In my opinion, most government jobs are simply clerks, for example; I know a lady that "worked" for the agriculture department doling out welfare checks to millionaire farmers. She never "worked" a full five day week ever. She is my age and has been retired for many years. These non-productive jobs could be eliminated, they are there to simply buy votes from the recipients of the welfare as well as the duds handing out the goodies. A clerk at Walmart has more responsibility, works more hours, has few benefits and earns half as much, but serves a real purpose.
Govt. Office employees..... global warming and wives
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Goz63
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Sorry but have to agree about the government union workers. I have been stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB twice. It is the headquarters for Air Force Material Command or AFMC but the joke is that stands for “a few million civilians” aka government civilian workers. Engineers would come in at 0800, go to the gym at 0900 for an hour, go to lunch at 1100-1300, work until 1500 and go home. Desk clerks at the hospital would yell at patients and family and when this was brought up to the military staff they were told “nothing we can do, they are union”. The constant poor service and treatment was the norm not the exception. Durring the push into Iraq at the start of the Gulf War we deployed most of our ICU staff over seas. We were left with a total 12 military so they hired 4 contractors. In the first three months those 4 contractors took more “sick” time off than the 12 military combined took IN A YEAR! The government does not hold people accountable. I can also tell you in this “woke” climate is has only gotten way worse.
(re: D2Cat)..Gov’t CONTRACTORS… Yes, I”ve seen that. but never a direct, public employee.
I was a gov’t employee for 10 years (Director of Special Programs, Veterans Board, and Pilot for the aircraft-pool that served all agencies)… and it was my experience the direct gov’t employees were hard working, over-worked in some cases, and dedicated. But when dealing with the gen-public the rules under which they were required to respond (designed to prevent fraud/waste) puzzled and frustrated the public/individual/citizen and in some cases added to the workload because the rule required extra-ordinary fraud-preventive steps/documentation. In most cases the rule was unnecessary…but I could see where if it didn’t exist that fraud would be rampant. THAT sometimes forced a job-position (a co-witness to meeting the rule) with low performance needs and was often filled with a “must-hire” (a political hiree) who would try to impress people with how well-connected they were for having gotten that job…they will “brag”.
Yep… a “must-hire” is a frustration for everyone…the public AS WELL as the gov’t workers who deal with that person yet themselves do the real work.
(I should also add that I did not often work with people who were classified as “Civil-Service-Protected”. Those are mostly legend these days and those positions are largely eliminated in the last two decades…but the rumors continue.)
I was a gov’t employee for 10 years (Director of Special Programs, Veterans Board, and Pilot for the aircraft-pool that served all agencies)… and it was my experience the direct gov’t employees were hard working, over-worked in some cases, and dedicated. But when dealing with the gen-public the rules under which they were required to respond (designed to prevent fraud/waste) puzzled and frustrated the public/individual/citizen and in some cases added to the workload because the rule required extra-ordinary fraud-preventive steps/documentation. In most cases the rule was unnecessary…but I could see where if it didn’t exist that fraud would be rampant. THAT sometimes forced a job-position (a co-witness to meeting the rule) with low performance needs and was often filled with a “must-hire” (a political hiree) who would try to impress people with how well-connected they were for having gotten that job…they will “brag”.
Yep… a “must-hire” is a frustration for everyone…the public AS WELL as the gov’t workers who deal with that person yet themselves do the real work.
(I should also add that I did not often work with people who were classified as “Civil-Service-Protected”. Those are mostly legend these days and those positions are largely eliminated in the last two decades…but the rumors continue.)
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I gots ta chime in here. I have almost 40 years working for the man as it were. I worked mostly underground and surface mines. As such I di get hazard so to speak, really just a few cents more and hour. The bennies back inthe day were outstanding, and then somebody figured out how much money could get kicked back if those bennies went away. So the retirement is pretty social security, not in the old fund where you got out what you put in. Medical use to be out standing, when my girls were born I gave the hospital the card and that was that. Not now we pay for our medical just like every one else, And there is no real UNION in the gubermint the AFGE is not really a union in the truest sense of the word, how do I know, I was a steward for over 30 years. When you hear about all these super bennies and super high wages, trust me it aint the rank and file workers. OH and before I forget something you or at least most people dont know or understand. Things change, you may have been doing items A B and C like this for 5 year and Monday morning and things change in a heart beat. You no longer do A B and C like that any more, no rhyme no reason just do it because a new Adm. has taken over, but dont worry if you dot like it,, it will change sometime before the week is out. So when you hear about the super high wages, and all the super cool bennies remember thats your elected Goverment workers. The rest are like every one else just trying to get by and we pay all the same taxes as yinz do
I know plenty of government employees that aren't worth their pay.. To pretend like the vast majority are good employees is just BS.
