I think I am officially speechless. Could it be that I've said everything I have to say so soon? Perhaps.
Life goes on, doesn't it. One gets interested in other things....one wishes to think about more upbeat topics.
Like gardening. Gosh what a great spring it's been....I've got flowers blooming, grass growing, weeds whooping it up all over my yard. Had a kid graduate from school, another got engaged, one dropped in for a visit...friends coming and going on their ways to wherever...
And I've been working on yet another in my personal life series of entrepreneurial endeavors...reading a great book called The E-Myth revisited(Michael E. Gerber) about how to build a successful business. Very inspiring.
I've also been reading The Time Travelers Wife (Audrey Niffenegger - wow, that's a mouthful!)which someone left at my house...a puzzling tale so far...about some guy always running into himself.
And I just can't develop any enthusiasm for writing about the madhouse...which seems an irritation center, a vortex of unfortunate circumstances, swirling...swirling...
...So much more pleasant to admire my new dahlia...
I'll write again as soon as I get aggravated enough. Meanwhile, anybody reading anything especially good? Please advise.
Comments since last post on Mystery Series and Identity Theft
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Identity Theft
Identity theft. Wow. It's in all the news today: millions of veteran's names and numbers stolen! It's a weird social problem to have...and it's spreading like a virus...like chicken pox or something. Each victim gets his/her identity stolen and finds himself entangled with some sociopath who has no scruples about screwing up the life attached to the "identity". It's a social disease whose symptoms are a continual preoccupaton with sorting out financial messes and their consequences...and there's no vaccine...maybe HIPPA was supposed to be the vaccine, but as it turns out, it's ineffective.
The "identity" is really a series of computer files that describe your past behaviors in terms of your dealings with money, mostly. Many of us expend a certain amount of effort to ensure that this "identity" describes a responsible, prosperous citizen...because in this society as long as you can be identified that way, you are allowed a lot of flexibility in your life....you can borrow money, you can have a phone installed, you can sign up with the power company without having to come up with a deposit, you can buy on credit, you can get a job. If you become "identified" as an irresponsible, debt-dodging flake...well, no help for you from the financial sector of the society; you can buy everything with cash...if you can get anybody to hire you so you have some.
So if identity theft becomes so common that some huge sector of the population has "identities" that don't actually reflect them - either because they're the victim of identity theft or because they're the perpetrator of it - then "identity" becomes an unreliable factor when trying to judge about investment risk...credit card companies, mortgage lenders, banks will no longer be able to rely on this tool to determine the creditworthiness of their customers.
What will they use? Fingerprints? Retinal scans? How will a retinal scan tell them I'm a good credit risk?...it can for sure tell them I'm "me"...but who, exactly "me" is, is the problem...
Or will each of us, finally, just have his or her own doppleganger...the guy who is sharing the "identity" with us...the guy we've never met who buys the Hawaiian Vacation at Christmas...and accept it as a way of life...
Nothing new has occurred regarding our local case of stolen identities...government moves slowly, as we all know...and by the time the investigation is complete, we'll have moved on...and have gotten comfortable with our dopplegangers.
I wonder how the investigation on the assaultive unit is going. Sounds scary up there. Anybody know? Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the staff there...is the toxic patient out of ICU yet? Is there anything the rest of us can do to help up there? Please Blog!
Comments since last post on Mystery Series and Helping Ourselves
The "identity" is really a series of computer files that describe your past behaviors in terms of your dealings with money, mostly. Many of us expend a certain amount of effort to ensure that this "identity" describes a responsible, prosperous citizen...because in this society as long as you can be identified that way, you are allowed a lot of flexibility in your life....you can borrow money, you can have a phone installed, you can sign up with the power company without having to come up with a deposit, you can buy on credit, you can get a job. If you become "identified" as an irresponsible, debt-dodging flake...well, no help for you from the financial sector of the society; you can buy everything with cash...if you can get anybody to hire you so you have some.
