Lakewood Township officials announced today that they were unable to reach an amicable agreement with bargaining unions that represent the majority of the Township employees. Mayor Steven Langert expressed the sentiments of the Township Committee by saying, “We are disappointed that the Township employees did not choose to work together with us to reduce operating costs that would have avoided potential layoffs and furloughs.
“It’s no secret that our town and our state are in dire financial straits. We simply cannot sustain the levels we have all enjoyed in better economic times. We are looking at an $854,000 increase in pension contributions, and health care insurance premiums are soaring, among other rising costs. This was an opportunity to save an estimated $900,000 for the Township.”
At issue was the change in health insurance plans. The Township has been providing six different health care plans through its carrier the Central Jersey Health Insurance Fund. Changing to only one, uniform health care benefit package, a plan that has the same benefits that county and state employees receive, would have resulted in a significant savings of an estimated $900,000 for the Township.
Mayor Langert says, “I realize that Township employees are concerned about the health care coverage for themselves and their families. Overall, this health care plan is rich in benefits and comparable to what Township employees have now. Currently Township employees receive dental and vision benefits along with a full medical package. In no way was this going to change.”
With a unified plan in place, the Township could have saved $1.3 million in health care costs between 2010 and 2011. The savings would have been realized from a combination of the consolidation of the health care plan and a change in copay for some employees from $5.00 to $10.00. (Some employees already have the $10.00 copay.)
Mayor Langert says, “In fact, most employees would have seen a reduction, an added benefit, for any out-of-network doctor visits because their copay would have been reduced from 30 percent to 20 percent.” The downside of not accepting a unified health insurance plan will most likely mean layoffs and furloughs for Township employees. Lakewood Township did submit a layoff plan to the state that was approved and did hand out layoff notices this past Friday.
The PBA is pointing out that the retirement of police officers this year will result in a $1.6 million savings. On the other hand, the Township is responsible for $1.4 million in unused sick and vacation pay, along with other buyout costs. Mayor Langert says, “The last thing I wanted to do is tell people they have lost their jobs during the holiday season. I am deeply disappointed in the fact that our unions refused to voluntarily accept the change that, in reality, no one would ever feel. For example, when a person goes to the doctor, all the township employee has to do is lay out a $10.00 copay. That would not change under a new plan.”
Of concern to Mayor Langert and the Township Committee was the fact that some of those involved in these issues found out about impending layoffs through the media. “I don’t know why that happened,” says Mayor Langert. “I can assure you that the Township followed the proper procedures. I have the greatest respect for our Township employees, and I am truly sorry that some of them originally found out about potential layoffs from other than official sources.”
Say it ain’t so Joe. Are our employees really that spoiled and selfish? Why dosen’t the township consider outsourcing the police department? how much would the state police charge to patrol our streets?
these local employees, none of whom live here, are really unbelievable. They won’t even accept a change that costs them nothing??? at the cost of people’s jobs? we know we can’t accept tax rises, so they force the town to layoff their own friends? greedy unions strike again, what a shame. In an economy of pain, the townhsip found a way to save without layoffs and still they get forced to do it.
kudos to TLS for being on top of the stories that matter to those of us choking on our tax bills. Keep the spotlight on the greedy. Go editor
Dear Mayor Langert. Why doesn’t the Township Committee start with themselves and stop soaking the town giving yourselves all your perks, like health insurance? Start collecting from all the free services you dole out, to start making a BIG difference in this town. How about it Mayor???
not all the employees were against this. Actually, some of the unions voted in favor of “doing our share”.
Wow I can’t believe peoe are buying this (moderated) maybe the township should stop collecting garbage for all of the pirate schools at the taxpayers expense. I can’t wait to see what the forensic audit shows. It’s funny though that the townshi committee isn’t taking cuts from there salaries, benefits or pensions. Even though they r part time employees
By the way folks if the insurance plan is comparable to the current the township would ask people to change it what just tuen over and go into effect. Plus police have a contract that is in effect which states it must be equal to or better than what they currently have. It it was equal people it would just change
When I worked in a company they told us we were changing insurance, they didn’t ask.
