[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter] Public employees tend to be the most qualified employees in their respective fields. Of course they expect to be compensated for it.[/quote]
Public employees may look qualified on paper, but are they hardworking and productive? No. Why not? Because they are protected by work rules that don’t work them that hard.
I’m not necessarily saying public employees should work harder but I’ll never believe they are more productive than similar private sector workers.
Let me give you two examples:
You can do most DMV paperwork at AAA instead of DMV. The AAA employees are more pleasant because they try to sell you insurance services by making appointments for their agents.
Go to DMV and you get grumpy old hags who are difficult.
AAA used to process vehicle paperwork for friends and family of members as a courtesy. But now, they will only process paperwork for members. Why? Because AAA has a contract with DMV that stipulates so; and DMV audits them. DMV audits them because if AAA processes paperwork for everybody, DMV might as well outsource all their work.
My cousin retired to South Florida. She’s very well qualified and wanted to volunteer at the library. She’s cheerful and upbeat and would do a great job for free.
The library claims that they need help and want volunteers, but they really don’t because they want to protect their jobs. They would rather have shorter library hours than take volunteers who might “steal” their jobs. So they erect roadblocks, etc… It’s not about public service.
Another thing, fire departments used to be volunteer in many parts of the country. But now, you need certification this and that for “safety”. Of course, for the certifications, it takes years of work and kissing ass to the right people. It’s 90% bull.
Personally, I’d rather have less safety and have a volunteer fire department nearly free of charge to the taxpayers.[/quote]
While I agree that some employees are kept on when they shouldn’t be, bad employees DO get fired.
That being said, most public employees are exceptionally good workers, and are very dilligent when it comes to their jobs. The reason: they don’t want to lose their benefits. You have no idea how powerful a tool those benefits are when it comes to the public sector. Take them away, and you’ll see high turnover rates (which I’ve explained before will break any govt employer before any “pension crisis” will), and a far less motivated workforce.
FWIW, my mom was a volunteer librarian and never met any of the resistance you’ve mentioned here.
We get into the “volunteer firefighter” discussion in this thread on pages 7-9.
