Public Employees Need Unions!

Public workers in fiscal, political bull's eye
By Sandhya Somashekhar and Krissah Thompson, The Washington Post

“From California to Pennsylvania, workers are facing efforts to sharply curtail the job security and benefits they have enjoyed for years, perks long viewed as compensation for the sometimes lower salaries in the public sector. Now, the perks that came with being a firefighter or a teacher have become a target, not only for conservative lawmakers but for Democrats under pressure to make deep cuts in government budgets.”

The shameful attack on public employees
BY ROBERT REICH, SALON

“Today it’s convenient to go after people who are doing the public’s work – sanitation workers, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, social workers, federal employees – to call them “faceless bureaucrats” and portray them as making off with your money and crippling federal and state budgets.”

In many statehouses, GOP confronts dissention 
By David A. Lieb, AP News

“Can lawmakers continue to shrink government? How much can they cut without jeopardizing services that people have come to expect, such as a quality education and a safety net for the poor and disabled?”

Public employees under scrutiny after recent elections
By TONY PUGH, McClatchy Newspapers

“And as public-sector employees retain more of the benefits that private-sector workers are losing, their compensation packages have come under scrutiny.”