You can argue whether there's more private employees or government employees that are horrible,, but the fact is the vast majority of all employees don't really do their job and are only looking for a way to scam the system.
The difference is we pay for the government employees directly out of our taxes. In many cases, we pay for huge retirement and benefits that they don't deserve based on what they actually accomplished.
BTW, I'm not saying that they shouldn't have taken advantage of being lucky. But, let's be real.
You can argue whether there's more private employees or government employees that are horrible,, but the fact is the vast majority of all employees don't really do their job and are only looking for a way to scam the system.
The difference is we pay for the government employees directly out of our taxes. In many cases, we pay for huge retirement and benefits that they don't deserve based on what they actually accomplished.
BTW, I'm not saying that they shouldn't have taken advantage of being lucky. But, let's be real.
jimh I wish to GOD that I had gotten all this so called big pay and huge benefit package everybody thinks we get/got/have it aint so. I still have to pay my health ins, all my taxes, and retirement sucks, not to put to fine a point on it. All the things you hear about are for your elected officials, look it up.
And yes there are a lot of slugs I had to defend a lot of them being the union steward. And those are the ones that make everyone else look bad
And yes there are a lot of slugs I had to defend a lot of them being the union steward. And those are the ones that make everyone else look bad
I'm gonna have to give a shout out. I've been victimized by a scammer and in the process had to deal with the local post office. I know they're not actually government jobs. Almost every postal employee I've met hasn't been worth half of their pay, but this young lady I dealt with today in person, top notch. Worked her butt off, what little bit of a butt she has. Sometimes you can tell when a person has a work ethic, and sometimes you can tell when they don't. This young lady certainly had it. My issue isn't resolved but she's gone FAR beyond what I asked; enough so that I now have concrete evidence that there is some "stuff" going on locally, and it will come to an end soon. Speaking of postal workers, I know one or two. One of them, really high strung, hyper, 44 years old you'd think he was 15 except he's a lot bigger and a lot uglier. Anyway, with his high strung nature you'd assume that he gets stuff done. Nope. He's quick but he makes so many mistakes at everything he does that he has to do it again at least once more, sometimes more. He worked for me years ago. Real jerk.
Sorry that you didn’t, but the reality is that in many areas, they did. I don’t have to look it up … I already did.
When you are at the bottom of the performance pool, you will be impressed with what is around you.
When you are at the top of the performance pool, you will recognize the bottom.
When you are at the top of the performance pool, you will recognize the bottom.
If you are at the bottom of the performance pool…. you think everyone around you is also.
When you are at the top of the performance pool…. you encourage others to excel also.
(and BTW, …the “gov’t workers” some of you guys think are “slugs”…. did a pretty good job twenty-years-ago today.).
You might think they aren’t super if you’ve had them for your whole career.
Gov workers typically have more paid time off, automatic pay increases for being in the job a long time with step increases, retirement with cost of living increases, and lifetime insurance after retirement with the ability to retire relatively young. Meanwhile, their jobs seem to be pretty protected from downturns in the economy, and the budgets go up not down.
But just a reminder, I don’t blame them for getting them. Just the reality.
I was a Fed so lets brake it down some
There are no automatic pay increases, if there are it would have to be a state job and that is because the powers that be voted it in that way again steps are not given you have to prove you can do the work. And trust me the Feds dont give their workers and more than they have to! And they will at the drop of a hat outsource your job with out a second thought, if they can get away with it.
Now I have to say the time off was good, 4 hours of vacation leave a pay period thats 26 pays so, thats 13 days for the first 10 years, after that it goes to 6 and after 15years 8, so thats 26 days the up side is I could take them when I need to or when I wanted, so if you got a problem with that sorry.
COLA, thats a freekin joke, what ever we get goes back in taxes local and federal and state.
Life time insurance, son you better put down what your smoking. Life insurance is out of pocket, health insurance is out of pocket, though I have to admit they do pick a % of it so I guess thats a huge bennie.
Retirement at a young age? What do you consider a young age, 62 65 70 ? And that super retirement package is Social Security that I have to pay tax on! The old retirement system was isolated from being used for anything other than retirement.
Your boy slick willy figured out that they could put us in to SS and all that money could be used for midnight basket ball welfare crap! And FYI to get full retirement you have to have 42 years in and that still puts you in the mid 60s to retire, if you started right out of high school
There are a lot of union jobs out there that have all the things you said,, teachers union for one.
See the things you see and the crap that is posted is not for the rank and file, all those super bennies belong to the people you elect, because they are the ones that make the rules
What I hear you saying is that you were a Fed employee that didn’t get as much as some of the others.
I’m not responsible for Clinton being elected, so he’s not my anything.
Doing a few searches shows that depending on which Federal retirement system you are in it varies. I think 55 or even 62 is pretty young considering the only way a generic private sector employee retires is by saving their own money and being thrifty. Even then most have no retirement pay other than their investments.
