dyna wrote:
> Much has been written on this list lately about our city's
> financial woes, largely concentrating on cutting the budget to
> varying degrees. The problem is that large government and private
> sector entities, be they Amtrak, the Postal Service, International
> Harvester, or Minneapolis have substantial infrastructure investments
> to make and pension liabilities. In other words, you could lay off
> half the employees of these organizations tomorrow and the cost would
> barely drop. This leads one to a logical conclusion- big budget cuts
> won't work, the only solution is to grow our way out of this problem.
This is a great union perspective on this problem. We should ignore
the fact that the city has been unwise in granting pensions that are
a major liability. We should ignore the fact that work force reductions
are often a necessary and wise business practice. And, we should
believe that "growth" (unions can always use new members) is always
beneficial.
We need to recognize that unions in some professions have
inflated wages beyond the skill sets held by their workers.
And, we need to recognize that, in the long run, this is not good thing
for our country.
Michael Atherton
Prospect Park
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