gamewell45

R.I.P. Bob

I've often wondered what the ramifications would be if an earthquake the size of the one that just hit japan were to hit the New York Metropolitan area, especially in view of the fact that I'm told that the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant sits on or near the Ramapo fault. While we've had tremors before, they are nothing compared to what Japan underwent this time. In the event of a cooling failure or worst case scenario a meltdown were to occur, do the counties have a pre-plan in effect that would warn the population and then a means of transporting or causing highways to be open exclusively for and exodus of vehicles leaving the tri-state area? If there is a plan, has it been updated recently or are there cobwebs on the filing cabinet?

Guess sales of telephoto lens will go up in Illinois.

Let me remind you that slavery was abolished in 1865; we don't "serve" the people; rather we have a business relationship with the employer. Most unfortunate; whether or not you want to admit it, anytime you have large gatherings of people regardless of their agenda, you'll most likely have a mess to clean up. Hopefully some of the cost will be offset by sales taxes collected by local businesses which profited from the gathering. Looking at it from another angle, in this particular case, It probably wouldn't have happened if they hadn't proposed to changes in law regarding public unions. In situations like this, its reasonable to assume you'll have large crowds of people in attendance. Keep in mind that if that teachers are to be laid off, they are going to receive unemployment benefits, a cost of which you the taxpayer are going to have to absorb; they will not be spending money as they normally would and as such will have negative impact on the local economy. So go ahead and be a cheerleader and/or an apologist for your agenda; just remember that the lives of thousands of public sector workers will be impacted negatively. http://mediamatters....og/201103050009 From the site (if you read the above link): "The Blaze is a news, information and opinion site brought to you by Glenn Beck and a dedicated team of writers, journalists & video producers." Seems to me that there is a credibility issue at hand here. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ You might not agree with the polls but they are what they are whether you like it or not. As a friendly suggestion, try reading the "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck; I think it will be an eye opener for you.

That of course is assuming that they are union in the first place.

I don't think it would work; it would be the same thing as telling a career firefighter who is assigned to desk duties that he must take a cut in pay because he is not doing "interior" work and under your scenario, be totally useless since he wouldn't be able to put out fires.

Most likely because no one feels like getting arrested over these morons.

If this volunteer fire department is like most; its probably social in nature. If not, then who knows?

RIP Del

Amen Brother!

Cogs, I agree with you; unfortunately some in here are wearing blinders. Sometimes I think its useless to attempt to rationalize with them as they are fixed in their positions for whatever reason and in their minds they are totally justified. So be it. Reading this thread is like reading the funnies; you need a cup of coffee and the tv on. This is one of these cyclical things; I think the best thing to do is let them get it out of their systems and that will make them happy for the next couple of months or so and then let them start the whole cycle over again.

Negotiations are supposed to be "give and take"; it appears that all the governor of Wisconsin is interested in is "taking".

Sorry if you took it the wrong way, I wasn't trying to suggest that you not discuss it in this forum, rather trying to be helpful but nonetheless thanks for you response.

As a taxpayer, I take no issue with volunteers receiving what you've mentioned above. However if I felt--as you apparently feel--I'd approach my town council or other body that provides the above and make them aware of my feelings on the matter. Afterall--as I'm sure you'll agree--taxpayers most certainly have a right to express their opinions on how monies, benefits, perks and other volunteer inducing incentives are provided, particularly in this era of budget shortfalls and states attacking civil service unions .

RIP

Some volunteer departments do not provide any ems service, rather it is handled by either commercial ambulance service or VAC. Most likely that the is the rationale behind the thinking whether we are in agreement with FASNY or not.

Interestingly enough, I understand both the Police and Fire Unions supported Bloomberg in his last re-election bid. Talk about treachery.

KC2MZH....Congrats on attaining your Tech License.

Doesn't it stand to reason that if there were no volunteers and you had to hire additional paid FF's that the taxes would be even higher and continue to increase over time??

Closed shops are illegal in many states (Taft-Hartley Act of 1948) and what you are describing amounts to what the laws are in the so-called Right-To-Work states where union membership cannot be a requirement in order to maintain employment. These people, who do not pay any dues and are not members of the union, still receive the benefits of being covered under the collective bargaining agreement and are referred to as "freeloaders" since they leach off of others who are members who pay dues towards the bargaining and maintenance of labor agreements. That being said, in New York State, which is an Agency Shop, you cannot be forced to join a union, but as a condition of employment, you must pay a fee equal to what the dues would normally be. This is known as an agency fee payer. There are also the so-called "Core Members" and they are those whom pay the same fee as Agency Fee Payers, however they get back a partial refund based on how much money is spent on non-contract related expenses such as organizing, parties/social events, etc. Core and Agency fee payers do not have a right to vote on labor agreements, nor are they eligible to participate in union sponsored benfits such as social events, education, run for positions within the union and other fringe benefits provided soley by the union. All this being said, as a disclaimer, I'm not aware of any language in the public sector being different from private sector since this is federal law and applies to all equally as described.

Wow, how time flies. I remember when Bob became the Chief succeeding Acting Chief Young. I hope he enjoys his retirement for many years; he's definitely earned it.

I'm not defending them, but there are some people who don't believe that the Federal or State Government should be able to tell them what to do in their spare time.

Sounds like Shakespeare to me.

DDixie, I respectfully suggest that you read up on labor history in this country. Prior to unions, most people had no benefits, Holidays, 40 hour work week, pensions, etc. To avoid unionization of the work force, many companies began to give workers these benefits they never had before.

While I agree that money is a very important issue for all workers; consider this; under a union contract you'll have work rules that you the employee decide what they will be; another benefit is that you'll have a grievance process to address issues that come up in the work place; you'll be able to address quality of life issues and working conditions and most importantly, job security. All the money in the world is useless if you have no job to come to. It amazes me that people in this day and age are willing to work non-union; of course i've only worked union for my entire career, so its all I know; but what i do know for sure is that its kept me employed and given me the best benefits in my industry. Most people in my industry who work non-union make peanuts compared to me and have poor if any medical/insurance benefits. The most important thing to me is that I as a member have input into what goes into our contract; I help to decide what is most paramount to me; not some suit sitting behind a desk who gets a bonus for cutting jobs or overtime.