So if identity theft becomes so common that some huge sector of the population has "identities" that don't actually reflect them - either because they're the victim of identity theft or because they're the perpetrator of it - then "identity" becomes an unreliable factor when trying to judge about investment risk...credit card companies, mortgage lenders, banks will no longer be able to rely on this tool to determine the creditworthiness of their customers.
What will they use? Fingerprints? Retinal scans? How will a retinal scan tell them I'm a good credit risk?...it can for sure tell them I'm "me"...but who, exactly "me" is, is the problem...
Or will each of us, finally, just have his or her own doppleganger...the guy who is sharing the "identity" with us...the guy we've never met who buys the Hawaiian Vacation at Christmas...and accept it as a way of life...
Nothing new has occurred regarding our local case of stolen identities...government moves slowly, as we all know...and by the time the investigation is complete, we'll have moved on...and have gotten comfortable with our dopplegangers.
I wonder how the investigation on the assaultive unit is going. Sounds scary up there. Anybody know? Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the staff there...is the toxic patient out of ICU yet? Is there anything the rest of us can do to help up there? Please Blog!
Comments since last post on Mystery Series and Helping Ourselves
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Mystery Series
What's goin' on???
Mystery #1) Why is administration so blase about the loss of personal identifying information from an employee's car? I remember not long ago a computer was lost or stolen from Metro State University that contained names, social security numbers and so forth,of former Metro students and employees and the event was in the paper....I, myself, as a former student/employee received a letter in the mail informing me of the incident and telling me what my options were for protection of threatened info.
Here, for some odd reason, the employees affected still haven't been given information about just what was stolen. The theft occurred on April 21st. A letter from employees, requesting the details of the lost information and a copy of the police report (which they need to file for a "long term fraud alert") was written on May 7; no reply has been given to them yet...today is May 15th.
This is a mystery. Doesn't our employer have some obligation/responsibility to protect our personal info? Our employer has been pretty quick to accuse the blog (which takes great pains to deidentify everything used), of publishing patient info yet are unconcerned when a supervisor looses employee names, ss #'s, dob's, addresses, work schedules, etc. etc. etc. ??
Mystery #2. Who is it, exactly, that's investigating the increase in patient-to-patient assaults on the "assaultive" unit? Will we get to see the results of the investigation? Is anyone investigating the increase in patient-to-staff assaults hospital-wide that's occurred as we reduce seclusions? How about nation-wide?
Mystery #3. Could the Director, perhaps, visit his enterprise more often than the proposed "one unit a month"? What makes him so scarce? What's he doing? Wouldn't it help whatever he's doing, to see what he's "directing"? How can one direct something that one has no contact with? (er...sorry about the grammer...you know what I mean.)
Mystery #4. Isn't it more expensive to pay overtime and hire in outside pool, and to retrain staff, than it is to retain already trained staff? If, as I hear, we have overspent our budget (again...happens every year at this time) and we can't afford basic supplies like toothpaste, shaving cream, etc., why can we continue to afford paying overtime to willing staff and hiring in outside pool staff (at considerable expense)? It is, of course, because you've got to have staff....this is, after all, a 24 hr. care facility....and we don't. We don't have enough trained in-house staff to do the job. The mystery part is why don't we prioritize staff retention in order to have a balanced budget, if nothing else.
Ah well. I love a mystery, don't you?
Comments since last post on CLRC, Labor Rights Amendment, Helping Ourselves
Mystery #1) Why is administration so blase about the loss of personal identifying information from an employee's car? I remember not long ago a computer was lost or stolen from Metro State University that contained names, social security numbers and so forth,of former Metro students and employees and the event was in the paper....I, myself, as a former student/employee received a letter in the mail informing me of the incident and telling me what my options were for protection of threatened info.
Here, for some odd reason, the employees affected still haven't been given information about just what was stolen. The theft occurred on April 21st. A letter from employees, requesting the details of the lost information and a copy of the police report (which they need to file for a "long term fraud alert") was written on May 7; no reply has been given to them yet...today is May 15th.
This is a mystery. Doesn't our employer have some obligation/responsibility to protect our personal info? Our employer has been pretty quick to accuse the blog (which takes great pains to deidentify everything used), of publishing patient info yet are unconcerned when a supervisor looses employee names, ss #'s, dob's, addresses, work schedules, etc. etc. etc. ??
