My obsession

Isn't it funny how one's point of view changes, depending on one's stake in the game. I remember complaining mightily about the "spoiled" teachers in our town when it was negotiation time in our town. And our city and county employees had cushy health insurance packages with little out of pocket expense - at least they used to, before health care prices kept shooting up, and the governments decided they needed to charge non-union employees for a portion of the cost.

That was back when I was in private business. If I wanted work health insurance, I had to pay a portion of the cost. Since Paul has been employed by the Federal Government, some 28 years now, we've always paid a portion of the cost of insurance. And we've never had a "Cadillac" type health care plan - paying quite a bit out of pocket before insurance kicks in.

Our pharmacy program wasn't so great back in the early 90's - I'd spend a lot of time with a migraine, sweating it out deciding whether or not I had a $10 headache or not. That was how much my Imitrex shots cost. A lot of $$ back then. And I'd think long and hard before making a doctor's appointment - that deductible was hard to cough up. (no pun intended..unless I did have a cough..)

So imagine my surprise when I found out I was an automatic AFSCME Union member when I took a job with the State of Iowa. Iowa is not one of those states where the union automatically collects dues from us, thank goodness. I've had mixed feelings about unions through the years. At Gits, my last manufacturing job, the union didn't seem to help the workers much, just cause problems. I've not joined the union, but I was glad last year when the voting members approved a concession of a furlough week to help with the budget deficit.

But I have to admit, the benefits at the State of Iowa are the best I've ever enjoyed. And I was shocked to find out I could take family insurance at no cost. It's the least costly of the optional plans, but still...that's just not right. I pay a portion of my IPERS (retirement plan) as a deduction from my check, and get around 4 hours of leave every 2 weeks. My salary isn't great especially compared to what some landfill directors make, but I enjoy what I do - most of the time.

I've been keeping an eye on what's happening in Wisconsin with the probable breaking of collective bargaining there - due to a Republican Gov, and both houses. Our Governor has threatened the same. We do have a Democrat controlled senate (by only 2 votes (gulp). But still...scary.

I believe our union needs to consider coming to the table to make some concessions. It's been said state workers got free insurance as a concession a while ago in lieu of increased wages. But those days are long gone. Public workers have to pay for a portion of their insurance and state workers should too. But I don't think collective bargaining should go away totally.

Public workers have been thrown under the bus by politicians, and I'm tired of it. Paul and I work awfully hard. So for all those people just wanting to hack away those government jobs, be careful what you wish for. We're the people who eat at your restaurants, shop at your stores and we are your patients. When we lose our jobs, our buying power goes away too. Along with our public service - and even though we don't make a product, the things we do are important to our world!

Okay I need to quit reading the anonymous comments on the articles about state workers - those are just damn depressing! The "lazy, load, coffee drinking, no good" comments are just too much...