(Michael Chamberlain/Nevada Business Coalition) – As the battle over the budget heats up, public employees unions have attempted to ramp up the pressure to promote their special interest agenda. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) plans a rally today and the chief of staff for the AFSCME local representing state workers in Nevada took to the pages of the Nevada Appeal recently to address what he termed “myths” presented by private sector workers and employers.
The biggest myths are those promoted by Mr. Subramaniam and the other public sector unions – that government employees have sacrificed anywhere near what private sector workers have and that these workers and their employers should be forced to suffer even more to protect public employees’ pay and benefits. Even by equating forgoing a pay raise with taking an actual cut in salary, as Mr. Subramaniam does, government workers have not seen nearly the hardship visited upon other workers and their families. Yet their response has been to demand that Nevada’s workers and businesses be forced to suffer even more.
When speaking with private sector workers it is common to find that they have not merely foregone raises but have taken 30%-50% actual cuts in pay. In addition, most of them have seen their insurance contributions increase by as much as 30% and companies have been forced to eliminate 401(k) matches and pare back other benefits. These are for the workers lucky enough to still be employed, as nearly 200,000 Nevadans have lost their jobs in the last few years.
Thousands of businessowners have been forced to shut their doors and watch their life’s work and savings disappear. Others have not only foregone their own pay but dug deep into their pockets to keep their businesses afloat and their workers employed.
It is these workers and businesspeople, those who have already been suffering the ravages of this recession for years, who will bear the burden of the tax increases required to continue to insulate the members of Mr. Subramaniam’s union from the impact of this recession. It is the wealth created by the private sector that provides the funds to support the government and its employees. Yet when the ability to create that wealth erodes in the face of an economic slowdown, some government employees demand that Nevada’s workers and businesses suffer even more rather than accept relatively minor concessions themselves.
(Michael Chamberlain is Executive Director of Nevada Business Coalition.)