Yes, there are union employees that got a pretty sweet deal, but this thread was about govt employees. Again, not blaming the employees for getting whatever they could get.
TheOldHokie
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ThecCSRS retirement system ended in 1985 and it has been FERS ever since. Very few people are still covered under CSRS and most have worked for 50+ years.What I hear you saying is that you were a Fed employee that didn’t get as much as some of the others.
I’m not responsible for Clinton being elected, so he’s not my anything.
Doing a few searches shows that depending on which Federal retirement system you are in it varies. I think 55 or even 62 is pretty young considering the only way a generic private sector employee retires is by saving their own money and being thrifty. Even then most have no retirement pay other than their investments.
Yes, there are union employees that got a pretty sweet deal, but this thread was about govt employees. Again, not blaming the employees for getting whatever they could get.
As a FERS employee you can retire at age 57 with 30 years service and you get a 30% annuity. At age 70 and 50 years service you get a 50% annuity. If you elect a survivorship for your wife that annuity gets cut by 7%. Very simple math.
Dan
I remember back when the air traffic controllers went on strike. I had a good friend who was a trainer for those guys. He said they should line them all up like in gym class and count off 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. The first year all number 1's got fired. Second year and number 2's. He said by the third year there would be workers left and thing would get done as they should!
THAT is not universally true at all. In Texas the “teachers union” is a toothless sympathy group.
My wife worked all her career as a public elementary school teacher. The “summer vacations” people think she received were off-set by her low pay. (Ten years at less than $30K for 14-16 hr days. NO actual vacation…. spring breaks, holidays, etc. were taken up preparing for return-to-class lessons… surrounded by 20-28 kids all day without coffee breaks other escape from constant bad behavior that resulted from parents using school as a “baby-sitter” because no discipline taught at home. My wife left the house at 6AM to drive 50 miles to be there at 7AM to meet schoolbuses at 7:30AM and herded kids all day long, then remained until after dark preparing for the next day. She bought school supplies and lesson plan supplies out of her own pocket. Her “lunch” period watched kids to prevent fights on the playground. (When was the last time YOU spent 10 months working 14-16 hrs straight with misbehaving kids and angry parents to boot?)
Her ”summer vacation”. consisted of two weeks in required attendance at a continuing-education-workshop and then she had to go to the school a week in advance to do janitorial work unstacking desks, mopping floors, creating “welcoming environments” out of the walls and setting up furniture, libraries, shelves, and lockers for the kids.
She had to re-use 5 year-old dilapidated textbooks because the athletics program (“coach” was supposedly also a teacher but he was always served with a subsitute or gone away on training programs or to games.)…. she and her kids had dilapidated textbooks because the athletics program spent the money on paving the stadium parking-lot, striping the field, and buying concrete parking-curbs and signs that designated the parking places for “Coach”, Principal, and school-board.
Her retirement consists of $1400/month and her insurance..?? When the governor (Rick Perry…you know the guy… the one who couldn’t remember which agency he would get rid-of when he became president.. the same agency he was appointed to head-up by Trump… the “Energy Department”… then when he became Energy Sec’y he discovered the agency he headed-up and wanted to dismantle was also the agency responsible for all our atomic-energy plants, weapons, stockpiles, and disposals…). …. Yes, Rick Perry ran for governor on the promise that he would increase teacher salaries by $6K…. then later he changed that figure to $4K… but when he took office it actually became $2K salary increase…. BUT…the teachers Health Insurance premiums went UP by ..you guessed it almost exactly TWO THOUSAND DOLLARs.
So the INSURANCE COMPANIES that contributed to Rick Perry’s campaign is who got the $2K raise… the Teachers got a higher TAX BRACKET!
BTW, when she retired…her health insurance premium went to $700+ per month for reduced coverage. (This was for supplemental insurance to medicare and would be taken OUT of her retirement paycheck of $2400 before taxes.). It was far cheaper to carry her on MY insurance than the Teachers Retirement System!
Did I mention that she does not qualify for Social Security? The TRS system did not pay into SS…although my wife paid into it for years as a dental assistant before becoming a teacher. She’ll never get a penny of that back, not even survivor benefits when I die.
Don‘t spread false rumors about teachers getting summers off, overpaid and fantastic benefits. Thems fightin’ words for me.
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You are correct Geo.. I guess the point I was trying to make and failed, was it is not all rainbows and unicorns, there are a lot that people never see that and it is a shame those dark corners never come to light. It is always look at the big bucks they are making and how hard it is to fire people, and it is coming out of your pocket agenda. And the whole story is never told. Yall enjoy the day and stay safe
Really, I bet you neer served have you? Remember my brothers and sister have fought and died for your safety, just so you can flap your jaws about things you know nothing about
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