The wealthy right wing have always liked to pick on the working class. And now Wall Street wants to blame Main Street for the financial crisis our country is in. Big bankers taking home large bonuses are blaming the childcare workers and parking-meter collectors in this country, saying that their jobs are the reason we’re in a recession.
If you stop to actually look at the people and jobs Wall Street is attacking, you realize that we need to stop the lies. Public-service workers make little money and do the hard jobs necessary to keep our country running.
In 2009, public service worker Joe Wisniowski made $40,000 as an Airport Equipment Operator for an Ohio airport. Meanwhile Wall Street raked in $20.3 BILLION in bonuses during the same year.
As Robert Bonds, a parking meter collections assistant in Detroit, puts it: “What is this teaching my son? You can work hard, go to college to get your degree, and it’s all out of your hands; your success is based on somebody sitting in an office somewhere on Wall Street… that’s not what I want him to believe.”
Public-service workers are coming under attack like never before. Wall Street has the money, the power and the media mouthpiece to spread lies about those who serve our country in necessary jobs. We can’t let Wall Street destroy the backbone of America. Join with us to defend public service workers.
There have been some. Most of them at or near the top of the ranks. These rare, but visible abuses, have offered ammunition to those who want to screw regular public-sector employees.
Once we’ve cleaned up these abuses, we can then argue that rank-and-file public employees deserve their benefits. If the state controller did a comparison on how much it would cost to transition all those covered by private pensions to Social Security–and whatever other public plans would cover what we now do privately, in other words, move them to what private-sector employees receive–that might add an interesting element to the discussion too. Bet we wouldn’t save a lot.
I don’t get the juxtaposing private sector and public sector salaries (with the former on aggregate.)
Isn’t the driving force against Public Unions, Government need to balance deficits? It’s not only “Wall Street” who is anti-new taxes, it’s the MAJORITY of voters.
It’s not only Republicans, it’s Democrats. It’s me!
I think progressives need to deal with reality. Reality in terms of public sentiment, in terms of budgetary scope and in terms of inefficient bureaucracies.