Why can we do the same here. tell the unions we are changing policys thats it.
its now in the hands of the police department and the other departments…
You might not like it but this is the facts of life.
When times were good you recieved a lot, now when times are realy bad you have to give back some.
Don’t blame the politicians, in this case blame YOUR UNIONS.
Good Luck and Happy holidays
Let me call on the employees with courage to denounce their own unions for hurting their people and the town. Other towns have done this, teachers unions for example, who rejected the union stance and chose to “share in the pain” of the town. We taxpayers, while fully appreciative of the employees, DPW Police and others, of the town, cannot afford the endless escalation of taxes. If you lived here, and a few of you maybe still do, you would know it. Save your friends jobs by taking a paiinless pill. Unless you know something we don’t, your unions look exceptionally greedy and grinchy at this time of year.
This stinks! I would give back in a minute. I can’t look my buddy in the face who got a layoff notice if I am willing to let him lose his job so I can have 7 flavors of healthcare I barely even use. I don’t know who to speak to, but someone better get their act together so the little guy dont have to keep getting hurt so oldtimers can keep getting their perks. Geez!
happy holidays, bah humbug
unions are now killing jobs!!!!!
thats is why so much gets outsourced.
its time for local, state and fedreral workers to share in the downturn economy like all of us have had to do it the past 1-2 years.
if not we will have municiplaities going bankcrupt and then the pensions could be washed off the table and start aknew.
There will always be people who try to find fault and point their fingers and say do this or do that, but the bottom line is once again Langert has proven that he can step up to the plate and save the taxpayers money by lowering municipal spending. I for one am quite willing to have my taxes pay his salary and health benifits. He saved us millions already. Keep up the good work and don’t let the simple people bother you.
lkwd resident who works-
The town has CONTRACTS with these workers that say they cannot change the health plan unless they prove it is equal to or better than what they currently have.
Why should the unions open up their contracts that the town agreed to not more than a year ago? How about the town stops blaming the unions and starts being accountable for the waste they continue to allow?
thats the other thing killing taxpayers in NJ. is our Mayor going to testify? someone here should
they rejected the plan because their copay would go from $5 to $10??? oy pooor poor workers.. my copay went from $40, to a deductible of $3600 a year, i have no sympathy for these six digit salaried workers.
Maybe in order to save their fellow workers jobs??????? or are they to selfish????? It’s not like they are being asked to PAY towards their benefits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The problem was the Twp gave the Unions 4 days to review the proposed plan and get the members to agree on it. The unions felt like the TWP was jamming it down it’s throat, without time to review it properly and sell it to the members. Also the TWP would not committ that if the unions agreed to the new plans there would be no layoffs.
now can we get the other side of the story? because there is another side. the lpd and other unions didn’t turn it down due to greed.
and seriously, the mayor said he followed proper procedure to notify employees. what is that procedure so we know what went wrong? i’m sure he has another story he can tell.
its clear you dont pay taxes in this town, if anywhere. what youre seeing is people getting fed up with the kind of contracts this town has given out in the past and finally standing up and saying stop! if the unions are so greedy that they wont give back this drop in the bucket, they will just force the town to throw people overboard and that is greedy and stupid. i guess they don’t really care about all the members, just the ones at the top, who will be safe no matter what. I think the Mayor and other committee people are working for all of us, and the unions should “pitch in” especially in a way that costs nothing. something’s gotta give.
Not exactly sure what one thing has to do with another? Why can’t the cops “giveback” AND have the township stop picking up garbage? By the way, I agree with the comment above, Langert HAS saved us millions and is worth his salary in gold. Mr. Cop, while I appreciate everything you do in town, are you reaaly worth 175k between salary and benefits?
The mayor is playing to the media and you people are falling for it. Yea, sure, blame the Police for the extra money they have to spend. Why aren’t the Police entitled to the time they earned? They didn’t use their time like everyone else did and continued to work so that there would not be a shortage of officers. Everyone else earned their time and they used it right away, nothing was taken from them. Why is it any different if it is used later?
So, if a person earns sick time and vacation time, and takes it during their years of work, they are home getting paid and no questions asked. No production by any of the employees. But a cop will work, not take thier time, and be punished for not being reimbursed for time they have earned? Ridiculous! They work holidays, the Police Department doesn’t SHUT DOWN.
