Is this the future of America? City of Scranton lowers wage for all city workers to minimum wage

kingblaze84

Damn, this is very worrisome news. It looks like America's future is looking more and more fucked by the day. Scranton is in Pennsylvania, a relatively rich state income wise. And yet, it's sixth largest city is now going to pay ALL of its city workers MIMIMUM WAGE at 7.25 an hour. This includes cops and firefighters. America's best days might be behind us.....I hope to be proven wrong but damn this is crazy cuz cities all over the nation are going broke like this.....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/scranton-minimum-wage-city-police-firemen-140229063.html

Cash-strapped Scranton, Pa., has slashed pay for all city employees—including police and firefighters—to minimum wage, sparking furor among unions that now say they plan to sue in federal court.

A lawyer representing three unions told Scranton's Times-Tribune he will file several motions, including one to hold Mayor Chris Doherty in contempt of court for violating a judge's order to pay full wages.

The lawyer, Thomas Jennings, said he also expects to file a pair federal lawsuits on behalf of the unions—International Association of Firefighters Local 60, the Fraternal Order of Police E.B. Jermyn Lodge 2 and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2305—alleging the city failed to pay proper wages and overtime, and cut benefits for disabled police and firefighters without a proper hearing.

"Pick a law," Jennings told the Times-Tribune. "They violated it."

[Also read: As Scranton officials quibble, it's the residents who suffer]

Last week, Doherty abruptly cut pay for all 398 city employees to $7.25 per hour, saying it was the only way to keep Scranton solvent.

According to the paper, Scranton—which faces a $16.8 million budget deficit—had $133,000 in cash on hand as of Monday, but owed $3.4 million in various vendor bills, including health insurance.

Roger Leonard, a city employee, told NPR he typically gets a $900 check for two weeks of work. On Friday, it was $340.

"I have two children and a wife, and my wife is a stay-at-home mom," Leonard told NPR. "If the savings gets drained, we won't be OK."

The mayor, meanwhile, blamed the City Council for Scranton's financial woes.

"If they'd gone with my budget, we wouldn't be having this discussion," Doherty said. "The taxes would have been raised. The bills all would have been paid because we would have had a dedicated revenue stream."

kingblaze84

Is this what America has to look forward to in the future? Cities aren't being bailed out as Afghanistan and the Pentagon are, and Republicans along with Democrats are fucking things up with their wild teenage girl spending. This country is on a path to disaster damn.....

MansaMusa67

That's crazy!!!

And you thought police were bad before?

Wait till the stressful nature of their jobs plus not being paid accordingly hits home....

We will increase in police brutality if this spreads

kingblaze84

I know, it's already happening in New York City where I live. Cops are really stressed out here, and if you take a trip out to Manhattan on a Friday night, or any night really, you'll see cops cursing up a storm at drivers who are driving "too slow", or at people who "look suspicious" (we all know who that means).

If you know anyone working in city govt for any state, you'll know they are doing the work of 5 people most days. The money is disappearing from govt, and it's gonna fuck up the middle class big time. Many people are middle class only because of govt jobs. Now that those jobs are paying less or are being cut, the American Dream is slowly dying a horrible death. No coincidence so many people live desperate these days....

janklow

i hope at the very least we understand there's some political games being played here

Plutarch

janklow wrote: »

i hope at the very least we understand there's some political games being played here

how so? i don't follow.

jono

Janklow is right. We are starting to see attacks on public workers all over the country. Mass lay-offs, contract busting, union busting, consolidation of public services etc. All under the guise of "welp, we broke." or my personal favorite "shared sacrifice".

kingblaze84

janklow wrote: »

i hope at the very least we understand there's some political games being played here

Sad both major parties are part of this game, Republicans being the most cold hearted players in this......

kingblaze84

jono wrote: »

Janklow is right. We are starting to see attacks on public workers all over the country. Mass lay-offs, contract busting, union busting, consolidation of public services etc. All under the guise of "welp, we broke." or my personal favorite "shared sacrifice".

I know isn't it funny? The same politicians so willing to cut pay and pensions for govt workers always vote themselves a pay increase every couple of years. Even worse, the same politicians who refuse to raise taxes on the wealthy are the same ones who vote to increase funding for the military and extend tax cuts for businesses that create jobs overseas. This is one of the main reasons I want to leave the country one day, this country is DONE. We had a nice ride but the corruption of American politicians is beyond crazy now.

janklow

jono wrote: »

Janklow is right. We are starting to see attacks on public workers all over the country. Mass lay-offs, contract busting, union busting, consolidation of public services etc. All under the guise of "welp, we broke." or my personal favorite "shared sacrifice".

in this case, i have to say, my personal point is that both sides are being dramatic as hell because they have something in it for them

cobbland

Not surprising.

Trockm

We're fucked and I hope it doesn't spread like wildfire.

heyslick

IMO

Is this the beginning of shared/spread the wealth 'round? OR the end of the middle class - the transformation of America has come home to roost,by any means necessary - as the old saying goes.

ChromaStoned

if im only gettin 7 dollars to police ppl-im shootin up some mfs whenever i want-it will be my stress relief from the wage cut

field_ducks

Unfortunately there are many similar stories in various countries all across the world. Over here in Britain, the goverment has laid off many front line police officers and introduced pay freezes all over the public sector.

Supposedly this will be the answer to getting us out the of reccesion, not regulating the financial sector better or reevaluating government spending. Makes complete sense.

