In today's STrib, the President of the Minneapolis Professional Employees
Association (MPEA), Doug Pasche, accuses the City of taking a step backward
in workers' rights regarding City labor negotiators' efforts to remove the
compensatory time option from the exempt, salaried professional workers
contract (Counterpoint article 2-10-01). He states, "that the city wants to
work its professional employees for more than 40 hours a week and not be
contractually responsible for providing them with any benefit for the extra
work." MPEA is the union that recently filed its intent to strike (1-4-01),
and has been badgering the City Council to support them or risk union
opposition in their bids for re-election.
I say Bravo-- city labor negotiators! Stick to your guns. Mr. Pasche is
right in his stated contention that "all other interest groups in this
county endorse and support those politicians who support them." As a
taxpayer and voter, I support the elimination of compensatory time off for
exempt public employees, and I suspect that a great many city taxpayers and
voters agree with me. These salaried city employees already enjoy work-time
flexibility not available to non-exempt, hourly city workers.
In the private sector, where most people still work by the way, salaried
professional workers are paid a competitive salary and are hired to do a
job-- a job that sometimes require 35 hours a week to complete, and may at
times require 50-60 hours (or more) a week to complete. These 'exempt',
salaried workers are exempt from the overtime pay requirements of the Fair
Labor Standards Act. Why should exempt, salaried employees on the public
payroll be treated any differently? If some are, the precedent should be
reversed in an effort to re-establish parity with the private sector.
Public sector employees also often enjoy better benefit packages than most
of their private sector counterparts. Why should taxpayers continue to
support this growing discrepancy between private and public sector
compensation schedules?
If city workers don't like their working conditions, they are free to look
for better opportunities elsewhere, just like their private sector brothers
and sisters! Why should taxpayers be expected to support and maintain this
unfair, bifurcated employee market?
I have a couple of questions:
1. If MPEA employees go on strike and establish picket lines, will other
city workers be expected to report to work or can they refuse to cross the
picket lines, thereby slowing or stopping business in all sorts of city
departments and agencies (at added taxpayer expense)?
2. Will city managers hire replacement workers during a strike to assure
that city business continues unabated?
3. Will City Council members cross picket lines to provide continued
management of city business, or will they refuse to cross the line and slow
or stop the flow of normal city business. How about aspiring CC candidates
seeking office in upcoming elections?
I think city taxpayers and voters will also be interested in answers to
these questions. I hope the private press (City Business, STrib, SW
Journal, City Pages, others?) ask these questions and make the results known
to the general public in a timely fashion well ahead of any strike deadline
and party endorsement meetings! Mr. Pasche states that the matter is now in
the city's hands-- no sir, it's in the hands of city labor negotiators, city
managers, union members/management, voters and taxpayers! Given all the
'progressive' discussions on this list in recent days, I hope we see some
progressive, equitable movement on this issue in the near future.
Michael Hohmann
13th ward, Mpls.
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