Mayor Langert is trying to strong arm people into believing what he says, via the media-because everyone believes what is said on the scoop. Wake up people and see through his nonsense.
so where do you stand? your stand is on both sides of the issue. Are you ready to come out and say if you get two days to review, you and your union will support this?
Why the Mayor don’t tell everybody that we only have 3 weeks to review everything about the health insurance.They supply every employee with a draft that unless you are a doctor you won’t even understant it.I don’t mind paying 10 copay or even 15 if that means saving my coworkers jobs.But not everything that you read here is the same thing that goes on behind doors.We were told we need your vote by this day like it or not,if not be prepared to received layoff notices.We are willing to work with the township and find ways to save money and keep everybody working without layoff.And #15 we wish that we make six digits figures at DPW,so get your facts straight before you write something here.
If you think your taxes will go down and not up because of layoffs of the people this town needs you are fools. This audit will show that it is not the unions it is the people distributing the money.
I agree they deserve it, BUT then the union claims that the town is saving so much from retirements. yes and no, they retire but they cost us a bundle in final payouts. the governor is looking to cap the carryover limits to small numbers like 15,000 and the unios are sqwalking. Let the cops get their pay, they earned it. but be human, give back a $5 copay so the guy in the locker next to you can keep his job. That part you cant snow under with complaints about the mayor or whoever. whats wrong with giving back? I bet you put more than that into the santa bucket at the mall.
TO #1: “outsourcing the police department?” “state police”
Say goodbye to your “cultural sensitivity!”
Your antics wouldn’t work with any other dept aside from Lakewood.
right now there are lots of lakewood cops that are more “flexable” towards the FRUM community.
DID YOU FORGET THE TOWED VEHICLE RIGHT BE SHABOS BY JACKSON POLICE??? i dont think i need to say anymore.
I do not believe this mayors statements he is telling half truths and anyone with half a brain can see that it will all come out thanks to the PBA. They will show where the money really is going and then when they prove they are not the problem everyone will say good thing they have the PBA and unions to protect them from the township.
$10 co-pay? That’s great!
I work my (moderated) off and have a $30 co-pay, $50 for specialists.
Wake up and smell the coffee – It’s a different world!
DPW guys arent getting the high pay that many of the LPD are. And the 1.6M saved is gone in the 1.4M spent to pay em off. Have a little compassion in this season of goodwill. Save a few jobs for the cost of a few beers. cmon unions, give us a break.
Its unfortunate but the reality is that the township employees, a majority of whom do not live in town, are paid by OUR tax dollars. I think that they should show a little good faith and agree to a 10 dollar co-pay. As for garbage, that is none of your business, you don’t pay taxes here. I WANT the township to pick up the garbage
THERE’S ALWAYS THREE SIDES TO THE STORY HIS SIDE THEIR SIDE AND THE TRUTH
Wow Langert is trying to use the Chris Christie angle with the media. How about collecting owed takes first and not bully working people to make you look good for an upcoming election. I can not wait for this Audit to make Langert look really silly, with the millions in uncollected taxes. Oh yeah blame Frank Edwards for your problems, way to lead Langert.
Mayor Langert, keep up the good work. This should only be the very begining of major cuts across the board. TAXES NEED TO GO DOWN AT LEAST 50 %and this is the only way. CUTS CUTS AND MORE CUTS.
I’m a mayor langert supporter. In fact, if anything I think he was to kind in this press release. I hope he (moderated).
thanks for making cuts, and for trying to avoid cold cuts. you have a heart, now if only the unions had one.