Mystery #2. Who is it, exactly, that's investigating the increase in patient-to-patient assaults on the "assaultive" unit? Will we get to see the results of the investigation? Is anyone investigating the increase in patient-to-staff assaults hospital-wide that's occurred as we reduce seclusions? How about nation-wide?
Mystery #3. Could the Director, perhaps, visit his enterprise more often than the proposed "one unit a month"? What makes him so scarce? What's he doing? Wouldn't it help whatever he's doing, to see what he's "directing"? How can one direct something that one has no contact with? (er...sorry about the grammer...you know what I mean.)
Mystery #4. Isn't it more expensive to pay overtime and hire in outside pool, and to retrain staff, than it is to retain already trained staff? If, as I hear, we have overspent our budget (again...happens every year at this time) and we can't afford basic supplies like toothpaste, shaving cream, etc., why can we continue to afford paying overtime to willing staff and hiring in outside pool staff (at considerable expense)? It is, of course, because you've got to have staff....this is, after all, a 24 hr. care facility....and we don't. We don't have enough trained in-house staff to do the job. The mystery part is why don't we prioritize staff retention in order to have a balanced budget, if nothing else.
Ah well. I love a mystery, don't you?
Comments since last post on CLRC, Labor Rights Amendment, Helping Ourselves
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Helping Ourselves
I'm having a little trouble deciding what to blog about this week...find I'm torn between contemplating the possibilities for political action which could result in increased wages for nurses, and various personal actions which have (in the past) or might (in the future) result in some direct improvement for some individual patient or other...and then there's the relationship between those two. What really is the relationship between better working conditions and better patient care?
From a patient's point of view, a valued "provider" makes him feel valued.
It's like when you have a "heart event", for example...you're needing professional help; you seek out the possible providers. You look up two cardiologists and go to "interview" them. The first one works in a dingy little office on South Broadway, has stains on his lab coat, bloodshot eyes, and drives a 1986 Ford. He forgot to shave a patch on his cheek. He knows what to do...he's done it a million times. He doesn't seem to be interested much in your individual issues, and focuses on the main themes. He seems a little preoccupied and spends part of his time with you on the phone or writing something in the chart. At one point, his receptionist yells in that somebody's towing his car and he runs out. But his prices are the best in town...in fact, they're lower than anybody elses. And he knows his stuff. His wall decor shows a good education at a good school; he tells you of course he can fix your problem, it's no big deal...probably 65 or 75% of his patients live through it...he'll have you in and out in a week. A nurse hands him a note about the guy with the infection and he leaves, telling you to make an appointment for labs.
The second one works in very comfortable surroundings in Cherry Creek. The receptionist smiles and offers you a heart healthy drink while you're waiting. Your Cherry Creek Cardiologist is bright and busy, he looks well nourished, he smiles and drives a jaguar, which is tucked away in a secured parking area. He looks you in the eye when he talks to you; he explores your personal issues. He thinks of questions that might shed light on your chest pain and shortness of breath. Nobody interrupts him. He remembers your name. His prices are on the high end of the range, and he quotes them with pride. He treats you like you matter...to him...to the world. He tells you you'll live and prosper. He gives you his diagnosis and prescription and checks to see if you've understood it. He asks if you have any problems with it. He tells you what to expect. He orders follow up appointments, and hands you off to the office person who makes them all for you. You're given a card with the info and a mint on the way out. You forgot to look at his Medical Degree.
If you can afford the second guy, you feel "valued". You're important. You're worth it. You speak to your friends of your doctor with pride. You approach the coming treatment with confidence...you're going to get the best care available...and you have every expectation of recovery.
If you can't and you have to go with the first guy, you're on your guard...anxious and watchful. You have to repeat your name to him and remind him why you're there. You doubt you'll live through it, but you've got to do it anyway because you'll die for sure if you don't...not that anybody would notice if you DID die. You feel like you need a cigarette even though you quit years ago...and when you leave the appointment, your car has been towed.