FuriousOne

tabatha_ wrote: »

Unfortunately there are many similar stories in various countries all across the world. Over here in Britain, the goverment has laid off many front line police officers and introduced pay freezes all over the public sector.

Supposedly this will be the answer to getting us out the of reccesion, not regulating the financial sector better or reevaluating government spending. Makes complete sense.

Seems they are reevaluating government spending by not spending anything via cuts and freezes. So much for stimulating the economy. At this rate even bread makers couldn't sell a slice with all the broke people abound.

jono

Austerity doesn't work...but I think they have been told that for a long, long time, they just don't care.

You can't change the economy from consumer based to producer based, its ridiculous.

Sion

LOOOLOLOLOL Scranton has a population of 75k, fuck Scranton, those people can move out to more developed cities in the U.S.

Plutarch

tabatha_ wrote: »

Unfortunately there are many similar stories in various countries all across the world. Over here in Britain, the goverment has laid off many front line police officers and introduced pay freezes all over the public sector.

Supposedly this will be the answer to getting us out the of reccesion, not regulating the financial sector better or reevaluating government spending. Makes complete sense.

See I didnt know that. I was talking to my homeboy today and he's from Canada and he's saying it gets bad up there too. So frustrating.

kingblaze84

Sion. wrote: »

LOOOLOLOLOL Scranton has a population of 75k, fuck Scranton, those people can move out to more developed cities in the U.S.

Many people have little to no savings these days, it's not that easy to just get up and move. And even than, many cities across the nation, even the developed ones, are even more expensive to live in than Scranton than ever before. The middle class and working class are being squeezed into a tight spot, and that's why this story is so sad. NYC, a developed city, has ridiculously high rent and the avg rent in America is now past a G a month. Moving from Scranton into a situation even more expensive is fucked up. And that's why America is fucked in the long run. I have friends from other nations who tell me their better off from where they came from, that's how bad things are getting.

kingblaze84

Another city is going bankrupt now too, San Fernandino........this city has a population of 211,000 and is in California. California has 3 cities that will now be bankrupt soon. Pensions are one of the leading costs of bankruptcy, which is troubling for those who believe govt jobs are an easy way to retire in safety. No longer homies.....

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/san-bernardino-bankruptcy-could-other-california-cities-be-next.html

Last month, Stockton became the largest city in the state to seek bankruptcy protection after it was unable to come to agreement with its employee unions and creditors on a plan to close a $26-million gap in its general fund.

On July 2, the tiny resort town of Mammoth Lakes filed bankruptcy papers in part because it was saddled with a $43-million court judgment it couldn't pay.
San Bernardino couldn't close a $45.8-million budget shortfall and would be unable make its payroll this summer, city leaders said. Days before Tuesday's City Council vote, the city of 211,00 people had just $150,000 in the bank. The city barely scraped together enough money to cover its June payroll.

DOCUMENT: San Bernardino bankruptcy report

Rising public pension costs are one of the catalysts pushing cities into fiscal peril. In San Bernardino, the city's obligation to its employee retirement system rose from $1 million in the 2006-07 fiscal year to nearly double that in the current budget year. In three years, those costs are expected to swallow 15% of the budget.

Pension spending grew an average of 11.4% a year in the state's biggest cities and counties from 1999 to 2010, roughly twice as fast as spending on public safety, social services, recreation, health and sanitation, according to a February report by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Joe Nation, a Stanford economics professor and co-author of the February report, thinks for at least some cities, insolvency is inevitable unless they can wrest much bigger concessions on salaries and pensions from public employees.

"I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the problem,'' Nation said. "Stockton was spending $12 [million] or $13 million on pensions 10 years ago. By 2010, it was $30 million … and will double again over the next five years, unless something is changed."

field_ducks

@plutarch if I wasn't on my phone I'd leave some links but the government over here is just doing what Conservative governments usually do when elected; cut things for the working and middle classes.

I mean over here we're in a double dip recession and the government has raised VAT, raised the cost of going to university from 3k to 9k a year, cut school sports programmes (while they were bidding for the world cup mind you), cut the funding for social security and they have not implemented any widespread rules/penalties to get the banks to loan to small business or people which is what they were supposed to do with the bailout money.
And the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, still thinks austerity is the way to go. The idiot even tried to put a tax on pasties.

cobbland

Expect the US to be involved in a war soon.

Plutarch

tabatha_ wrote: »

@plutarch if I wasn't on my phone I'd leave some links but the government over here is just doing what Conservative governments usually do when elected; cut things for the working and middle classes.

I mean over here we're in a double dip recession and the government has raised VAT, raised the cost of going to university from 3k to 9k a year, cut school sports programmes (while they were bidding for the world cup mind you), cut the funding for social security and they have not implemented any widespread rules/penalties to get the banks to loan to small business or people which is what they were supposed to do with the bailout money.
And the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, still thinks austerity is the way to go. The idiot even tried to put a tax on pasties.

wooow, that's crazy. And my ignorant ass was thinking that it's just bad in America.

janklow

kingblaze84 wrote: »

Many people have little to no savings these days, it's not that easy to just get up and move.

these days? Americans have not been the most responsible when it comes to savings before now

kingblaze84

janklow wrote: »

kingblaze84 wrote: »

Many people have little to no savings these days, it's not that easy to just get up and move.

these days? Americans have not been the most responsible when it comes to savings before now

How can most Americans save when the cost of living here is so high? Rich people get stimulus money while the wrorking class gets austerity? Sound fair to u?