These Cops are a bunch of whiners. They claim they are going to ask for a forensic audit? What are we going to find? That most of our tax dollars go to pay THEIR salaries? So what if you are in the middle of a contract? Hasn’t anyone heard of “taking one for the team”? If anyone thinks Langert is making it up, do what i did. call him and ask him what exactly is going on.
thanks for painting fences but….
we cant afford the flip side. If you want to continue to help the town, be reasonable. We need the cops and we dont want to see layoffs. but forensic accounting aside, you havent told us why you cant give back the $5 copay to save jobs and taxes.
why would anyone agree to this if the township would not hold up their end of it “Also the TWP would not committ that if the unions agreed to the new plans there would be no layoffs”
It appears the mayor is only telling half truths here, so easy to get on the bandwagon of blaming the unions
there are some really ridiculous postings here by those who obviously never worked in the real world .
even if it’s as you claim not equal or better, why cant you give in a little? 10 dollars instead of 5? shame on you
i want to offer the PBA 32 flavors of health care. Where do I go to sign em up?
it gets pretty cold out here in the woods at night. What i wouldn’t give to be able to afford some good old health insurance.
PBA Rocks. Now please rock some sense into your heads and give back a little so the guys on the bottom of the food chain can afford to buy their families gifts for Christmas.
Lynn Miller for Mayor ’11
Ooops I’m sorry, Menash Miller for Mayor ’11…… Sorry Lynn
Perhaps the Mayor will tell us ‘who’ recieved $2.8 million in tax appeals. While he and others complain about honoring contract obligations, perhaps he shouldn’t hand out tax breaks to others.
Some folks agree with cuts to different departments but don’t want garbage pickup for their private business interupted. If you have a business PAY like others for your trash pickup .
I’m beginning to believe that ‘certain groups’ recieve many benefits at the taxpayers expense when they should be paying just like the others that don’t belong to the ‘favored group’.
Let’s review ‘WHO’ got what and how much tax (appeal) relief and take it from there.
$2.8 million is the place to start – when pointing fingers at others, ot must be remembered that some are pointing back at you.
1st the town did not give the unions enough time to evaluate the plans.. no cost wether a increase or decrease was provided by the twp. how can u ask employees to change palns with less than a week to evaluate the comparisons??? some unions hve given way more back already and the twp is not honoring that agreement…
Are the notices final? Can these jobs still be saved if the unions and town come to an agreement? Or is this officially a done deal? Seems like it happened very fast.
No. 36. It’s not that we don’t want to pay. We don’t wan to open the contract. Once it’s open they can’t close it and the township can do whatever they want to any union. That’s what it comes down to. Also the fact that the township did take lay offs off the table
The Mayors not being honest with his press release information, if the two plans were the same the Unions would have taken the offer. Ask your self this, how can you have two health plans be the same but one costs almost a million dollars cheaper. The new plan did have a slightly higher copay but the rest of the plan was not even close to the current plan coverage. That would be like buying a new car and the dealer telling you the $10,000.00 car was the same thing as the $20,000 car. The PBA just signed a new contract several months ago and the Mayor could have brought this new plan forward then durring negotiations.
No Way says:
DECEMBER 6, 2010 AT 1:57 PM
Say it ain’t so Joe. Are our employees really that spoiled and selfish? Why dosen’t the township consider outsourcing the police department? how much would the state police charge to patrol our streets?
The NJ State Police were hit with over 200 layoffs in the past year.do you think they are looking for another place to patrol?? You do that and see what happens to your response plans..
The NJ State police in the past charged by the car and officer per hour they work in the town. That means if you have 8 officers if your lucky in this town round the clock you will be paying at minimum $!00.00 per officer per hour x 8 x 24. YOU will not save in the long run..you will be paying out more..and not to officers that know this town but those that may come from Ewing or Hamilton or even Cranbury..So you will lose..get a life..stop complaining all the time.
Have you ever seen the dpw guys at work? 3 guys and two truck sto fill pot holes? 3 guys in a truck just driving along at ten miles per hour just wasting time (and our money) UNIONS suck and are destroying this country. I have spent a lot of money to get rid of union workers and would spend double that to do it again
lpd already pays a $10 copay. again, it’s not about greed. it’s about accurate information. how much is mayor langert’s copay by the way?
SHAME ON THE UNIONS. If you took a poll ol Lakewood taxpayers who actually live and pay taxes here, not drive in to make a crazy public salary with health benefits we can only dream of, I think that there would be almost unanimous support for limiting health benefits to the private sectore equivalent. The unions don’t have a leg to stand on.
