Last Friday more than 250 UNC workers rallied to protest proposed cuts in this years pay raises. According to the Herald,
The rally, one of three coordinated by the State Employees Association of North Carolina, was held in response to recent legislative deliberations that would lower a proposed raise for state employees from $1,086 to $625...
"Everybody's upset," Tommy Griffin, chairman of UNC's Employee Forum, said Friday afternoon. "Everyone had pretty much come to terms with the $1,086."
Yesterday, the N&O reported that House Speaker Jim Black, Rep. Richard Morgan, and Senate Leader Marc Basnight "weeks after the 2004 session, and without disclosing their action" secretly restarted a program to provide an additional 2-3 percent in raises to legislative employees. This action was only discovered when the N&O reporter went over detailed individual pay records, a painstaking task.
Setting aside this latest example of business as usual for our legislative "leaders" (and setting aside how area liberals preen to think of the influence our own Joe Hackney has with these bozos), this action confirms that the legislature has been overall lax in keeping up the pay levels of state employees.
"It just illustrates that the powers that be down there know that the raises we've been getting are not good enough," said Sherry Melton, a State Employees Association of North Carolina spokeswoman. "It's not fair."
I hope SEANC will give orangepolitics a heads-up on future actions so we can express our solidarity with their efforts.
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