One could say, with some accuracy, that the relative financial positions of the two doctors has nothing to do with how good they are. The stressed and distracted cardiologist might, in fact, be the better doctor, at least on a mechanical level. But in health care, we know humans require more than purely mechanical adjustment. "Mechanical adjustment" can be administered with comparatively little attention...it's a set of skills that, once learned, can be done on "automatic" ...like driving in rush hour traffic...leaving the mind free to wander. But healing, "getting well", also has a psychological component.
In mental health care, patients require a lot more than just "mechanical adjustment". In Mental Health, our version of "mechanical adjustment" is medication. We just need the general picture (voices? insomnia? lethargy? an unnatural preoccupation with trash?) to know what to do. The administration of meds is routine and is done with a minimum of fuss...(or accuracy if recent reports are to be believed)...leaving plenty of space for filling out forms, fending off bill collectors, and perseverating about how in hell you're going to pay for college.
But in our facility, we've got darn little in the way of "feeling valued"...that intangible that promotes healing and gives the "mechanical adjustment" a context in which to work.
Wages are part of it. Sounds like various people are working on that issue and that's lucky for us. Competitive wages would help that feeling that we're all a bunch of losers here. And there's that intangible, "psychological" side: being included in decision making, being heard and having input on budget priorities and policy decisions, etc. would help. Having one's own needs recognized and accomodated would help. Having a culture of valuing one another ... respect, honesty, that sort of thing, would help. Having a culture that is really engaged in improving the lot of all of our patients...as opposed to "get them stabilized and move them on" could be energizing. I understand that there are a lot of "system" problems that, although they are community based and appear to be out of our control, could be tackled much more aggressively than they are now...we're pretty fatalistic about what happens to patients after they leave us...and about having to keep people for years beyond the point that they've received maximum benefit because there's "no place for them to go". Engaging in a battle for good is both energizing and bonding.
I think if we want what's best for our patients, we have to work at getting what's needed for us....it's like that little talk in the airplane at the beginning of the flight: when the oxygen mask pops down, get your own on first, then help others. Cheers to Working Woman, who apparently has got her O2 on already...and to the guy from the Labor Right Coalition...soon as the rest of us get our masks on, we should help them all we can...before you know it, we'll be able to actually help our patients, too.
Almost forgot, Comments since last post on: CLR's Labor Rights Ammendment, Treatment Failure, There's a Storm Coming!, and Inspiration.
From a patient's point of view, a valued "provider" makes him feel valued.
It's like when you have a "heart event", for example...you're needing professional help; you seek out the possible providers. You look up two cardiologists and go to "interview" them. The first one works in a dingy little office on South Broadway, has stains on his lab coat, bloodshot eyes, and drives a 1986 Ford. He forgot to shave a patch on his cheek. He knows what to do...he's done it a million times. He doesn't seem to be interested much in your individual issues, and focuses on the main themes. He seems a little preoccupied and spends part of his time with you on the phone or writing something in the chart. At one point, his receptionist yells in that somebody's towing his car and he runs out. But his prices are the best in town...in fact, they're lower than anybody elses. And he knows his stuff. His wall decor shows a good education at a good school; he tells you of course he can fix your problem, it's no big deal...probably 65 or 75% of his patients live through it...he'll have you in and out in a week. A nurse hands him a note about the guy with the infection and he leaves, telling you to make an appointment for labs.
The second one works in very comfortable surroundings in Cherry Creek. The receptionist smiles and offers you a heart healthy drink while you're waiting. Your Cherry Creek Cardiologist is bright and busy, he looks well nourished, he smiles and drives a jaguar, which is tucked away in a secured parking area. He looks you in the eye when he talks to you; he explores your personal issues. He thinks of questions that might shed light on your chest pain and shortness of breath. Nobody interrupts him. He remembers your name. His prices are on the high end of the range, and he quotes them with pride. He treats you like you matter...to him...to the world. He tells you you'll live and prosper. He gives you his diagnosis and prescription and checks to see if you've understood it. He asks if you have any problems with it. He tells you what to expect. He orders follow up appointments, and hands you off to the office person who makes them all for you. You're given a card with the info and a mint on the way out. You forgot to look at his Medical Degree.
