Tea Party Wins, County Workers Lose

We see that Tea Party leader and Commissioner George Etheridge followed through (you can bet this was discussed at his Tea Party meeting before the Commissioner meeting), with the backing of the two other Republican County Commissioners to cut county employees personal days from four to two. There is a His justification is the county employee pay study (which we never saw posted on the county website- nor do we get pay schedules posted on the website under the Republican Auditor and Council, nor the County Budget for that matter), which we saw a few of the pay increases in the local newspaper. Most of those increases in the study we paid over $40,000 were for more supervisory positions, and the vast majority of workers saw no raise, and many will see their pay frozen for many years (including the animal control officer, a particularly dirty job, which this study said was overpaid- yeah, right!). Many of the raises also seemed to go to political buddies as well, from the limited information provided to the public.

County employees have had these four personal days for decades. And Etheridge doesn't want to tell the public that the 18 vacation days he banters about are only available to employees with at least ten years of full time service. And the paid holidays we hear about are the same ones, by and large, that federal and state offices are closed. He should know that, given that his wife works for the post office and his family benefits from these benefits. Etheridge probably also doesn't want to share the unwarranted berating he did a few months ago to workers at the highway garage that were doing their jobs picking up salt and cinders for the roads. It is no wonder that morale among county workers it at a record low. When workers are treated like doormats (or worse), it effects performance, and we don't get the best bang for our buck.

If we need cuts to the local budget, let's start with the salaries for the Council and Commissioners. If any salaries are out of line with similar counties, it is those. Didn't the high priced study find that? Probably not, as the Council and Commissioners would not want their salaries froze or cut. While Harrison County does not put salaries on their website, several others do, and it doesn't take $40,000. A quick google search can show that Cass County, which has nearly the same population as Harrison County pays it Council members $5,327 and Commissioners $15,825. Council salaries even outpace Wayne County by nearly $2,000, which has nearly 69,000 people, compared to Harrison County's 39,000. It also is nearly 50% higher than Boone County, whose population is pushing the 60,000 person mark.

County employees better watch themselves, as well as private sector workers if the Tea Party takes over the federal labor policy- the Tea Party agenda is clear: they want all the gains to go to the super-rich, like the Koch Brothers, and other right wing billionaires, while they cut wage, benefits, and retirement for everyone else. This move is Tea Party to the core- punish regular working people. The Tea Party opposes having a minimum wage, family leave, Social Security, and other benefits, and has fought to policies for years that have sought to destroy the middle class for several years. It is clear we need a change come November from these radical, far-right policies that come from Washington, DC Tea Party/GOP headquarters right down to the local level.