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OSPRI POSTS ALL STATE EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS ON TRANSPARENCY TRAIN
August 25, 2009
Providence, RI - Today, the Ocean State Policy Research Institute announced that it has obtained all of the State's collective bargaining agreements and posted these contracts on the RI Data website (www.ridata.org), which is a subdivision of OSPRI's larger Transparency Train project (www.transparencytrain.org).
"Yesterday, Governor Carcieri announced that he will shut government down for 12 days because, quite simply, we can't afford to pay the employees," said OSPRI President and Founder William Felkner. "Exposing the employee contracts and the outrageously generous compensation they receive should garner him the public support necessary to end these ridiculous seniority based contracts. So, we are very encouraged to have the State cooperating with our efforts to promote transparency in this way." Public sector contracts rarely allow the administration to manage their employees, which is in part accomplished by motivating them with financial compensation. Public sector contracts grant compensation based on seniority so the best employee and the worst employee are paid the same. And these payments are normally much more generous than the average taxpayer understands. "When taxpayers read in the paper that teachers, police or firefighters received a 2 or 3 percent raise, they are being misled," Felkner explained. "The real increase of compensation, what most of us consider a "raise," includes steps, longevity and stipends, all of which can total more than 20 percent of the base salary. And State employees are no exception." Within the 35 contracts published, you will find longevity bonuses ranging from 5 to 20 percent and additional payments in the form of stipends paid to employees who take continuing education or who hold specific certifications (often paid for by the taxpayers). These stipends can be in the thousands of dollars and all of these payments are in addition to the reported "raise." And we shouldn't forget that the pensions are also far more generous than in the private sector. "During an economy when most people are just happy to have a job, public sector employees insist on receiving compensation and benefits that far exceed that found in the private sector. Court reporters, laborers, or physicians; it doesn't seem to matter what skills or education the employee has, public employee contracts grant compensation based on seniority rather than merit," said Felkner. "In my opinion, paying employees based on time on the job rather than performance is antithetical to the American culture." "So, at a time when the Governor struggles to reduce spending," said Felkner. "I think it's important for taxpayers to be able to see the State's public employee contracts that their tax dollars are funding. And when our leaders stand up to the unions and end these unrealistic benefits, hopefully the taxpayers will stand behind them acknowledging that they won't pay for this special treatment any longer." To see the State employee contracts visit the RI Data section of the Transparency Train website and select "Statewide" and "Contracts" in the drop down menus. "I would also suggest that before the town managers and mayors complain about revenue cuts they should visit our website, too," Felkner continued. "Because double digit raises and gold plated benefits are in the municipal budgets as well, which we have also posted on the Transparency Train."
The Transparency Train project, which is based on a central website, www.transprarencytrain.org, includes a variety of web portals that all focus on government transparency. RI Data, one subdivision of the Transparency Train, is a searchable database of budgets, payrolls, check registers, and public employee contracts for cities, towns, school districts, and the state government. About OSPRI: Created in 2007, our work is focused on crafting sound public policy based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values. We offer timely research and analysis on important issues to be shared with elected officials, the media, business leaders, community organizations and individual citizens. In recent months, we have been responsible for such successful projects as the Transparency Train, a public financial and legislative information repository, as well as regular updates published and available on our website and companion blog. About The Transparency Train: The Transparency Train Web Portal (www.transparencytrain.org) provides access to a variety of websites designed to present public information in a Google-style searchable format. These sites include: . RI Data: contains every budget, payroll, public employee contract and monthly check register for all cities, towns and school districts in Rhode Island . RI Votes: an online database of legislation and voting records . LRB Watch: analysis and information on the State Labor Relations Board. . RI Schools: an interactive website that allows viewers to create comparative graphs of school districts plotting various metrics such as cost per student, test scores and the number of employees (coming soon) . Take Action: a "how-to" manual that shows citizens how to file Freedom Of Information Act requests for public information and what to do if they don't comply ###
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