If you can afford the second guy, you feel "valued". You're important. You're worth it. You speak to your friends of your doctor with pride. You approach the coming treatment with confidence...you're going to get the best care available...and you have every expectation of recovery.
If you can't and you have to go with the first guy, you're on your guard...anxious and watchful. You have to repeat your name to him and remind him why you're there. You doubt you'll live through it, but you've got to do it anyway because you'll die for sure if you don't...not that anybody would notice if you DID die. You feel like you need a cigarette even though you quit years ago...and when you leave the appointment, your car has been towed.
One could say, with some accuracy, that the relative financial positions of the two doctors has nothing to do with how good they are. The stressed and distracted cardiologist might, in fact, be the better doctor, at least on a mechanical level. But in health care, we know humans require more than purely mechanical adjustment. "Mechanical adjustment" can be administered with comparatively little attention...it's a set of skills that, once learned, can be done on "automatic" ...like driving in rush hour traffic...leaving the mind free to wander. But healing, "getting well", also has a psychological component.
In mental health care, patients require a lot more than just "mechanical adjustment". In Mental Health, our version of "mechanical adjustment" is medication. We just need the general picture (voices? insomnia? lethargy? an unnatural preoccupation with trash?) to know what to do. The administration of meds is routine and is done with a minimum of fuss...(or accuracy if recent reports are to be believed)...leaving plenty of space for filling out forms, fending off bill collectors, and perseverating about how in hell you're going to pay for college.
But in our facility, we've got darn little in the way of "feeling valued"...that intangible that promotes healing and gives the "mechanical adjustment" a context in which to work.
Wages are part of it. Sounds like various people are working on that issue and that's lucky for us. Competitive wages would help that feeling that we're all a bunch of losers here. And there's that intangible, "psychological" side: being included in decision making, being heard and having input on budget priorities and policy decisions, etc. would help. Having one's own needs recognized and accomodated would help. Having a culture of valuing one another ... respect, honesty, that sort of thing, would help. Having a culture that is really engaged in improving the lot of all of our patients...as opposed to "get them stabilized and move them on" could be energizing. I understand that there are a lot of "system" problems that, although they are community based and appear to be out of our control, could be tackled much more aggressively than they are now...we're pretty fatalistic about what happens to patients after they leave us...and about having to keep people for years beyond the point that they've received maximum benefit because there's "no place for them to go". Engaging in a battle for good is both energizing and bonding.
I think if we want what's best for our patients, we have to work at getting what's needed for us....it's like that little talk in the airplane at the beginning of the flight: when the oxygen mask pops down, get your own on first, then help others. Cheers to Working Woman, who apparently has got her O2 on already...and to the guy from the Labor Right Coalition...soon as the rest of us get our masks on, we should help them all we can...before you know it, we'll be able to actually help our patients, too.
Almost forgot, Comments since last post on: CLR's Labor Rights Ammendment, Treatment Failure, There's a Storm Coming!, and Inspiration.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
CLRC's Labor Rights Amendment
A friend of mine got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago from the Colorado Labor Rights Coalition that included a really good description of, (as the letter said), "what the State Legislature has done to us so far".
I'm going to quote the letter here:
In the Long Bill the Legislature has appropriated a Cost of Lving Increase (the Salary Survey)which will result in an average increase in pay for all State Employees that will come out to approximately a 2.5 to 2.7% increase in pay starting in July.
At the same time, all State Employees will be enjoying a massive .37% increase in pay to compensate for the fact that over the past 8 years our salaries have not kept pace with the private sector.
There will not, of course, be any funding for "Pay for Performance", again. There will also not be a restoration of any Step Increases, either. This "revenue neutral" program has resulted in 83 million dollars of "savings" for the State in the past seven years.
Three years ago, the State Legislature voted to give us a 2.5% cost of living increase for the fiscal year of 2003-2004. As there was insufficient funding at the time, the payment of this increase was "deferred" until July of 2006.