$854,000 increase in pension contributions? Why is that? Oh I know its because you deferred the last 10 years of pension payments and now the state wants the money. How come Mr. Langert didn’t mention that in his press release?
you know i get sick of reading all of these comments, thank god i have health insurance now i can go to the doctor!
seriously, the unions of this town don’t get catered too like everyone thinks, we all know that the community gets catered too all of the time in so many ways. the twp needs to stop supplying township owned property for private functions, such as those oem light towers that get used for parties and weddings look at the fuel, maintenance, bulbs, how about dumpsters and staff being manned 24hrs. for home clean outs, etc…. how about taxes let the twp. go after those individuals not paying, stop refusing to pay your taxes when you bought or built the home you should’ve known what you were going to pay in taxes. why doesn’t the twp. start penalizing people for false alarms, wheter they be fire or burglar, how about issuing tickets for breaking the laws such as cell phone, running stop signs, speeding, parking, etc… oh that’s right we can’t do that in this town it’s against twp. policy. bottom line if the twp. can’t pay for the services needed for a big town or city then stop letting everyone build this town up, it’s unsafe!
mr. mayor i want to thank you for showing that evil in the townships budget is all about the greedy employees. and from the readings i can tell that the people on this site truly believe the mayor. COME ON PEPOLE OPEN YOUR EYES. DEMAND THE TRUTH. OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT. O.P.R.A WHAT YOU NEED, IT IS AT YOUR FINGER TIPS. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE COMMITTE WANTS NEIGHBOR AGAINST NEIGHBOR. THE ONLY WAY TO WIN IS TO EDUCATE YOURSELF.
Mr Mayor people in Glass Houses………………..
And its anon at 449pm. The plan being offered mimics the state plan which is the same plan that every single state worker gets. What you’re so much greater than every single state employee? Also, Three unions actually voted to accept the change So what does that say about the differences you claim? Also why didn’t the pba share the report that their supposed expert made for them? Perhaps the township could have answered some of the concerns in this supposed report the pba commissioned. It all leads to one conclusion. The pba is greedy and they want everything given to them without them having to give anything back.
Langert I think your plan backfire.Singer must be real happy that he’s not dealing with this.
Audit everything in town. Every department. Every grantee. Every professional services provider. Every vendor. Bottom line is a new 850,000 gift bill from the governor has to be paid without raising taxes. So why not just consolidate these health plans? Why should the unions lie about the benefits? What are they trying to protect? They really look bad here, they should step back & start over. Langert got guts to stick to his guns. Thanks Mayor the hoi polloi is behind you all the way.
The committeemen should give up their medical benefits. They are part time elected officials who want to run the town. That would be a tremendous saving. They all have full time employment elsewhere they should be getting benefits from. Next stop creating positions so friends can get raises and others get paid for newly created unnecessary jobs. If residents complain about the cost of leaf collection they can rake their own leaves or collect their own garbage. Looking forward to the audit. Bet it will save jobs and money too
the stipend and health insurance the committe members get is a small price to put up with all of you whiners. sounds like you are just jealous. they are trying to reduce your municipal portion of your tax bill and you complain. I hope this is just the begining. Go Langert. WE the people are with you 100%
And its anon at 449pm. The plan being offered mimics the state plan which is the same plan that every single state worker gets. What you’re so much greater than every single state employee? Also, Three unions actually voted to accept the change So what does that say about the differences you claim? Also why didn’t the pba share the report that their supposed expert made for them? Perhaps the township could have answered some of the concerns in this supposed report the pba commissioned. It all leads to one conclusion. The pba is greedy and they want everything given to them without them having to give anything back
My comment was meant to be addressed to anon at 443 not 449. Also we have ANOTHER misinformer and its anon at 513 if you would only do your homework you would know that this pension bill is brand new and has nothing to do with deferred payments. Then again, it seems the pba will do anything and everything to deflect the attention from the fact that they are being shortsighted and greedy. They could be heroes by accepting a change in their health plan, one that will provide them with the same benefits enjoyed by every single state police officer. Evidently they just want to continue to milk us and shift the blame to langert who was not on the committee when their last contract was negotiated.
