By: Diane Benjamin
Bloomington’s AFSCME Union is actively campaigning on Facebook for their jobs:
Of course they are worried about losing jobs, so are State Farm employees. The difference is SF employees can’t do a thing about it. AFSCME gets pay, benefits, and pensions with taxpayer dollars, but they expect you to lobby for them!
The AFSCME employees believe they are entitled to their 2-3% raises every year, find their on-line comments. It;s very clear why pension spiking at your expense hasn’t been stopped.
I wonder if the Council has seen this?
This is a memo written by Jim Karch listing capital spending for Public Works. This is what was spent this year on equipment just for picking up garbage, recycling, and brush:
That’s over a MILLION dollars that wouldn’t have to be spent if garbage was privatized. That would be saved along with the salary, benefits, and pensions of employees.
Privatizing has two problems though:
- Union employees are the Council voting base, would they have the guts to lose votes?
- All the money saved would just be spent somewhere else. Tari has no problem coming up with ways to spend it.
How did a lot of citizens get brainwashed into thinking the private sector can’t do the job at least as well. EVERY city around us has private service. They are somehow different from Bloomington-Normal?
The way to control pension cost is outsourcing. Everything possible should be outsourced.
Electing people who won’t is the real problem.
.
.
.
Outsourcing has worked in other communities. The union has solidified the state workers into a front for the demo party. When state union members negotiate with the union, you know the state is screwed. Has been happening for twenty five years.
garibaldi — which communities? Why not just charge citizens what it costs to provide the service? That’s what Normal is doing. Do we really want a middle man between the city and what’s on your curb? Private management of the coliseum was a disaster!
Because CITY EMPLOYEES cost more! How about we jut pay them all $100,000 – the citizens have unlimited bucks. Thanks Rob.
Interesting they state that it must be stopped in its tracks. It cannot even be explored. They are afraid that the people will see how much cheaper it could be done by a private company. The idea that it would be poorer service is just not true either. Private companies are held to a much higher standard.
HA HA! This is just FUNNY! ANYONE who believes that “garbage” is a DARN fool. WHO do they think picks up garbage at MANY of the local farms in the area? HUH?
It sure ain’t Mike. M. It’s done by PRIVATE companies, and if THEY can make a profit running ALL OVER the countryside, than I imagine they can do OK going in BLOOMINGTON-door to door… STOP the LIES and STOP SPIKING!
There is a better solution. Put it out for a bid and tell the public works Dept they have to submit a bid too. Pick the second cheapest. Surely the experts who have been doing garbage pickup for years and years can put together a competitive bid.