Wisconsin Teachers shut down schools for 2nd day to Protest Elimination of CBA

• Writerbuckeye

  

  redstreak one;691421 wrote:Does anyone on here work under a contract for an allotted amount of time? One provision that jumps out at me is the 1 year only contract deal. While I dont agree with a continuing contract where the district basically cant get rid of you, but working under just a 1 year doesn't sit well with me. Yes I know, many in the REAL world do it! lol I worked in the real world for 10 years, then went back and finished my teaching degree.
  
  Also, another point is if this passes I will push to get STRS dissolved. My reasoning is right now I cant touch my money without a huge hit in penalties. I cant move it around to another system either. Basically we gave away our right to control our retirement, however we do have a sweet deal in that! lol However, if I am responsible for my negotiating, I want my money back from this with NO penalty!

  
  Basically the whole working world works DAY TO DAY, let alone in a one-year contract.
  
  It's really not that bad. Just do your job well, and you certainly aren't going to be fired for the the heck of it. Now, could you be "downsized" or have your pay cut because of the economy? Yep. But that's how life is.
  
  Teachers have been, for the most part, shielded from these types of downturns so even the idea of working day to day makes them nervous.
• fan_from_texas

  redstreak one;691421 wrote:Does anyone on here work under a contract for an allotted amount of time? One provision that jumps out at me is the 1 year only contract deal. While I dont agree with a continuing contract where the district basically cant get rid of you, but working under just a 1 year doesn't sit well with me. Yes I know, many in the REAL world do it! lol I worked in the real world for 10 years, then went back and finished my teaching degree.

  I'm an at-will employee, so I'm essentially on a day-to-day contract.
• O-Trap

  

  fan_from_texas;691578 wrote:I'm an at-will employee, so I'm essentially on a day-to-day contract.

  
  Same here.
• sleeper

  

  derek bomar;690995 wrote:over 50k in salary for 9 months of work...fuckin tits if you ask me

  
  +1
  
  This doesn't even include amazing benefits.
• I Wear Pants

  redstreak one;691421 wrote:Does anyone on here work under a contract for an allotted amount of time? One provision that jumps out at me is the 1 year only contract deal. While I dont agree with a continuing contract where the district basically cant get rid of you, but working under just a 1 year doesn't sit well with me. Yes I know, many in the REAL world do it! lol I worked in the real world for 10 years, then went back and finished my teaching degree.
  
  Also, another point is if this passes I will push to get STRS dissolved. My reasoning is right now I cant touch my money without a huge hit in penalties. I cant move it around to another system either. Basically we gave away our right to control our retirement, however we do have a sweet deal in that! lol However, if I am responsible for my negotiating, I want my money back from this with NO penalty!

  Most people are At-Will employees and don't even have a contract.
• believer

  

  sleeper;691619 wrote:+1
  
  This doesn't even include amazing benefits.

  Including some relatively lucrative PERS retirement. While the Feds are looking at stealing a portion of my 40 years worth of mandated SS contributions, I hope they're also looking lovingly at public employee retirement as well.
• QuakerOats

  fan_from_texas;691578 wrote:I'm an at-will employee, so I'm essentially on a day-to-day contract.

  
  Ditto, as is generally the case, but if you have proved your worth you have little to worry about with respect to internal situations. It is the external events, like economic conditions, that can trump all that ...... but the company doesn't control the economy and thus should not be bound into a position where it cannot react to such.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  believer;692008 wrote:Including some relatively lucrative PERS retirement. While the Feds are looking at stealing a portion of my 40 years worth of mandated SS contributions, I hope they're also looking lovingly at public employee retirement as well.

  
  Those of us who paid into both systems don't get full shares of SS benefits. There was a law passed quite a while ago that limits SS benefits for those who draw a PERS pension, even if they're fully qualified under SS guidelines.
• tk421

  

  I know this has been said before, but if this were 14 Republicans who fled the state to impede the Democratic progress, the outrage and calls for recall would be heard from the Moon. The hypocrisy of the left and the media is unbelievable.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  Here's an good look at some of the hijinx:
  
  [video=youtube;5f0VProvuAo][/video]
• jhay78

  

  tk421;692112 wrote:I know this has been said before, but if this were 14 Republicans who fled the state to impede the Democratic progress, the outrage and calls for recall would be heard from the Moon. The hypocrisy of the left and the media is unbelievable.

  
  To your point, there's already outrage at Republicans at the possibility of a federal government shutdown over the budget debate, even though no leading Repub has even suggested such a thing.
  
  So when Democrats actually flee in dereliction of their duty and in effect shut down the government, they get the benefit of the doubt. But Republicans at the federal level are already being blamed for something that hasn't even happened yet.
• gut

  Writerbuckeye;692037 wrote:Those of us who paid into both systems don't get full shares of SS benefits. There was a law passed quite a while ago that limits SS benefits for those who draw a PERS pension, even if they're fully qualified under SS guidelines.

  
  True, but don't expect the taxpayer to bail out underfunded public pensions. If they are going to cut SS benefits (and they will have to, at some point), sharing the pain would mean lower PERS benefits (as opposed to the taxpayers making up a shortfall).
• majorspark

  

  believer;692008 wrote:Including some relatively lucrative PERS retirement. While the Feds are looking at stealing a portion of my 40 years worth of mandated SS contributions, I hope they're also looking lovingly at public employee retirement as well.

