Submitted by: Kurt J Fitsch
And a Caterpillar Shall Lead Us
by Burt Prelutsky
In your heart, you know he's right
Monday, January 31, 2011
entire commentary: http://www.burtprelutsky.com/
I have never understood why the rest of us have sat idly by while unions have gobbled up so much power and money.
Even as their numbers in the private sector have steadily declined over the years, they have surged in the public sector.
My question is, just exactly when did we lose our senses and allow civil servants to unionize and strike?
Consider that over 300 New York City sanitation workers made over $100,000-a-year. Their boss, John Doherty, is paid $205,000
for basically shaking down the city council. What’s more, during the December storms, the workers intentionally delayed snow removal in protest of six percent of their colleagues being laid off over the past two years because of the financial meltdown.
The top stagehand at New York’s Metropolitan Opera made $334,000 in 2010. I bet the executives at the Met don’t talk about that
The top stagehand at New York’s Metropolitan Opera made $334,000 in 2010. I bet the executives at the Met don’t talk about that
when they go begging for operating funds.
At Carnegie Hall, one lucky stagehand pulled down an astonishing $422, 599. The average, when you include benefits, is $290,000-a-year. No wonder the tickets are so expensive. It reminds me of the old joke about the tourist asking how to get to Carnegie Hall and being told, “Practice, practice, practice.” We had always assumed that it referred to aspiring violinists, cellists and pianists. But thanks to Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, it apparently includes furniture movers.
Some years ago, the unions closed down New York ’s newspapers. By the time the strike ended, most of the papers were out of business, and with them went thousands of jobs. On another occasion, they managed to close down most Broadway theaters for 19 days. Out of fear of a reoccurrence, the owners caved in and the contracts now call for the hiring of musicians for every show on Broadway, even two-character dramas in which nobody even whistles, hums or pretends to play a piccolo.
The greed and corruption doesn’t end with salaries and pensions. More than a thousand Postal Service employees are collecting workers compensation benefits, even though they are in their 80s; 132 of them are in their 90s. Not only aren’t any of these people ever going back on the job, but 75% of the money is tax-free.
It’s only an unconfirmed rumor that some of these folks started out with the Pony Express.
It is probably untrue that, instead of morphing into butterflies when caterpillars emerge from their cocoons, they become welfare recipients and lifelong Democrats.
At Carnegie Hall, one lucky stagehand pulled down an astonishing $422, 599. The average, when you include benefits, is $290,000-a-year. No wonder the tickets are so expensive. It reminds me of the old joke about the tourist asking how to get to Carnegie Hall and being told, “Practice, practice, practice.” We had always assumed that it referred to aspiring violinists, cellists and pianists. But thanks to Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, it apparently includes furniture movers.
Some years ago, the unions closed down New York ’s newspapers. By the time the strike ended, most of the papers were out of business, and with them went thousands of jobs. On another occasion, they managed to close down most Broadway theaters for 19 days. Out of fear of a reoccurrence, the owners caved in and the contracts now call for the hiring of musicians for every show on Broadway, even two-character dramas in which nobody even whistles, hums or pretends to play a piccolo.
The greed and corruption doesn’t end with salaries and pensions. More than a thousand Postal Service employees are collecting workers compensation benefits, even though they are in their 80s; 132 of them are in their 90s. Not only aren’t any of these people ever going back on the job, but 75% of the money is tax-free.
It’s only an unconfirmed rumor that some of these folks started out with the Pony Express.
It is probably untrue that, instead of morphing into butterflies when caterpillars emerge from their cocoons, they become welfare recipients and lifelong Democrats.
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