Just got off the phone with Tom Swan, head of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group.
We spoke a bit about the state of public sector unions in Connecticut post-ratification revote for a Labor Day piece I’m writing.
Swan said he hopes citizens appreciate the effort of municipal and state workers to prepare for and get things cleaned-up in the aftermath of Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Irene.
“I think moments like we’ve just experienced from Irene remind us all of the importance of a strong and vibrant public sector for those times we all need to pull together in the broader community,” Swan said. “I think most felt whether cleaning up the roads or helping to move debris, shelters opening up in schools, for the most part the public sector responded in a swift and effective manner.”
Thanks David…comment #24…it’s important to point to the positive
…I an “evil union employees” (oh horrors)..and I was shocked..(10 years ago) when we picked up cases (in Waterbury)…trying to drive through city streets after snow was like driving through a jig-saw puzzle..what a MESS! Never knew I had it so good in Danbury until I saw THAT! I also see people going WAY above and beyond in my job to help people every day..NOT as paid employees but volunteers..YES..for daily needs,every holiday, for school, camps, birthdays,..you NAME it..and out of pocket, (which some workers don’t have but just do it anyway)..NOT “OT”..making up work without pay because of delivering items during the day to the needy..working with churches (we have an amazing network with churches in Danbury).. I’m not saying “every” employee, but I am truly humbled. I AM grateful to our municipal employees for cleaning the streets. Thank you! I am very proud of Danbury..small enough that several people know who I am by my “name” “shhh..please!” but big enough that we have parents making $1000′s for SOS (Freshman Sports).(An example)..and Danbury’s kids..in their 1st year of track made it to the Junior Olympics? WOW!!! Our DHS Marching Band practiced for 12 hours per day? Wow! Our students attend BOE meetings and speak up? WOW!! We DO have it good here. Make it better. Our kids work hard and we have good people in our community. Mayor Boughton said in an Eagle Scout ceremony last year that Danbury has more Eagle Scouts than other towns..(guess he chats with other mayors?) and they have done a TON of community improvements worth MAJOR$$$. More adult involvement is needed…even if your kids are raised..so take your opinionated selves and let’s make it better. Quiturbitchin’ and guide with positive encouragement…every where you go…
Actually, David, I want to stop paying union employees $100,000 a year (net w/ benifits) to clean up sticks. I’d rather hire 2 times the amount of workers and pay them $50,000 a year to clean up sticks.
If you think that anyone here is claiming that we should have a complete absence of a public sector then you’re missing the point of these posts.
If we keep paying state and municipal workers more than their labor is worth – we can hire less of them and it will keep more sticks on the street for longer.
Going on 96 hours w/out power, and most of the roads are still not totally passable requiring re routing just to go a few miles. Town crews out but NOT ONE utility truck in 3 plus days…absolute joke!
Most of you miss the point of the original post — which is that it’s times like this that remind us that it’s worth paying taxes to keep a public sector strong and able enough to get us out of crisis. If we keep cutting state and municipal workers, we’ll have debris-covered roads longer etc etc.
How about the tree sitting in the middle Route 58 in Easton. Undoubtedly, the State of Connecticut is so underfunded that they don’t have a saw.
Well, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I am definitely not bowing down to any of the state workers or municipality employees who are SUPPOSEDLY working round the clock to restore power, clean up debris, and remove trees.
For the amount of taxes we pay in CT, we don’t need to be saying thank you and praising these people. IT’S THEIR JOB……they are getting paid generously in overtime.
I’ve even heard from CT Public Works employees as well as outsourced contractors removing trees that they’re trying to stretch this as long as possible. YOU KNOW WHY…..double time and a half on this Labor Day Weekend. It’s absolutely ridiculous for anyone to be without power for a week or more. CT had plenty of time to prepare for “Hurricane” Irene, which was conveniently enough downgraded to a “tropical storm” in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Long enough to send everyone into panic mode and crowd the stores and buy everything off the shelves, including every generator in the state. Way to boost the economy Malloy.
