The LuLac Edition #2119, July 9th, 2012

Maynard G. Krebs who never met a 40 hour work week he liked.

WORK???? OH COME NOW 

Bob Denver played one of the most beloved characters in American history in the early 1960s. Before there was Gilligan, there was Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis Show. Maynard was the type of guy who wanted to avoid work at all costs. I thought of him today when at work, as I started out my 40 hour work week, actually my hours are 42 and ½ hours because the company does not pay me for lunch) and saw in the newspaper that the County Council wanted to have all employees put in a 40 hour week. Damn you Luzerne County voters, see what happens when you elect people who are from the private sector! Anyway, the unions predictably put up a fuss saying that since the employees were hourly, they would need to be paid according to the union contracts. That enrages taxpayers who don’t get to work 33 hour weeks but it is there in black and white. How did this all start you might ask? Years ago, let’s go back 45 years or so, county jobs were pure patronage gigs. If you were a Republican and your side won, you got the job. If your side lost, you were out of luck. If you were on the wrong side and employed at the time, you packed your bags. In early 1968 though, things began to change. The Democrats took control of the Commissioner’s office in 1967 (our featured year on LuLac by the way) and everyone in the party expected all of the jobs to go to the Dems. Two things prevented that from happening. In late December 1967, Doctor John Dorris the head of the Democratic party died suddenly. A fight broke out for control of the party. The new Commissioners took office but almost immediately signaled that not every Republican was going to be out in the cold. Ed Wideman and Ethel Price hired one Mr. Robert Edgerton of Forty Fort to be the Director of Property and Supply, at that time a plum position. Edgerton was more than qualified with a solid business background but the Dems, out in the wilderness for years went nuts. Through the tumultuous 12 years of the Crossin and  Wideman administration, it became clear that jobs would not be given because of what party you belonged to but what you could bring to the table in terms of political firepower. Oh sure there were jobs that were ridiculous like the Sealer of Weights and Measures and other jobs that required little or no effort other than picking up your check. In 1979, the Democrats had a tough primary where Frank Crossin and Swoyersville Mayor Ed Brominski swept out Ed Wideman who ran alone. Endorsed no less. When Crossin and Brominski took office in 1980, more than 18 key Democrats were fired. They went to Court and challenged the County. That is when the seeds of today’s union were planted. After Frank Crossin Senior died, Ed Brominski had the task of negotiating with the unions. From all accounts, it appears that Brominski was the last County Commissioner that ever stood up to the unions. Through the years, the Commissioners essentially rubber stamped the contracts. Through the years some concessions were made but the fact still remains that working for the County is not a bad job. You get health care, you get reduced hours than the taxpayers work and depending on your boss, you get to slide if there is a sniffle, a good book you want to finish or an appointment that is too bothersome to count as time off. The union head will tell you that some workers in various departments make slightly over twenty thousand a year. Okay, but for that 20,000 they don’t have to work a 40 hour weeks. A clerk in a Convenience Store who works a 40 hour week makes $15,080 a year. A bank teller who works a 40 hour week makes $21,840 a year. A deli slicer working a 40 hour week makes just $20,000 a year. And these are the people who have the opportunity to work a 40 hour week! There are jobs in this community that aren’t 40 hour work weeks so companies don’t have to pay benefits. The union President is in a bubble where only her membership matters. And that’s what she is paid to do. But she should keep in mind that as she asks for more, she should understand that private business has been asking their employees to do less. There are companies that do not even offer vacation anymore, they have a thing now called Paid Time Off. You want three days off? You have to earn them in time. Sick as a dog? You can use your paid time off. Sorry no sick days either. This is the real world we live in today in terms of jobs. The union head and the County Council should understand this. What bothers me is that nowhere in her public statements did the union head even recognize the precarious position the county is in. There was no acknowledgement of even making a good father effort. That only reinforces my belief that the entrenched powers that be in the county still don’t get it. This is not 45 years ago where you could lose your job because you lost an election. This not the 70s where if you pissed Crossin off, you’d have to make peace with Wideman. And vice versa. This is not the 80s when there were manufacturing jobs around here to be had. This is the new millennium where people work 40 hours a week, have to do more with less and if they don’t like it, get fired. If the County employee unions want to play hard ball, I hope to God the County Council plays hardball too. Dare them to go on strike. See how strong the union heads are. County employees aren’t stupid, they know they have a decent job and almost all are good employees. But I wonder what would happen if the Council called Paula Schnelly bluff? When these contracts are up, I say take it or leave it folks. Not everyone under the dome would understand because there is an element there that can’t adjust to the fact that 1 plus 1 still equals one. But it’s about time that someone did. The debt is real, the budget is real, the taxes are real. The only thing that’s not is the hours that are required. It’s time to adjust that to the real world where real numbers are in play.