Of Nurses and Teachers

The nurses at the Eastern Maine Medical Center voted Tuesday to ratify a contract offer from the administration of the hospital. In this offer they will over the next three years receive incremental pay raises that will total seven percent.

As with almost any public negotiation I see many comments and hear many folks asking why they should get a raise when the economy is so bad, when they themselves are lucky to keep their jobs.

The Bangor School Department faced with a significant shortfall from the state on their education funds have proposed a budget that actually is lower than the budget passed last year. The taxpayers of Bangor will be asked to pay an increase of about fifteen dollars per $100,000 dollars in value but this is a result of that aforementioned shortfall in funding. And, as I guess should be expected, people are complaining. I am not a fan of the tyrannical way that Betsy Webb runs her meetings but the budgetary side is run in a way that is superior considering the challenges faced in funding and programs expected by the diverse population.

It seems to me that we have a continual problem of misdirected anger. Governor LePage as his first act cuts taxes for the wealthiest Mainers. Over the next eighteen months he cries poor mouth and cuts any social program, including education. Cities and towns not receiving enough money to maintain their schools are forced to make cuts and raise taxes. Who complains the loudest? The same people who voted for the Governor and applauded his tax cuts. The fact is this, education has to be paid for. LePage and his cronies just do a bait and switch and let your local officials be the bad guys.

My wife is a teacher. She is a wonderful teacher. The children she has made a difference for, a real difference, a life changing difference are many. My daughter has dreamed of being a teacher since she was in kindergarten. She now is 13 and is just as sure. She helps my wife out sometimes at school, loves little children and asks my wife in all innocence " How could somebody not want to be a teacher?" I hope that by the time she is done college that things have changed and she never has to learn the answer to that question. When we were children teachers were respected, now it seems they are public enemy number one. Classified in the same bucket as all bureaucrats that work for the government. You know the ones that every one thinks should be fired until they have to wait on hold for an hour when they make an inquiry or have to spend an afternoon at the DMV.

A pattern develops. Teachers, State Workers and Nurses are just some examples. Any group of employees that are unionized and thus have some ability to possibly level the playing field between the powers that be and workers are lumped into one group an called greedy.

Really? Would you want your children to go to school, become a nurse, and then fore-go a raise for five years. After all others who do not have the benefit of a strong union are not getting raises.

Do you want a raise. Do you want better benefits. Ask yourself this? Do you really think your boss or your company cares about you? Do you really think they have your best interests at heart? Ask yourself this my friend? Why aren't you in a union.