Public sector employees and teachers are mobilizing their brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and families. They are joining with fellow Mainers from Kittery to Fort Kent. They are not going to sit idly by and watch a lifetime of work go up in smoke with the stroke of a pen.

They are asking their State Senators and Representatives to oppose Governor LePage’s proposed two-year state budget, which would weaken the economic, health and retirement security of tens of thousands of Maine workers and retired workers. It would substantially diminish the employment benefits necessary to attract and retain Maine’s next generation of workers.

The conversations that are happening between public workers and teachers and legislators are respectful, informed discussions about how Maine workers and retired workers deserve to be treated. They are discussions about how public services are best delivered with the highest level of accountability in Maine. It’s so important that our State Senators and State Representatives hear that all Maine workers deserve to be treated fairly and with respect, and that the State of Maine has a special obligation to keep its promises to retired workers.

It’s also very important for state legislators to hear that public workers deliver public services at great value to Maine people. A state-commissioned labor market survey recently documented that state workers are paid hourly wages lower than private sector wages for comparable work. Public workers are also held absolutely accountable, both to the public and to the Governor, for their work. Over the coming weeks, Maine legislators will be hearing this message. 

Our time is now if we want our voice to be heard in this budget. It’s urgent that ALL public workers and teachers contact their legislators immediately. The Governor’s proposed state budget contains many unfair proposals harming the wage and benefit package of our members, both currently working and retired:

• freezing cost of living adjustments to state and teacher retirees’ pensions for three years
• imposing a 2-percent cap on subsequent cost-of-living adjustments to state and teacher retirees’ pensions effective Jan. 2, 2014
• requiring state workers and teachers to contribute an additional 2 percent of their pay toward their retirement, without the state making any commensurate increase in pensions whatsoever
• prohibiting merit increases or longevity pay for state workers for the next two fiscal years, from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2013
• forcing anyone who retires after Jan. 1, 2012, to pay the full costs of their retiree health insurance until they reach age 65
• imposing tiered retiree health benefits for workers hired after July 1, 2001 - Those with 10-15 years of service would pay 50 percent of their retiree premiums; those with 15-20 years or service would pay 25 percent of their premiums; those with 20 or more years of service would get their full premiums paid by the state
• imposing premium increases of up to 4 percent per year starting July 1, 2013 for active and retired employees
• increasing the retirement age to 65 for new hires and those workers not currently vested in the retirement system
• flat funding the State Employee Health Plan, which would force changes in the plan design
• creating a streamlining initiative, similar to a productivity task force, charged with cutting General Fund expenses by $25 million.

To be sure, the Governor’s proposal is the start of the budget-approval process. In the coming days, weeks and months, legislative hearings will be scheduled on the proposed state budget, on proposals relating to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, on numerous legislative initiatives designed to harm public workers and retirees, and on legislative proposals that would diminish quality public services in Maine.

The Appropriations Committee will ultimately make funding decisions not only about the proposed budget but also about how to responsibly address the unfunded actuarial liability to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System. These issues are vitally important to all Maine people, however right now the solutions being proposed are detrimental to only one subset of Maine taxpayers – public workers and teachers. This is simply unfair.