shut. up.

I'm going to whine, and then I'm going to stop whining. My coworker posted this on her facebook page, so a lot of this is just lifted off of there, but it's all true and I'm happy she said it so I didn't have to sit and develop these thoughts on my own. It would be nice if my fellow conservatives would get their heads out of their butts and stop generalizing about all state workers in general.

What is going on in Madison not only affects teachers but hundreds of thousands of other people who work for the State in different capacities. Here is a website of 33 pages showing different departments which does not include local divisions of those same departments.

http://165.189.80.128/sowdir/DeptDirectory.pdf

I work for the State's Unemployment division. Here is how my job is different:

• I work year round. Furthermore, I can't request vacation during peak times because of the increased workload. Peak times, you ask? Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years.
  

• For the past 2 years, statewide we have all taken a wage reduction and unpaid furlough days. What sucks for someone in my position, is that this negatively affects me but does nothing for the State. Why? My job, although a State job, is federally funded. That's right. I bet nobody knew that. My wages are paid with Federal money, not State money. My reduction in wages makes no impact on the State's budget, whatsoever.

• My department is one of many departments which have already implemented merit-based pay, WITH collective bargaining in place. In my job, there are Federal and State standards that have to be met in order for someone in my position to be re-classed and get a pay increase. There are legal aspects that must be satisfied in order for this to happen and it's all based on the quality and timeliness of the work that I do. This was all made possible with collective bargaining.
  

Am I complaining about these things? No. My job has always been this way. I am complaining about people running their mouths who know next to nothing about the people that this whole fiasco will be affecting. There are some people, like myself, who are going to get the raw end of the deal and absolutely nobody - not even the State - will benefit from it.

The misconception that we are all rich and making a crap load of money is ridiculous. Don't base your opinion on the few elite in the system. Look at the whole picture before you decide what side of the fence you are on. Yes, things must be changed here and there even with collective bargaining, but eliminating it altogether will do nothing to balance the budget.

So eat me. All of you.