My power was finally restored after 2 days. That was after half the units in my condo complex got power back the day before and every neighbor across the street had power too. During that time and even now, I still have seen barely any trucks in the streets.
CT is a joke
I live in East Norwalk, I have full power never lost it – but I did get 3 feet of long island sound in my basement. MY parents do not have power – they took me out to dinner in New Haven last nite, as I was driving home from New Haven to Norwalk last nite via the merrit south to the route 8 connector to 95, about 4 to 5 miles long from the merrit to 95. I saw 5 state troopers. One was stopped at a barricade to get on route 8 south which was necessary. (as I had to reroute to connect to route 8 north one exit to go back south from the merrit). I saw 4 cops sitting on the side of Route 8 South waiting to catch people speeding. Hey Malloy, I got an idea for you why don’ you get these state troopers off of the highway in a national emergency and have them stop giving speeding tickets for 30 minutes – and have them help out the town/city cops and utility workers around the fallen debris. You know more man power on the emergencies with the down poles, no traffic lights? I know they have to make their quota but just a suggestion on how to efficiently navigate manpower.
Seriously? I had my chain saw out on Sunday afternoon clearing my driveway and the street in our neighborhood (no wires down). The town won’t even be out in the next 6 weeks to clean up the rest…
Dose of truth you must be a public sector employee or a family member(s) are. This can only come from someone who is offended by the true comments that affect them directly. Yes, I was taught manners and am courteous and respectful when it is deemed appropriate…but, with this situation I cannot say thank you to anyone that has done nothing..what the h**l am I thanking them for…my power has been out for 4 1/2 days and you want me to thank these people? You must be kidding me.
In response to the comments so far, Poe’s Law, look it up.
Wires still across the road near 170 Oronoque Road in Milford. Where are these guys? The tree crew removed the trees on Monday, haven’t seen any power trucks there to fix the wires that remain across the road. The road is blocked too, the wires are laying right across it. If these public sector guys are so good, why haven’t they made this road passable yet?
Dose of Truth: You are an idiot.
Hooray!!! I thought I was the only one that saw the UI workers sitting in that damn parking lot in Shelton. I live in a condo and half the units have power and half don’t. The houses across the street have power, the bank on my corner has power….we do not…UI keeps telling us that we are on a circuit with 364 other customers and there is no time for restoration the website has crashed, the phone lines are jammed and they are all sitting in a parking lot. I will never say thank you to a UI worker who is milking the overtime and nothing is getting done…whether this is their job or not they suck at it!!!!!!!!!!
Actually “Dose of the truth” you’d have to clip my fingers off one by one to get me to apply for a Government job because I actually like to work hard for my money and earn kudos for going ABOVE AND BEYOND my job duties. You sound like a typical shill for the “entitlement generation” who expects to live off the taxpayers dime and not work hard for it. Give me a break. You are in the very, VERY small minority in this state…must be a member of Malloy’s administration.
You say THANK YOU to people doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Seeing trucks sitting there and even seeing pictures of crew’s napping in commuter lots does not want us to say “Thank You”…I think it would be more like something with “you” at the end, but THANK isn’t the first word.
Wow I guess your parents never taught you people manners. You should always say thank you to people doing their jobs. Chances are the person doing the work didn’t make the decision on when to fix your problem, you should be mad at the bosses in charge and not the grunt. Also because you people were not smart enough to get a government or union job doesn’t mean you should take your bitterness for your own failures out on the gov’t/ Union worker
Funny how no one is coming out supporting this article…maybe because we’re sick of hearing how “valuable” overpaid, entitlement-cursed public employees are. Thanking them for the job they are paid to do is about the DUMBEST thing I’ve ever heard. If they did their jobs faster, more efficiently and effectively, then I’d say “Thanks and job well done.” As for most on the government/taxpayer dime (with the exception of most of the Military), they won’t move a muscle beyond what is in their job description because they won’t suffer any consequences because of it. It’s in that I’m proud to be a private employee and have to actually earn every dime I have.
Hooray, you did your job, Congratulations.
with so many people still in the dark and surrounded by water or trees, now is probably not the time to taunt people with your sarcastic title.