  
  Don't get me started on the PERS. The very idea that these public employees are exempt from contributing into SS is a joke. Try exempting yourself from SS in the name of contributing to the Private Employees Retirement System.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  redstreak one;691421 wrote:Also, another point is if this passes I will push to get STRS dissolved. My reasoning is right now I cant touch my money without a huge hit in penalties. I cant move it around to another system either. Basically we gave away our right to control our retirement, however we do have a sweet deal in that! lol However, if I am responsible for my negotiating, I want my money back from this with NO penalty!

  
  Off topic but I had a question. I have coached football/track at the high school level and they enrolled me in SERS. I now work at The Ohio Union while here in Columbus and they give me PERS. I am only 21 so it's not a big issue, but can I ever move the SERS money to PERS?
• Tobias Fünke

  

  [video=youtube;4SFWzJ_amkY][/video]
• CenterBHSFan

  

  GREAT video, Tobias!
  
  Things that make you go "hmmmmmm..."
• BGFalcons82

  

  believer;692008 wrote:Including some relatively lucrative PERS retirement. While the Feds are looking at stealing a portion of my 40 years worth of mandated SS contributions, I hope they're also looking lovingly at public employee retirement as well.

  
  Hhmmm.... I can bet they aren't, but you raise an interesting point. I wonder if they're looking at the trillions of dollars in our 401K programs as a source of income? :rolleyes:
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  CenterBHSFan;692137 wrote:Here's an good look at some of the hijinx:
  
  [video=youtube;5f0VProvuAo][/video]

  
  Yeah, but then again, the R's held the vote at like 1am, and were pretty slick to call the vote over even when all the D's were in the room. A low move, but also a low move by the D's.
  
  The whole situation is sad to me, politics over everything.
• believer

  

  majorspark;692380 wrote:Don't get me started on the PERS. The very idea that these public employees are exempt from contributing into SS is a joke. Try exempting yourself from SS in the name of contributing to the Private Employees Retirement System.

  Good point, lol. I think a Private Employees Retirement System is a great idea...and I also think that public employees should be required to pay taxes that contribute to that private fund. Fair is fair right?
  

  BGFalcons82;692485 wrote:Hhmmm.... I can bet they aren't, but you raise an interesting point. I wonder if they're looking at the trillions of dollars in our 401K programs as a source of income? :rolleyes:

  The sacred cow of PERS will be conveniently ignored since the politicians making those decisions are also benefiting from the public retirement system. But SS and eventually private pensions and 401K's?? You can bet your retirement that our Fed "leaders" are salivating over the prospect of stealing those from us. After all, with a shrinking economy and tax-base, they have to find a way to fund PERS.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  ptown_trojans_1;692492 wrote:Yeah, but then again, the R's held the vote at like 1am, and were pretty slick to call the vote over even when all the D's were in the room. A low move, but also a low move by the D's.
  
  The whole situation is sad to me, politics over everything.

  But then AGAIN, if the dems would have acted with HONOR and dignity in the first place, none of this would have escalated to the point it did in the video. They still would have lost the vote, but the hijinx would have been unnecessary. Well... maybe.
  
  I know it's a round robin kinda thing, but blame is NOT always even, Ptown, as much as you try to believe it is. Not trying to be rude, really. I just think people get so caught up in trying to level the blame, that they're just as bad as the people who are only wanting to see one side. I've done it too, but I try to catch myself doing it on a habitual basis, even though I don't always succeed
• believer

  

  CenterBHSFan;692546 wrote:But then AGAIN, if the dems would have acted with HONOR and dignity in the first place, none of this would have escalated to the point it did in the video. They still would have lost the vote, but the hijinx would have been unnecessary. Well... maybe.

  Quite true. It's like listening to a child throwing a temper tantrum boo hooing that the other party is acting in an immature manner.
  
  Had the Dems acted like adults up-front their opposition to Walker's ideas may have held more credence.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Sorry P-town, false equivalence once again. The Dems began this shit slide downhills with their actions and their actions alone. They are to blame for how this devolved into the mess it became, because they are the ones who shirked their responsibilities and ran away.
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Writerbuckeye;692567 wrote:Sorry P-town, false equivalence once again. The Dems began this shit slide downhills with their actions and their actions alone. They are to blame for how this devolved into the mess it became, because they are the ones who shirked their responsibilities and ran away.

  Oh, I agree the D's have really screwed this one up. But, I was not a fan of the R tactic of holding the vote at 1am, with little time to vote. Not saying the two are equal at all, just that the R's are not squeaky clean on this as well.
  
  I also saw where Walker said he was going to move on laying people off.
  And the State Senators really need to come back. It is gutless for them not to be there.
• analogkid

  I don't know if this story has been posted yet but it seems that at least one district is penalizing its truant teachers. http://www.ozaukeepress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1542:teachers-have-pay-docked-for-skipping-school&catid=49:feature-1. The pay dock amounted about $427 per teacher which included pay and benefits. The story also includes a summary of the teachers' benefits. I was surprised that the teachers did not pay into their pension and at how low their health care share was. Ohio teachers pay 10% of their salary into STRS and in my experience a larger % of their health care.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  analogkid, I think the school district was being exceptionally fair to those teachers. I just don't understand how the teachers thought that the "blue flue" was going to help their relationship with the community.