City workers hit OT jackpot

InTheKnow wrote:

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You should be angry at wasted tax dollars. But why are you putting the blame on the workers? When I interviewed for my job here, everyone else had as much a right to it as I did. We chose to come here over jobs that paid more working for other companies. The whole gas prices and cost of living etc is included in our MOU's as COLA and isn't even keeping up with inflation.
You forget that many of us "bureaucrats" also live in the City of LA and get to pay the same fee hikes as other people do. So in essence, we get taxed when we get paid and again when we have to pay the fees.
I have yet to get my own city car or know anyone that does. I have driven city cars while on official city bsuiness but I still have to commute every morning on my own dime.
If you have never worked for the City of been on their payroll, it is a little naive to think you get all of the information from the Daily news...the joke around here is, they have never met a City employee they've liked.

I am not a city worker, but all I can say is good for you. There are 2 sides to every story. People complain about long lines at city institutions, but when are these employee's suppose to get their work done? I am an exempt employee that works about 15 to 20 hours a week OT. I don't get paid for that. If people are getting paid for doing their job more power to them.

Sure lay off the City employees. Then watch your taxes go up even more when they have to hire contracters to do the work. The contractors cost twice as much as what a city employee would make by doing the large projects on OT.
Also when someone is breaking into your house or and you call the police, and uh wait, you cant get through? 911 is down! what happended to he city employee that took care of it to save your life? o thats right you cried that they where over paid and no longer works there. Think about the services that are legit before you start complaining!

charles andrew wrote:

From what I read, it not only seems as if the OT was justified, but without it, my street is gong to be a little dirtier, I'll have to be out there with my chainsaw after the next widestorm, and my trash won't get picked up on Holidays. Good thing that there are still a few competent folks out there that actully enjoy working for a heartless city goverment. Now those really good employees will be out looking for new employment and getting paid what they are worth. Then we'll all get what we deserve. City government run by idiots.....wait, we have that now.

And judging by your message, staffed by idiot propagandists as well.

While it is easy to look at numbers and make false assumptions I will attempt to spread a little truth on the subject like it or not the citizens of Los Angelus are a bigger part of the problem then they are willing to admit. For example people of LA don't want work done on the street before nine am or between three o'clock and five because they only know one way to and from work and people of LA don't want city workers to work at night because it disturbs your sleep also people of LA don't want you to work on weekends because you might lose a little business but People of LA do want Streets paved, Pot holes filled, Trash collected, trees trimmed, streets swept etc etc People of LA also do not take into consideration that there are over 150 people in my department alone working above there classification without compensation in order to provide service to the citizens of Los Angelus but the daily news won't Wright about that because its not news worthy

waste of tax payers money wrote:

The people organizing the event ARE the people that I am talking about. I am not talking about the people that go out there to buy a tamale or a donut. I am talking about that 'overhead' allocated funds that are used to pay these 'volunteers' to conduct the fund raising. The city SHOULD NOT allocate funds to pay for these type of activity. Perhaps, if the tax payers decide it is okay for some of their tax money to be used in such a way. But why not give the tax payer that choice, at least then they can decide where it goes to and they can actually write it off. I personally don't think it is the City's responsibility to run these type of fund raising and I think that money could be better allocated elsewhere.

It's called publicity. MOD is one of the largest non-profit organizations and the more participation we give, the more the City of LA is in the positive public eye instead of the negative like in this here article. I really don't see what your gripe is about a few people substituting their time they can spend at work doing work-work for the MOD but don't make any mention about retirement parties and holiday parties etc.

Did you take your furlough days?

I don't where they get the "OT cash cow" thing from. I've worked in admin for 3 years for the city and have not been able to work ANY overtime. Interesting how they try to rile up the public into thinking the media has done "great" research and come up with info that no one knew. Whatever! The put lies and drama in mainstream media and we could definitely do without the media!

Another 1 wrote:

Sure lay off the City employees. Then watch your taxes go up even more when they have to hire contracters to do the work. The contractors cost twice as much as what a city employee would make by doing the large projects on OT.
Also when someone is breaking into your house or and you call the police, and uh wait, you cant get through? 911 is down! what happended to he city employee that took care of it to save your life? o thats right you cried that they where over paid and no longer works there. Think about the services that are legit before you start complaining!

Here's a solution. Hire exempt employees to replace MOU workers, therefore, like the rest of the work force.

What does this mean? No guaranteed COLA & more work days. You know... like everyone else. Then, maybe, our debt would diminish at faster rate and the City system would function better.

duh wrote:

<quoted text>
Here's a solution. Hire exempt employees to replace MOU workers, therefore, like the rest of the work force.
What does this mean? No guaranteed COLA & more work days. You know... like everyone else. Then, maybe, our debt would diminish at faster rate and the City system would function better.