The Legislature passed House Bill 1256 this year, which eliminated the promised cost of living increase for 2003-2004. State Representative Beuscher sponsored this Bill to screw us over.
At the present time Senate Bill 06-235 is currently sailing through the State Legislature. This Bill, sponsored by State Senator Paula Sandoval, and State Representative Marshall will increase the amount of money we will be paying into PERA. Starting in 2007, we shall all be paying an additional .5% increase from the current 8% level for the next six years. This will result in an incremental decrease in our pay by 3%.
The Bill also does away with automatic cost of living increases for PERA recipients, as it requires the annual COLA to be reviewed by the expanded PERA Board which will include 5 appointees of the Governor of Colorado.
The manner in which our retirement benefits will be determined has also been changed. While in the past employees' benefits were based upon the average salary of the highest 3 years of service, the new formula calls for our retirement to be based upon the lowest salary earned in the last four years. This Bill is the one that is being proposed by the Democrats. Governor Owens presently is opposing this legislation, as it just doesn't srew us over enough.
Just let me interject, here, a great big THANK YOU! WOOOOO HOOOO! High Five! Finally!! someone makes some sense of what's been going on with our wages and salaries! I am so grateful and feel like, now, I sort of have a shot at understanding what the deal is.
Thanks again. Whew!
Mr. Attridge, who wrote the letter, goes on to say,
I have enclosed a copy of the Labor Rights Amendment petition, and I am requesting you circulate it amongst your fellow employees, your friends and relatives. When passed, this Amendment, will, amongst other things, give public employees in Colorado the right to collectively bargain. It will give us the power to require the State Legislature to negotiate our salaries and benefit packages directly with us, and if they fail to come to an agreement with us then the matter would be resolved by a neutral third party arbitrator.
I have received the endorsement of the Colorado AFL-CIO and unions affiliated Colorado Change To Win to place the LRA on the ballot. In order to place this Amendment on the ballot, we shall have to collect 68,000 signatures on petitions by June 30th. Thanks to the financial support we have received from the IBEW and UFCW Local 7, we currently have over 6,000 petitions in circulation and we will have an additional 2,000 more out by the end of this month. If every member of this Local does their part, we should be able to gather at least 30,000 signatures. For those of us who work at the CDLE, I will be dropping off a package to each of you containing petitions, cover letters and envelopes for you to take home and stuff to help me with the final mailing.
Considering how the politicians on both sides of the isle continue to treat us like garbage, I think this is the logical course of action that we should take. If we don't pursue this action, I think we should just consider the option of dissolving the Local. I see no point in us continuing to pay 27 dollars a month so that useless union staff reps. at AFSCME Council 76 can attend political cocktail parties and dinners.
This letter is signed, Solidarity Forever, Jeremiah Michael Attridge.
Wow, Mr. Attridge...this is very exciting! This is an idea whose time has certainly come! We are pleased and grateful that you've put the facts together, understood the solution and are expending the energy to get this done. It's exactly what we need.
Since this was apparently mailed to union members, I think we should all seek out a union member and ask to sign this petition as it goes around. We should campaign for this measure and make sure that it gets on the ballot and then that it wins in the election. Then we can Collectively Bargain with our employer about wages. Without this, we're going to get nowhere...or somewhere only temporarily...this is a major long term fix. I'm excited. I think this is BIG NEWS!!
If you want to get ahold of the Colorado Labor Rights Coalition, you can email them at ColoLaborRights@aol.com or their phone is: 303-433-3138.
Just Darned Exciting! don't you think?
Comments since last post on Inspiration, Dead Horses, Treatment Failure!!, There's a Storm Coming....gosh, I think that's all...hope I haven't missed anybody! Great blogging, everyone!!
I'm going to quote the letter here:
In the Long Bill the Legislature has appropriated a Cost of Lving Increase (the Salary Survey)which will result in an average increase in pay for all State Employees that will come out to approximately a 2.5 to 2.7% increase in pay starting in July.
At the same time, all State Employees will be enjoying a massive .37% increase in pay to compensate for the fact that over the past 8 years our salaries have not kept pace with the private sector.
