Text 13347, 69 rader
Skriven 2005-06-04 08:17:00 av TIM RICHARDSON (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av VERN HUMPHREY
Ärende: NWS Privatization
=========================
On 06-04-05, VERN HUMPHREY said to TIM RICHARDSON:



TR>If I could find the exact number (or real close) of Americans who are in
VH>the TR>private sector work force, I suspect that the 15 million people
VH>working at t TR>expense of the rest of us, would be a significant
VH>percentage. My guess is it TR>would show to be `over' staffed.


VH>You can find that out easily on the web -- it's around 150 million.



Not as easy as you think. You have to wade through two or three screens of
voluminous, disconnected information, on the Department of Labor site, only to
`not' find what you want there.


And the other sites that come up with the DoL site `also' don't have that
information (I know, I looked).


In any event 150 million was what I suspected, but didn't want to use that
figure since I wasn't really sure. But that means that about 90% of the work
force are making it possible for 10% of the work force to have nice steady
jobs, with little or no chance of layoffs, regular raises in salaries and
increases in benefits, while the rest of us sweat and toil to make all that
possible for them.


I wonder what the numbers would look like between the two groups for, say,
high blood pressure, heart problems, etc. A person who's in the regular work
force has to worry about their employer staying in business so their job
remains available for them. Some workers have to worry about the unions
forcing an employer to put out so much of their profits in perks and benefits
that its more profitable for the employer to move to another state, or even
out of the country. Or some illegal alien coming along and getting hired to do
the job for what might be a living wage in `their' country, but not here in
ours. Or an employer that lets an employee come up to `almost' the retirement
age, then lays them off, or fires them, and hires a younger person, which
means the employee doesn't `get' the retirement they worked for all those
years.


Or the constant worry that a medical condition is going to force them out of a
job that depends on their health conditions. I drive a bus. For the last two
years I've been going around with the medics over what they call mild
hypertension (translation: high blood pressure). I have to watch what I eat,
watch what I drink, keep my weight way down. I'm in my sixties. I `need' my
job. The physicals come up once a year now, not every two years like before.
Which means I am constantly worrying about a pending physical. No sooner do I
get over the ordeal of `the physical' than I'm worying about `next years'
physical. It takes its toll on the nerves. Public employees don't have to go
through that. After a certain number of years, their retirement is in their
pocket. And its a hell of a lot more than what I'll get when I finally retire.


In order to get over a thousand a month from Social Security, I have to work
until I'm 69. A public employee will get much more than that, and will only
have to work till they're in their late fifties or early sixties.


We've lost control of our own country. Our country has control of `us'.


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