That's my beef -- the labor unions have made a complete mess of government. They've corrupted politicians and managers and behave like government jobs are entitlement programs rather than a service to the public. They can't be made to work, they can't be laid off, and their salaries can't be cut. Meanwhile, they insist on raising taxes and fees on the hardworking public to pay for their excesses.

Bureaucratic Mess wrote:

That's my beef -- the labor unions have made a complete mess of government. They've corrupted politicians and managers and behave like government jobs are entitlement programs rather than a service to the public. They can't be made to work, they can't be laid off, and their salaries can't be cut. Meanwhile, they insist on raising taxes and fees on the hardworking public to pay for their excesses.

I seriously doubt you know what the names of any of the unions are that represent city employees without using google, but I'll explain how my particular union helped.

Back when EAA represented employees didn't feel like signing contracts with 0% for any year (yes, this was the best offer the city was able to make) other unions agreed to the 0% by basically getting a hand shake that the next contract would be better. This ofcourse after more crying by the higher ups saying the City was out of money. At around the same time, IBEW got their people insane raises with an even insaner COLA....AND not to mention the huge raises that council people approved for themselves, on top of all the luxury the elite FEW have. EAA was smarter than this and did a series of "unsuccesfull" (according to this rag anyway) strikes that in no way impacted our previous deal...or so they'd like you to believe. We got some retro pay, and we got a better deal that addressed disparity issues between EAA represented employees and IBEW brothers. All the other unions that had previously accepted a 0% got a contract that seemed like they were better (if you do the math, not really) and left huge re-opener clauses in their contracts. So while they may face potential mandatory furlough and a few other not-so-nice budget cut tactics, the EAA people are okay.

I know our union is far from perfect and this is very obvious to the people who joined a movement to Fix EAA (incidently, they've been pretty quiet lately) and it is a predominately white-collar union, but they do protect us when we need it.

So when you say that us workers can't be "made" to work, what exactly do you think we get on our progress reports by our supervisors? We can't be laid off? Realistically, you have to do something really REALLY stupid to be laid off, but it does happen. The fact of the matter is, the city loses more employees than they recruit every year and vacancies go unfilled. So getting rid of some people is not too friendly with productivity. Finally, I'm sorry but any company that slashes salaries is not a good one to be workin for anyway, so that point is moot.

InTheKnow wrote:

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I seriously doubt you know what the names of any of the unions are that represent city employees without using google, but I'll explain how my particular union helped.
Back when EAA represented employees didn't feel like signing contracts with 0% for any year (yes, this was the best offer the city was able to make) other unions agreed to the 0% by basically getting a hand shake that the next contract would be better. This ofcourse after more crying by the higher ups saying the City was out of money. At around the same time, IBEW got their people insane raises with an even insaner COLA....AND not to mention the huge raises that council people approved for themselves, on top of all the luxury the elite FEW have. EAA was smarter than this and did a series of "unsuccesfull" (according to this rag anyway) strikes that in no way impacted our previous deal...or so they'd like you to believe. We got some retro pay, and we got a better deal that addressed disparity issues between EAA represented employees and IBEW brothers. All the other unions that had previously accepted a 0% got a contract that seemed like they were better (if you do the math, not really) and left huge re-opener clauses in their contracts. So while they may face potential mandatory furlough and a few other not-so-nice budget cut tactics, the EAA people are okay.
I know our union is far from perfect and this is very obvious to the people who joined a movement to Fix EAA (incidently, they've been pretty quiet lately) and it is a predominately white-collar union, but they do protect us when we need it.
So when you say that us workers can't be "made" to work, what exactly do you think we get on our progress reports by our supervisors? We can't be laid off? Realistically, you have to do something really REALLY stupid to be laid off, but it does happen. The fact of the matter is, the city loses more employees than they recruit every year and vacancies go unfilled. So getting rid of some people is not too friendly with productivity. Finally, I'm sorry but any company that slashes salaries is not a good one to be workin for anyway, so that point is moot.

I've been an EAA member, and just as I've mentioned, it is hard to get fired. The fact that you have to do something REALLY stupid to get fired supports those who just work hard enough to get by -- and in my personal encounters, there are many of these types. But wait, you failed to mention the multi-step process for termination. In the private sector, most people are at will employees - so one can be canned for no reason whatsoever.

How many holidays do you get again? How many weeks off in addition to that?

Like I said, ceterus paribus, if we replace MOU workers w/ exempt workers, I'm sure the City would be in better shape.

I'm a City worker , plus I have a 2nd job in the private sector, stop complaining and get to work..........

I work very hard for my salary and i'm proud to serve the City of Los Angeles. When is the Daily News going to post all of the salaries for DWP employees? Don't we all work for the same City?

City employees get 12 holidays, plus floating holidays (1or 2, depending on your MOU). They get 96 hours of sick time at 100% of their salary every year, and after the first year, they get 88 hours of vacation. The vacation increases the longer they work. Paid medical and dental benefits, disability insurance, oh yes, and job stability.

