On Saturday the capital saw a rally in support of public workers in Wisconsin.
The governor there is proposing to repeal the law that permits collective bargaining on the behalf of public employees.
Unlike many of those private sector employees, especially in the rural areas of the state, public employees are represented by associations that protect them. We have no problem with public employees being represented by associations.
But we do have a problem with the one-way street that compensation for most public employees has become.
We don't begrudge someone who is doing a good job getting a raise when there's money for them.
However, when times are tight, we feel that public employees should be subject to the same reductions those in the private sector suffer.
We find the most cost-effective public workers, those who make the least, but do most of the work, often suffer from a lack of seniority. They're the first ones laid off and the last ones rehired when cuts are made.
There is a perception that public workers are making lots of money while those in the private sector are suffering. We know that's not necessarily true. However, we do think it would improve things if public workers spent less time demonstrating and more time coming up with ways to help.
