Are you as disgusted as I am?

I have to tell you, I'm so disgusted I couldn't sleep last night.  It's 3 a.m. where I am right now.  The icing on the cake for me was finding out that a special interest group, unions, were given an exemption for 6 years from the surtax that the rest of this country's health insurance plans will be hit with under the health care reform bill as it is currently written. 

MOM signed the Executive Order last session that places every State worker, with the exception of special appointments, at the hands of the union assigned to their unit.  What this means, if you have not already heard, is that eventually, when the unions renegotiate their contracts with the State, they can sneak in service fees to non-members.  This would be approximately $20-$35 bucks a month for every state worker that the Executive Order covers.  For AFSCME alone, that is an influx of about $8.5-$9 million dollars a year from employees who want nothing to do with a union. 

This new deal the unions made with Obama is actually to State employees' benefits but I am so against it that I could spit nails right now.  It is wrong and it is going to lead to our health coverage eventually being a lesser version of what we have now for a higher cost.  They will not have to the pay the 40% surcharge but when they renegotiate the contracts they are going to need to do something to offset that 40%.  I see it as a way to get us more into the federal plan, although I could be wrong.

I do not see it as a good thing. I don't trust them and I am very concerned about this.  It has never been so important for us, as both citizens and government workers, to pay close attention to what is going on both federally and state-wise that will affect our futures. 

Alot of workers have given up hope and feel that there is nothing they can do about the things that have been going on that affects our paychecks and our families.  They are afraid to speak out about it and afraid to go against the grain.  The last time I checked, Obama hasn't yet thrown the U S Constitution away and since that has not yet occurred, we do have the right to freedom of speech and we cannot be fired or laid off for supporting a specific political candidate or voicing our opinions.

If State workers do not begin to get that hope back and at least say what they are thinking, we are doomed.  We need to go to work and do our jobs, the best that we can and not let all of this turn us into the dead wood that many of us see around some state offices.  At the same time, we need to show that we do have dignity and that we are human beings and should be respected for the jobs that we do for the people of this State.

There will be a State worker rally in Annapolis on February 4th from 10:30-12:30.  I have taken a 1/2 of furlough and 1/2 of personal day to attend.  I'm not going to disrespect our legislators but I am going to let them know I'm human and expect to be treated as such.  What better way to spend furlough time than to get a point across to the group of individuals that will be planning our futures.

I hope that you will plan on attending too.