed analysis using the data form the long-form census showed Alberta public employees earn an average 2 per cent less than their private-sector counterparts doing the same or similar work."

http://albertadiary....production.html

[Mike K.]

The National Post produced a chart here that presents the numbers more clearly.

Private workers are much more prone to job loss, enjoy fewer benefits and retire later. Regardless of wages one way or the other, public employees enjoy a safety net that many in the private sector will never have.

[MarkoJ]

The National Post produced a chart here that presents the numbers more clearly.

Private workers are much more prone to job loss, enjoy fewer benefits and retire later. Regardless of wages one way or the other, public employees enjoy a safety net that many in the private sector will never have.

I think the public sector has also caught up in wages in the last 10 years too. Just compare public secretary salary versus private sector.

[Benezet]

Private workers are much more prone to job loss, enjoy fewer benefits and retire later. Regardless of wages one way or the other, public employees enjoy a safety net that many in the private sector will never have.

Private sector workers used to be much, much better off, before Thatcherism and before globalization. I can't help thinking there are sour grapes at play, which the Fraser Institute is taking advantage of.

[Mike K.]

I wouldn't necessarily attribute it to sour grapes, but there are many tax payers who are self employed or employed by the private sector who are becoming increasingly frustrated with reports of financial indiscretions by our elected officials and public servant wages/benefits that keep rising.

In the City of Victoria we have some ~75 public servants earning in excess of $100k per annum while Nanaimo has less than a tenth of that amount (I think we ran the numbers somewhere on VV in late 2011 or early 2012).

[MarkoJ]

I wouldn't necessarily attribute it to sour grapes, but there are many tax payers who are self employed or employed by the private sector who are becoming increasingly frustrated with reports of financial indiscretions by our elected officials and public servant wages/benefits that keep rising.

In the City of Victoria we have some ~75 public servants earning in excess of $100k per annum while Nanaimo has less than a tenth of that amount (I think we ran the numbers somewhere on VV in late 2011 or early 2012).

Are you serious? 75??? Whaaaat.

[Mike K.]

My apologies, the only number I could find was 50 in 2009, a jump from 14 in 2007 (15 in 2008). I'm certain I saw the ~75 figure for 2011/2012 salaries somewhere but I'll retract my comment until I can back it up with a stat.

[AllseeingEye]

Are you serious? 75??? Whaaaat.

Bear in mind -someone feel free to correct me if this is incorrect - but by "City of Victoria" I believe that includes not just city hall employees but also the VicPD, VFD etc. That said what astounded me when I looked at the salaries some months ago was especially the year over year (IOW the "annual") increases that some individuals - and now I am talking specifically about City Hall - were able to garner. Just astounding IMO, and utterly indefensible. Or in Marko's words "Whaaaat?" It was and is inconceivable to me how some of those year over year increases are calculated. Or justified.

[Benezet]

I wouldn't necessarily attribute it to sour grapes, but there are many tax payers who are self employed or employed by the private sector who are becoming increasingly frustrated with reports of financial indiscretions by our elected officials and public servant wages/benefits that keep rising.

In the City of Victoria we have [some number of] public servants earning in excess of $100k per annum...

I'm with you on this for the most part. If we start right at the top, we'll find the budgets for the PMO and the BC premier's office are absurdly high nowadays, for what are largely partisan PR departments. Salaries and fees for advisors, consultants, etc. are likely quite high, as are those for Senators. MPs get a pension after only a few years of part-time work (and they didn't even have to contribute to it until recently). There are more cabinet ministers than ever before, plus we now have "Ministers of State" (whatever they are), who presumably have salaries with premiums where none existed before. A bit further down the chain, BC Ferries took on a couple hundred extra middle managers as soon as it was free of full public scrutiny. The City of Victoria hired two full-time marketers just to tell us how to vote on the bridge referendum. And many manager-types in the public sector make quite good coin, with benefits and bonuses and nice raises every year, ostensibly because the private sector would otherwise nab them by offering higher salaries.

Meanwhile, our elected officials and the appointed higher-ups in the government try to gut the wages and benefits of the union workers on the shop floor, saying we the taxpayers can't afford them.

Then, we have the CFIB and the Fraser Institute obligingly throwing their fuel on the fire, getting folks riled up about sick days.

Sure, public sector workers have a better deal on sick days than their equals in the private sector. But sniping away at that while ignoring the bigger picture isn't going to help the financial matters of the state and its citizens.