OMB Employees to Push to Unionize

[red states rule]

If you think the Federal budget is bloated now, wait until UNIONS get involved in writing the budget! BTW the average pay in OMB is $145,000.

Talk about bad working conditions!!




As soon as today employees of the Office of Management and Budget will file a petition to unionize, ABC News has learned.

Peter Winch, deputy director of field services and education for the American Federation of Government Employees confirmed to ABC News that his organization, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, has been meeting with employees of the OMB in the past few months to discuss their work conditions and desire to have more say over the conditions of their employment.

Enough employees – more than 30% -- are interested for a union to be formed, he said. The union would be for mid- and lower-level employees.

Winch said that while the employees generally like their work at OMB, even with long hours and working on weekends, “there have been reorganizations they would have liked to have had more voice over.”

The next step will be for the employees to file a petition for an election with the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s Washington DC regional office. That filing could come as soon as today though the move could come on Monday.

Winch expressed concern that ABC News would report the story – first learned from other sources – before the union could officially inform OMB management.

The federal government is required to stay neutral on any petition for its employees to join a union.

Asked for comment, Kenneth Baer, OMB communications director, told ABC News that the Obama administration “is a strong supporter of the right of workers to organize. It is up to the people working at any bargaining unit to decide if they want to join a union or not. Whatever the decision of these employees may be, we are committed to working together to serve the President and the American people.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/office-of-management-and-budget-employees-to-push-to-unionize.html

[Gaffer]

Will they go on strike for higher wages once they get the union in?

[red states rule]

Will they go on strike for higher wages once they get the union in?


They already make more then private sector workers doing the same work, So I fail to see what they are bitching about/\. Given the results of Obamanomics they should be happy they have a job that pays six figures

Once again we have union thugs wanting to increase their power and they want to be in the White House as well

The taxpayers will be screwed once again if this happens since we will pay the bill

So what if we are broke? Union leaders do not give a damn about that

[Gaffer]

They already make more then private sector workers doing the same work, So I fail to see what they are bitching about/\. Given the results of Obamanomics they should be happy they have a job that pays six figures

Once again we have union thugs wanting to increase their power and they want to be in the White House as well

The taxpayers will be screwed once again if this happens since we will pay the bill

So what if we are broke? Union leaders do not give a damn about that

I'm sure the union dues will be a percentage of what the employee makes and will be taken out automatically.

[red states rule]

I'm sure the union dues will be a percentage of what the employee makes and will be taken out automatically.

Damn right. That money is needed by the DNC for campaign contributions

If unions take over they can rename it the Office of Management and Bullshit

[Gaffer]

Damn right. That money is needed by the DNC for campaign contributions

If unions take over they can rename it the Office of Management and Bullshit

The money is also needed to pay the union bosses their huge salaries. And those salaries are set by......the union bosses.

[red states rule]

The money is also needed to pay the union bosses their huge salaries. And those salaries are set by......the union bosses.

and to finance the Dem election races which is also known as "protection" money

[SpidermanTUba]

They already make more then private sector workers doing the same work,

No they don't.

[red states rule]

No they don't.

You say no but offer NO LINKS as a backup?

Wow, you really do worship at the alter of Liberalism





For decades, public sector unions have peddled the fantasy that government employees were paid less than their counterparts in the private sector. In fact, the pay disparity is the other way around. Government workers, especially at the federal level, make salaries that are scandalously higher than those paid to private sector workers. And let's not forget private sector workers not only have to be sufficiently productive to earn their paychecks, they also must pay the taxes that support the more generous jobs in the public sector.

Data compiled by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reveals the extent of the pay gap between federal and private workers. As of 2008, the average federal salary was $119,982, compared with $59,909 for the average private sector employee. In other words, the average federal bureaucrat makes twice as much as the average working taxpayer. Add the value of benefits like health care and pensions, and the gap grows even bigger. The average federal employee's benefits add $40,785 to his annual total compensation, whereas the average working taxpayer's benefits increase his total compensation by only $9,881. In other words, federal workers are paid on average salaries that are twice as generous as those in the private sector, and they receive benefits that are four times greater.

The situation is the same when state and local government compensation data is compared with that of the private sector. As the Cato Institute's Chris Edwards notes in the current issue of the Cato Journal, "The public sector pay advantage is most pronounced in benefits. Bureau of Economic Analysis data show that average compensation in the private sector was $59,909 in 2008, including $50,028 in wages and $9,881 in benefits. Average compensation in the public sector was $67,812, including $52,051 in wages and $15,761 in benefits." Those figures likely underestimate the true gap on the benefits side because the typical government employee gets a guaranteed defined benefit pension under very generous terms, while the private sector norm is a 401(K) defined contribution plan that is subject to the ups and downs of the economy.

With the federal deficit and national debt heading into the stratosphere, taxpayers can no longer afford to support such lucrative government compensation. Public sector pay and benefits at all levels should be reduced to make it comparable to the wages and benefits earned by the average working taxpayer. The first politician to propose a five-year plan for this purpose is likely to be cheered mightily by taxpayers.!


Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/want-get-rich-work-feds#ixzz1N4kHVNbZ