Luckily, the people who don’t have electricity will not see or be able to respond to this – cause you’d get flamed back to Hartford with their comments.
When does doing the job you’re paid for become a such a grandiose undertaking?
In Shelton there has been a tree across Park Ave (connects 108 to Soundview) since Sunday and none of these wonderful union workers have been around, there is another huge branch hanging over another road resting on a power cable, could come down at any minute, since Sunday. Traffic lights are out and no police to direct traffic in sight.
People dont take union public sector jobs because theyre hard workers, quite the contrary.
All of this BS about preparedness is just that…BS. UI is doing little to speed up the restoration process, and I have yet to see a UI truck anywhere.
To UI its just about profit. To these union public sector workers its just plain laziness and incompetence. And now everybody is experiencing it first-hand.
Maybe instead of being a reporter you should consider another line of work, maybe be a union PR rep?
Agree with above postings!!!! Shelton has 42% without power and all we’ve seen is UI trucks, Lewis Tree Service Trucks and UI van in a parking lot on Bridgeport Ave in Shelton sitting there and coach buses lined up to transport them to their hotels for nite. We’ve been out since Sunday and haven’t seen any progress. Thanks for nothing and if your looking for kudos on the great job you not done so far….don’t look at Shelton residents. But, i’m sure you’ll pass that rate hike right onto us shortly to pay all the overtime for doing nothing. GET US POWER!!!!!!!!!!
Same here PaulVM, except we’re in Milford.
Havent seen a Milford truck, UI truck, or CL&P truck at all. ive driven a little bit around town (city? whatever the heck we think we are) and even on Boston post rd didnt see any.
Pardon me if Im also not jumping for joy, while Im on my 3rd day with no power and not a UI or Milford truck in site to take out the limb that its threatening to rip down the poles and wires between them about halfway up my street…..although I guess if the poles and limb land in the middle of the street (making it impassable), all of the public sector workers written about in this article will immediately mobilize to come clear it out of our way?
Yeah, not holding my breath on that one.
Really? Because from what I’ve seen there isn’t ANYTHING being done by the so called unionized workers from the state or the power companies. I haven’t seen one truck, one public works truck, nada, nothing in Stratford since Sunday doing anything. So, sorry if we’re not jumping for joy and bowing to the mighty altar of public employees right now. Imagine if Irene was a strong hurricane…we’d be in deeper trouble than we are now.
Union/State workers get paid by the hour, so why wouldn’t they milk the jobs for all the OT they can get. Instead, pay them by successful job completion. I guarantee the power would have come on all the faster and the debris cleared all the sooner. But nooo, the lazy public employees will bilk us for all we’re worth.
This I find hillarious. Why do we have to thank you for doing your job? We (taxpayers) pay a lot of money for you to go pick up sticks from streets. I could drive down Albany avenue, fill up a school bus of unemployed youth, and have them pick up sticks at about 1/10 of the cost per person. However, here in CT, unions rule, and their benifit packages are more important than taxpayer money. How many other people do you know that make $100,000 a year (net compensation) to pick up sticks?
Face it – you get paid to do your job. Don’t come out to the media fishing for compliments.
Definitely appreciate the government services, just don’t understand why some of the positions couldn’t be staffed by contractors.
Are you kidding me?
Preparing for and cleaning up after a hurricane?
That’s their job for god’s sake, their friggin job!
Openning up schools etc. for use as shelters or for showers?
The people all payed outrageous taxes to build and maintain those facilities!
You act as if the town and state workers were doing it all for free, and not on O.T.
You act as if the government leaders were letting us into their own homes to take a shower and sleep on a cot.
Those public facilities are all owned by the people!
The sense of Imperial power by public servants never ends.
Give me a break! The “effort of municipal and state workers.” Those people have been hired to do a job and should be thankful that they have one. So what if they put in some overtime hours that they are handsomely compensated for. My average work week is over 50 hours and every hour over 40 that I put in reduces my hourly rate. Everyone needs to quite complaining and grow up.