Letter: Public workers becoming a target
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to the New York Conference of Mayors in Albany to ask for their support on reform for public-worker pensions (Feb. 27, 2012). Credit: AP Photo/Mike Groll
This is the story of the tortoise (public worker) and the hare (Wall Street) ["Pension problem," News, March 14].
Wall Street was in the fast lane with big bonuses, lavish holiday parties, international air travel with free travel miles to be used later to take the family on vacation, and company-matched 401(k) retirement accounts. This caused the prices of products and services to increase. Everyone had to pay for the Wall Street perks. But the economy was booming, and most were happy.
Wall Street could never be compared to the slow-moving public worker, with a defined pension plan that would require staying many years at one job, limited promotions, bag lunches, holiday parties at rented halls with benches and single-digit yearly salary increases.
Just as the hare took a nap during the race in the fable, Wall Street was caught napping as the economy took a tumble. As Wall Street demotions became reality and the unemployment line grew, it was time to point to the public worker and say, "We need pension reform. We need to cut property taxes. We need to close police precincts. We need to lay off teachers."
So, here we are today angry at public workers and taking every opportunity to blame, point fingers and demand that they "open" contracts to reduce benefits. Are we being fair to the public worker?
Henry Smith, Floral Park
Editor's note: The writer has worked for seven years in the public sector and was employed for 30 years in private business.
