Corzine gave away store in union contracts

The state has finalized its deal with the unions. I cannot say I am surprised by the most generous contract terms the unions obtained from Gov. Corzine with very little negotiating on his part. The governor gave in on almost every point where he stated saving could and should be made. The retirement age is left at 55 for all current employees and will go to 60 for new hires. This will have very little impact on state budgets for years to come in fact, at least 25 years. It should be age 65 with reduced benefits at 62 for all employees.

Working for the state is not a very difficult job in most instances and why they should be able to retire at 55 after 25 years of service is far, far beyond me. I believe there are few, if any, instances of this in private industry, and where it exists, the companies are unionized companies and going broke just as our state is doing. The only difference is that the state will continue to increase taxes to pay worker's benefits while in private industry the companies will be laying off workers and going bankrupt. The great concession by the unions whereby they will now pay 1.5 percent of their salary toward health benefits and have co-pays and deductibles will, I am sure, cover very little of the actual cost. As a retiree, I am paying $1,122 ($93.50 per month), while an average state worker earning $50,000 would only pay $750. I am sure the state workers co-pay and deductible are far less than I pay under Medicare. Once retired, I know the state reimburses teachers for their Medicare premium. I assume this is also the case with state employees. This is rare in private industry. I would prefer the state medical plan and cost to that of my Medicare payments. As to pensions, what happened to the 401(k) plans for new employees or those with less than 10 years' service?

The governor cannot run the state and give out benefits as though he is still working at the Goldman Sachs cash cow where the average salary last year was $600,000 and benefits are most likely free for all employees. He did not work in the "real world" of private industry where wages and benefits had to be considered as part of an employee's salary in order to remain competitive. I am sure the governor feels the state is also a cash cow with an endless source of money from the taxpayers much like Goldman Sachs on Wall street.

The grand standing by Carla Katz was laughable, but perhaps she feels a 13 percent salary increase over 4 years with benefits basically unchanged is short changing the the CWA workers? I think not! Nice try Carla!

So much for tax relief and reform from this legislature and governor. They talked-the-talk but couldn't walk-the-walk. I can only see all our state and municipal taxes going up at 7-8 percent per year after the November elections or worse the sale of the turnpike and Parkway as one shot infusion on cash. The 20 percent rebate will be rapidly eaten up as the Swiss cheese 4 percent cap cannot hold water.

Frederick R. Wolke

Edison