HAWAIITALKS!

No furloughs. Now what? Apparently Lingle might move to layoffs instead of furloughs. If some court rules against it, would a tax hike be next in line? I hope I don't get laid off.

Judge's ruling halts Lingle's plan to furlough state workers | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

whoah. according to Lingle, it was either furloughs or layoffs. i think we'll see layoffs. how much are the top state workers are being paid? do you think they could get by with just $35k ~ $40k a year salary? how about Lingle and other top workers taking off 10% and giving it to the lower wage workers?

yup. it'll never happen. but these ideas do make for interesting conversation, does it not?

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My thoughts posted at FH

heh, a while back I was wondering why the unions all filed their cases separately and on separate days. Now I know why.... They all got assigned different judges, so they picked the most liberal, socialist judge that they could that would be sympathetic to their cause.

Smart move used to win, but I hope they all choke on their own bullshit. The more this shit drags on, the more the general public's opinion will turn against them.

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If they really wanted to show that they're the "better man" than dingle, they'd have accepted the paycut, but reject the furlough. Basically making a similar sacrifice in salary that the rest of Hawaii is making, and working hard to avoid any disruptions of services. Then when bargaining comes around again, and perhaps the economy recovers, they will be in a significantly stronger position, both with the gov., legislatures, and the general public. It would be suicide NOT to reverse the paycut.

Of course, the state workers & unions are still in "entitlement mentality". Some things never change. I really hope they all get FUXXED, the unions, the union workers, everyone. Some good workers might get taken out, but FUK EM. The general public is tired of this bullshit. Disruption of services? Education suffers? FUK IT, ALL BURN IN HELL....

^interesting. thanks for sharing.
i didn't know about the separate filings on separate days.

i'll be discussing this with someone who has a legal background. i'd like to get another opinion of how this works. truly diabolical... hmm. perhaps i've missed my calling in the legal profession. heh heh. j/k

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I saw your postings over there, and in one thread the "against-furlough" group out-numbered the common-sense group. Yup, screw-em. Start the layoffs...off with their heads!!!(well, actually...off with their tails!!! because aint no heads gonna get laid-off) Hopefully the laid-off workers come back and haunt the unions/leaders. Employed union workers vs. Unemployed union workers. Might be the beginning of the unions downfall.

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Fire everyone. The FAA Fired all the striking Air Traffic Controllers in the 1970's and life went one and the people that were fired regretted the decision of striking and thinking they was irreplaceable.


Lots of people looking for jobs with skill at this moment.

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Why not? at least you get paid unemployment to sit on your butt for a while; that's way better than a 3 day furlough.

With all the taxes increases we've already seen this month, I don't think it would be wise for the gov to set more.

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Actually I'm not even sure if it has to be separate days, as long as the thing is filed sep[arately. If you do find out more, and I am wrong in my assumption, please correct my error.

So what's next? The unions win and there will be layoffs. We should cut welfare already.

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Furlough would be a better way to go. The average state worker will lose about $300 a month according to my calculations which in return would be an average of $200 or so in take home pay a month. Having a 32hour, 24 hour or 16 hour work week is nothing new if it would keep all members in their union working. They also should have on their own part brought a package up to governor a long time ago because everyone knew there was going to be a shortfall in the budget and she was intentially hinting towards fuloughs months before this happened.

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I know some state workers that thought it was a good idea! They wanted to have 3 day weekends. But these workers are set already, not struggling familes.

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do you really mean "people who know how to live within their means"? just curious.

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don't get me wrong, I'd want to sit on my ass all day and do nothing, but ideally, I'd want to actually earn the money I'm living on.

Is there any update(s) on the furloughs and/or layoffs? I haven't heard much as of late.

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- dingle says unions should come up with formal proposal in writing.
- dingle says waiting for sakamoto's final ruling to decide whether to appeal
- dingle warns about layoffs.

You are a rare breed my friend. Maybe you should talk to your coworkers without consciences.

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Here's an update

the state workers (2floors worth, so that equals about 3 private sector employees) didn't show up to work Friday... Saturday... Sunday.... I think maybe 10 or so cars out of a 100 showed up today... I figure they are next to closed.

our shop(private sector) closed Saturday (1 of 5 days in the year, yes we are open 360days a year)

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sum up productivity and ability to service folks?

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and LOL @ unions
can't say anything on the record huh...
wise up and don't BS... well you're probaly past your last chance anyway

I hope to be laughing my ass off by this Friday, its no ones fault but their own. Figure it out or don't. Its like everyday is gonna be a state holiday for you, minus the paycheck of course

heres a 3rd grade tip
biz scales its size based on demand and budget

If you're union and don't get it, ask yourself this..
And what happened to the budget?

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It's a win-win for the scums who put us in this mess to begin with.

i.e. The Union Leadership, exec state workers, politicians, etc, etc...

Lose-Lose for the rest of us, tax payers, and lower level state workers.

I'd rather see a furlough + layoff + union contract renegotiation + tell the arbitrators to fcuk off (no more arbitration.)

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Maybe they should try a different angle like not paying people on state/federal holidays. Seems like every week or two there's a state/federal holiday. Not sure if that's possible if paid holidays are already in their contract though. This state has way too many frckn holidays.

P.S. I'm not anti-holiday, just anti-TRAFFIC-that-comes-with-the-holiday.

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i always noticed less traffic when there were state holidays

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I'd really want them to settle it soon. I'm concerned with how this is going to affect me financially since I'm dependent on most of my pay check. I'm pissed that our union didn't come up with a plan. Even if it was a low-ball sh!tty one, they should have come up with something.

That's because everybody comes to my area, those bastids.

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I'm guessing they don't want to give up any ground. That's typical union-action. They're gonna foot-drag as long as possible, knowing that the longer they take, the longer it'll take before anything actually happens. From what I understand, if the governor decides to go with layoffs effective immediately, not only would they have to research what areas/divisions to make the cuts, but it still won't actually happen for 90-days. So the longer the union takes, the better it is for their members...as well as themselves.

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Here's my take, and it may not be the most popular one (and please, correct me if I'm wrong):

1. I say layoff before they start raiding stuff like the hurricane/rainy day fund to cover the shortfall. Don't screw with everyone else's tax money to save some asses. What happens when the day comes when Hawaii sees another Iniki or Iwa? Ooops, we took the money, doh!

2. Ditto the layoffs before they try to raid the ERS again. They did it before, and did not pay back a cent of what they took. Don't screw with MY retirement money to save some asses.

3. The union guys, by rejecting the furloughs, threw the non-union workers under the proverbial "bus." The non-union workers are the ones who are going to get canned and not the union guys since Sakamoto rejected Lingle's plan. I forsee the layoffs coming, as there's no other way to make up enough money.

4. The politicians had some nerve taking their 3X.XX% raise last year, especially with the economy in the dump. Brickwood had some stones to go on the news and justify their raise, when everyone else was taking paycuts, etc. Paycuts should go from top to bottom and be inclusive, not the other way around. Although denial of their raise wouldn't even dent the deficit, it's still a slap in the face from the guys/gals deciding the state's future.

5. I forsee a raise in the GE tax again, as well as property taxes.