OK; Now the salaries of employees have been exposed. Here's what I would like to know, for those who are skilled, meaning they have earned their college degree/or have expertise in the field, are their salaries too much? Probably not, the issue before us is the city major budget deficit. It appears to me, the solution would be to lay workers off; coudl this be the underlining message for this media series, I think the elected official, got it. I would certainly err on caution, we do live in a state that is known for earthquake, and I am sure that we could be face with that situation soon....The services the City of LA provide are the services we come to expect, particulary in time of crisis, It is my opionion that folks need to exercise their right for change/or become part of the solution. Everybody is sick of taxes, and rightly so. People are tired of paying for others when others do not participate in the process, tired of making end meet, and people need a venue to vent. You have it here. But just don't vent...Make a change, what are you prepared to do. Does the valley still want to suceed, and if so, are these series of article intended for that purpose? I am smart enough to know the average Joe is smart. My belief is that the valley sucession was unsucessful because people are satisifed with their services or least think that if they changed nothing new would happen. The only thing that would occur would be more elected Folks with power to exercise the right of the people. Hmm......... Nevertheless, we live in a univere that has its own agenda. My suggestion is simple, if the city is in a deficit then make the hard decision and lay off, and hire back when the budget can afford it. Also, get rid of the Police Officer ( highly respect this profession) 3/12 and go the 4/10 or whatever it is that they call it. If it is true Officers are sitting in the office then they must be reassigned to the field. I feel sorry for city employees who have been exposed and now their neighbors know how they earned. Keep in mind though the IRS know how much we all make, so at the end of the day, I guess it really not a big deal unless, you told some one you're making more than the record revealed. I was a strong supporter of Hahn, now I wonder, if we would be sitting at this plight now. I don't know, but I plan to vote in November, and Folks this is where you start to effect change with the Federal government, State then Local..now this is how change can come to be....But I am reminded of something I learned in college...the media is mirror of our society.....Change is coming, just hold on.

First, we get rid of the many levels of "supervisory mismanagement", and we will be well on the way to fiscal responsibility.

If a City worker (or their IMMEDIATE Supervisor) doesnt BUY it, INSTALL it, REPAIR it, or PAY for it, they are NOT needed, especially with their bloated salary.

As a City worker, I would be glad to relinquish my floating Holidays, but only if the excess management has:
1. been pared down to more-acceptable levels
2. seen their pay cut at least 20%
3. have their pay capped at $100,000

NO ONE in the Public Sector need to make more that $100,000, at this time.

I can hear "Mismanagement" screaming now, "But we are the cream of the crop, we cant survive on 80% of our pay">

Fire Department Paramedic wrote:

Did you know that paramedics are REQUIRED to work 96 hours of overtime in a month, so they can be exempted from FORCE HIRING the following month. There is such a shortage of qualified paramedics that many of us are forced to work against our will to keep the ambulances staffed. I would gladly give up most of my overtime in exchange for the City hiring more paramedics. They won't do it because it is cheaper to pay me overtime than hire a new employee.

Bingo! There it is. Private industry started that idea and is still using it. Cut back on the work force and make the remaining employees work harder. Pay them overtime (and force them to do it) in order to increase production. So the city is doing the same thing and some of the public is howling about it. Funny that they're not howling about private industry doing it. My neighbor works almost every weekend and some weeknights late, gets overtime but is a walking zombie. He will be able to afford an expensive casket when he drops dead.

AND, make ALL City workers buy their own gas for the vehicles that are take-home vehicles, such as the ones Council members drive.

There should be more emphasis on the use of higher-MPG autos and/or hybrid vehicles.

Currently, the City uses a "Stores Multi-Use Form" (SMUF) to place orders with vendors, transfer stock between City locations, and as request forms to replenish supplies within the City. As of now, EACH Smuf has FIVE different colored pages below the top, white copy. When I place an order for parts, I end up throwing away FIVE pages of colored paper. Such a waste.

InTheKnow wrote:

<quoted text>
You should be angry at wasted tax dollars. But why are you putting the blame on the workers? When I interviewed for my job here, everyone else had as much a right to it as I did. We chose to come here over jobs that paid more working for other companies. The whole gas prices and cost of living etc is included in our MOU's as COLA and isn't even keeping up with inflation.
You forget that many of us "bureaucrats" also live in the City of LA and get to pay the same fee hikes as other people do. So in essence, we get taxed when we get paid and again when we have to pay the fees.
I have yet to get my own city car or know anyone that does. I have driven city cars while on official city bsuiness but I still have to commute every morning on my own dime.
If you have never worked for the City of been on their payroll, it is a little naive to think you get all of the information from the Daily news...the joke around here is, they have never met a City employee they've liked.

Don't confuse him with the facts, he has already made up his mind. He only believes what he wants to believe. To do otherwise would undermine his credibility.