Police Union contract - quick thoughts
From the Citizen:
With contract negotiations still in process, Gilford voters will not see any new union contracts for either Department of Public Works employees or the recently-formed Police Department union in 2008
Town Administrator Evans Juris said Tuesday that an agreement has not been reached during negations and due to the lack of time before the town vote in March, these contracts will have to be put on hold until 2009.[snip]
The Gilford Police Department union, organized through the Teamsters Local 633, does not have an established contract to keep in place like the DPW does.
Capitalism is risky - when your company does well, the owners can do well indeed. When it does not, the owners can lose everything. However, while luck, the level of capitalization, and timing do have an effect on the outcome, with all things otherwise sufficient and equal, the outcome is mainly dependent on the grit, determination, and brainpower of the principals. It is the ability of the individual to succeed that matters. Yes, the team, as it is put together, is a vital part of that. But when it gets down to brass tacks, it is the ability of those individuals to perform that is rewarded (principals or not).
Some, on the other hand, seek safety within a group - or union. The individual is of less importance in the actual renumeration as in most unions, it is seniority that counts and not always capability (having been around manufacturing plants for over 13 years and having to deal with unions during times of change with new software and new ways of doing things, I know this). Competition within the group is not rewarded - in fact, it is often rewarded negatively.
"They're status quo," Juris explained.
This means that until a contract is established for the department, there will be both no pay increases and no changes to benefits or anything else.
Sometimes, tying your success to a union may all that great in the short term. Especially when your fellow non-union municipal workers may well be getting a pay raise.
"We are continuing negotiations and we are progressing, just nothing will come to the voters until March of 2009," said Juris.
Police Department union spokesmen Officer Steve Colcord was unavailable for comment.
Oops.