Mr. Langert, why are you blaming the unions for the mess the Township has created? The $854,000.00 pension payment money should have never been touched, and the 1.4 million paid to officers for unused sick and vac time should have been allocated. Stop misleading the public. At no time did you promise the unions that if this healthcare plan was voted on, their would be no layoffs. Approx 14 officers have retired and or will be retired by Feb. 2011, and you want to lay off another 5? Wow, and you thought the crime in this time was bad, just look how bad it will be with 19 less officers. Just think about that Lakewood residents. How about putting cameras at certain intersections in town on traffic lights. Brick makes several thousands of dollars. Oh wait, that’s not allowed in this town. WAKE UP LAKEWOOD RESIDENTS.
Part time employees make an average of $13.75 an hour.
They get no benifits and all pay the necessary taxes.
If the township Committee is really in it for the well being of the town, then maybe they should get on the same sheet as they demand for others.
Having the State Police patrol???? as was said previously, any lienency that some of the Local Police grant will be a thing of the past, just like the officers.
Can’t wait for the audit!
#12 Where did he save us millions? Show me the numbers. Show me where. Are you a close relative who has to say such things? Or are you just a fool?
To Mayor: As the headline read,The Last Thing I Wanted To Do Is Tell People They Have Lost Their Jobs, During the Holiday Season. You did it. Bah Humbug.
Now,rectify the problem.
Langert is out after Dec 31 anyway. After the Twsp refused to negotiate with the PBA last time, they rolled the dice in BINDING arbitration. The Medical Contribution was awarded and the prescription CO_Pay was increased like the SOA. If the Twsp had negotiated then things may have been different.
Then, right after the contract was AWARDED by the arbitrator the Twsp decides they want the PBA ina different plan saving 1K per Officer. Somebody in the Twsp got some kind of favor/kickback after that. Now they want the PBA to just agree to take another plan that isnt as good. Sounds like Mayor Langert is hanging with AL Peters. Wait til the contract runs out Langert then come talk to us. Right now the contract is CLOSED. Oh and we will get our 3% raise too in Jan. Thanks.
#58, the PBA probably did not give up their detailed report because they had to pay for it. Bottom line….. if the health plan was the same as what they have, the committee would not have to ask for permission to change it. I don’t think that the PBA is greedy they are just considering themselves and their families. Mr Mayor, if PBA members were short on their mortgage payments because they mismanaged their funds, would the township committee come together and help pay their mortgages for them????????
Every company I have ever worked for has not allowed sick and vacation time to be carried over from year to year. Use it or lose it. Only government workers get to bank 20-30 years of vacation time and get a huge jackpot when they retire.
I would like to remind everyone that not all unions are bad…Remember the EMS Department not only took a 30 % paycut, but now they also pay 7.5% for their medical benefits. I would like to thank the EMS Department for making the sacrafice, and still help keep Lakewood safe..
sorry narrow minded people it is not easy as switching health care providers without proper notice or warning. they say you have your choice but the open enrollments came and went long before decisions could be made. are you suppose to just change dr’s overnight? and for co-pays a few dollars is not the issue here. come on people, wake up and smell the roses. mr langert has an agenda here, just like trying to force Gem Ambulance down your throats, remember that fiasco last year? come on don’t bash the unions for being careful here, past practice shows you cannot trust the mayor one bit. so why the rush o switch insurance anyway. just strong arming people the way past dictators did years ago. history will prevail and mr langert will be ousted next year at election time.
oh remember when the town was offered a minor league hockey arena that would have payed $$$ to the town and brought in revenue, but was turned down because it was not what people wanted. well I guess you should have had the foresight to see, you could have used that about now.
man i am just getting warm…….wake up people who just moved here and bash like they built this town
Thank You mayor Langert. Im happy i voted for you and proud to have you as my mayor. Spending of this nature is what brings up the taxes.