There will not, of course, be any funding for "Pay for Performance", again. There will also not be a restoration of any Step Increases, either. This "revenue neutral" program has resulted in 83 million dollars of "savings" for the State in the past seven years.
Three years ago, the State Legislature voted to give us a 2.5% cost of living increase for the fiscal year of 2003-2004. As there was insufficient funding at the time, the payment of this increase was "deferred" until July of 2006.
The Legislature passed House Bill 1256 this year, which eliminated the promised cost of living increase for 2003-2004. State Representative Beuscher sponsored this Bill to screw us over.
At the present time Senate Bill 06-235 is currently sailing through the State Legislature. This Bill, sponsored by State Senator Paula Sandoval, and State Representative Marshall will increase the amount of money we will be paying into PERA. Starting in 2007, we shall all be paying an additional .5% increase from the current 8% level for the next six years. This will result in an incremental decrease in our pay by 3%.
The Bill also does away with automatic cost of living increases for PERA recipients, as it requires the annual COLA to be reviewed by the expanded PERA Board which will include 5 appointees of the Governor of Colorado.
The manner in which our retirement benefits will be determined has also been changed. While in the past employees' benefits were based upon the average salary of the highest 3 years of service, the new formula calls for our retirement to be based upon the lowest salary earned in the last four years. This Bill is the one that is being proposed by the Democrats. Governor Owens presently is opposing this legislation, as it just doesn't srew us over enough.
Just let me interject, here, a great big THANK YOU! WOOOOO HOOOO! High Five! Finally!! someone makes some sense of what's been going on with our wages and salaries! I am so grateful and feel like, now, I sort of have a shot at understanding what the deal is.
Thanks again. Whew!
Mr. Attridge, who wrote the letter, goes on to say,
I have enclosed a copy of the Labor Rights Amendment petition, and I am requesting you circulate it amongst your fellow employees, your friends and relatives. When passed, this Amendment, will, amongst other things, give public employees in Colorado the right to collectively bargain. It will give us the power to require the State Legislature to negotiate our salaries and benefit packages directly with us, and if they fail to come to an agreement with us then the matter would be resolved by a neutral third party arbitrator.
I have received the endorsement of the Colorado AFL-CIO and unions affiliated Colorado Change To Win to place the LRA on the ballot. In order to place this Amendment on the ballot, we shall have to collect 68,000 signatures on petitions by June 30th. Thanks to the financial support we have received from the IBEW and UFCW Local 7, we currently have over 6,000 petitions in circulation and we will have an additional 2,000 more out by the end of this month. If every member of this Local does their part, we should be able to gather at least 30,000 signatures. For those of us who work at the CDLE, I will be dropping off a package to each of you containing petitions, cover letters and envelopes for you to take home and stuff to help me with the final mailing.
Considering how the politicians on both sides of the isle continue to treat us like garbage, I think this is the logical course of action that we should take. If we don't pursue this action, I think we should just consider the option of dissolving the Local. I see no point in us continuing to pay 27 dollars a month so that useless union staff reps. at AFSCME Council 76 can attend political cocktail parties and dinners.
This letter is signed, Solidarity Forever, Jeremiah Michael Attridge.
Wow, Mr. Attridge...this is very exciting! This is an idea whose time has certainly come! We are pleased and grateful that you've put the facts together, understood the solution and are expending the energy to get this done. It's exactly what we need.
Since this was apparently mailed to union members, I think we should all seek out a union member and ask to sign this petition as it goes around. We should campaign for this measure and make sure that it gets on the ballot and then that it wins in the election. Then we can Collectively Bargain with our employer about wages. Without this, we're going to get nowhere...or somewhere only temporarily...this is a major long term fix. I'm excited. I think this is BIG NEWS!!
If you want to get ahold of the Colorado Labor Rights Coalition, you can email them at ColoLaborRights@aol.com or their phone is: 303-433-3138.
Just Darned Exciting! don't you think?
Comments since last post on Inspiration, Dead Horses, Treatment Failure!!, There's a Storm Coming....gosh, I think that's all...hope I haven't missed anybody! Great blogging, everyone!!
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