Iowa’s Taxpayers Fleeced as AFSCME Approves Lame-Duck Sweetheart Deal with ‘Unprecedented Swiftness’

December 29th 2010 · 0 Comments

You may remember last month, when Iowa’s outgoing lame-duck Democrat governor Chet Culver agreed to a contract offer from AFSCME without any counter proposal, negotiations, or anything resembling an ounce of fiscal responsibility.

Well, not surpisingly, since AFSCME wrote the contract that the taxpayers of Iowa will be stuck with, it is only fitting that AFSCME approved the contract with unprecedented swiftness…

With unprecedented swiftness, the collective bargaining process between state and AFSCME negotiators was wrapped up in two weeks with Gov. Chet Culver accepting the union’s initial offer. The only change from the current labor pact for the 22,000 AFSCME-covered state workers is a series of across-the-board salary increases — a 2 percent raise effective July 1, 2011, a 1 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2012, another 2 percent raise on July 1, 2012, and a 1 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2013. Employees eligible for “step” increases would get an automatic 4.5 percent grade increase as part of the new pact.

“I want to thank all AFSCME membership covered by the state master agreement for their overwhelming response in turning out for this ratification vote. Considering the pay freezes, unpaid days, and cuts they have gone through for several years now, they are well deserving of these reasonable across the board salary increases. I believe that the actions that the members of this Union have agreed to in the past two years have helped Iowa to the budget surplus that the state now has,” Danny Homan, AFSCME Iowa Council 61 president said in a statement.

“The members of AFSCME Iowa Council 61 would also like to thank Gov. Chet Culver for accepting our reasonable proposal,” Homan added. “We now look forward to working with Iowa’s decision-makers to improve the lives of all of Iowa’s working families and to make sure the work of the state gets done.”

Governor-elect Terry Branstad, who will be sworn in for a fifth term on Jan. 14 after defeating in last month’s election, has said repeatedly that he “deeply disapproves” of the settlements reached with the state employee bargaining. Members of the State Police Officers Council and Iowa United Professionals unions also have negotiated similar agreements that call for the same across-the-board pay increases over the next two fiscal years.

Branstad contends the taxpayers’ interests were not protected in the collective bargaining process and the pay increases are not sustainable given the financial challenges facing state government.

Branstad’s right. Iowa taxpayers’ interests were not protected, they were robbed by an outgoing lame-duck Democrat and the union who is supposed to be serving the public.

Iowa’s taxpayers were bum-rushed by a politician who had nothing to lose but his integrity.

There’s nothing like a con artist, pulling off a con, then leaving the victims wondering what the hell just happened.

Pathetic.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776