Now for all you know it alls out there. LAC cuts 500,000 from special education and 50 children are left sitting home wothout the help they deparately need, Mayor Langert on the other hand saves 900,000 which doesnt affect anyone but some greety goverment employees. So for all of you that have been chairing on the LAC now you should be exorbarantly excited and applauding the Mayor
Thank You Steve
It is amazing how easily simple minded people are swayed into believing something without actually doing any form of investigating for themselves. All that the aforementioned people need to do is read the above article and believe that this is the whole truth. There are three sides to every story, one side, the other, and then there’s the truth. Do some looking around at where township money goes before believing one side or the other. The township can’t blame anyone but its higherarchy for the money that they must pay into the pension fund because they are the ones that chose to defer their payments into the pension fund for the past ten years. No one should have to take a 30% pay cut because the town has miss-managed funds. And as Langert stated, He doesn’t know how the people didn’t find out before the articles reached the media, EXPLAIN HOW THIS ARTICLE REACHED THE SCOOP BEFORE PEOPLE EVEN RECEIVED THEIR LETTERS INTENDING TO LAY THEM OFF?!?! Simply amazing…
I just love people like you. You have decided that Gem ambulance was being forced down our throat? Gem wasn’t even a finalist and what happened? We have the same ems in place at a savings of over 2 million over 3 years. you are probably a cop who doesn’t even live in town. It was explained to each union that there is no open enrollment because everyone is going to the same plan a plan withm
the same benefits as every state trooper. You people are selfish petty and costing us millions more than we need to be paying. Change is difficult its about time someone stood up to you people.
29.cops aint dpw says:
December 6, 2010 at 3:06 pm
“DPW guys arent getting the high pay that many of the LPD are. And the 1.6M saved is gone in the 1.4M spent to pay em off. Have a little compassion in this season of goodwill. Save a few jobs for the cost of a few beers. cmon unions, give us a break.”
The cops that are getting laid off aren’t the ones that are getting paid the big bucks…
greedy employees? thats right i remember how all the taxes went down when government didnt pay their portion of their obligated pension payment. ask the 1 person from inspections whose union said yes feels that he is still getting a layoff notice. there were no guarentees that if this health care covered was accepted that people would not be laid off. its called NEGOTIATING IN GOOD FAITH. you ask your elected officials how they negotiate with the unions.
STEVE are my taxes going down next year or NO?
The bible states the government shall fail and the earth will tremble and all will seek for the king of the most high.
NO
hi scoope
IS THIS ABOUT 5 BUCKS?
to #78/#3:
Exactly! so the PBA is messing with their own, but the low men on the totem pole. Thats the downside of unions, they couldnt care less about the little guys, even when its their own. fat cats at the top? living it up. well, thank goodness the mayor has the stones to face em down and demand a nothing giveback to save our “little man” jobs.
To # 72 at Dpw u cant even call out sick cause the supervisors will get mad.And i know ppl abuse sick time too but i know guys that dont abuse it and even like that they get attitude by the supervisors when they call out.The contract stated after more than 2 days out you need a DR’s note but sometimes the first day you are ask to bring a note.I imagine now that we are shorthanded hows its gonna be.
Hey # 68, EMS 2.2 million, Pine River, 800,000. Who is the fool? Fool.
I work for the township. I work in dpw. 45% agreed to change the insurance,55% didnot. The problem? The mayor did not send a rep from the insurance company to explain to the employees what they were going to recieve. Also the mayor on a weeks notice said agree to this or there would be laioffs. This was a threat. Bullying does not work in the public sector.
I am confident that if this plan is presented properly the dpw will agree to it . Here is another problem,all bargaining units must agree to take the plan.Because the police will not,the layoffs continue,even if all other un its agree.
I have read some of your respondes and I must say most of you are il informed. Alot of us at the dpw do live in lakewood,and no we dont make a 6digit salary infact we average under 40,000 a year. Most of us make between 30,000-35,000 after being here for 10 years.
THe mayor can bring us to his side if he remembers that we collect garbage, we only collect the trash.
responding to #72
I agree and ansewer me this Is it humanly possible for a person never to be sick for 20 years? Who covered for them? Very strange practice.
I think I put my finger in somebodys wound with my comment about sick time at Dpw.Today everything change.I was asigned something that normally I don’t do.Men in blue with straight faces.Hey,if u can’t handle the heat stay out of the kitchen.And #88 everything that you say is true.All we need was a presentation of the new insurance and I bet it will pass.But we don’t need threaths or Bullying.
Franklin for Mayor