Random News Items

[FrostyWinnipeg]

1 hour ago, Jacquie said:

" The business plan that we’re doing is a holistic approach..."

Woodsmoke and sweetgrass. I can't believe I didn't think of that before.

[The Unknown Poster]

Hmmmm

 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/d-arcys-arc-animal-rescue-break-in-1.4118504?cmp=rss

[iHeart]

and another FOX News Anchor goes down in flames

 

http://tvline.com/2017/05/19/bob-beckel-fired-fox-news-the-five-statement/

[FrostyWinnipeg]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/mlb/la-sp-lasorda-dodgers-hospital-20170520-story.html

[Fatty Liver]

 

[The Unknown Poster]

42 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

 

Yikes!

[FrostyWinnipeg]

http://wkrg.com/2017/05/20/drunk-man-passes-out-on-trunk-takes-dangerous-interstate-ride/

[Atomic]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Yikes!

I mean.... after the sea lion nipped at her once... why turn your back on it and sit within reach... come on!  People can be so dumb.  She's just a kid but the parents should know better.

[blueandgoldguy]

Police officers are easily some of the most overpaid "professionsals" in the workforce today.  Considering how much of the work they do is rather mundane and unnecessary (ie. handing out speeding tickets at various speed traps across the city, getting OT for attending court when people who have been given tickets for ticky-tack things like decals on their windshield have decided to challenge them) and very few run into dangerous situations on a regular basis, the wages are absolutely ridiculous.  $100,000 after 5 years?!  Ridiculous pensions too!  The arbitration system is a big culprit in all of this.

People complain about lack of money for proper infrastructure in this city and province and the ongoing deficits.  The police(mostly) and to a lesser extent, teachers and firefighters' runaway salaries and pensions are the biggest factors gobbling up vast quantities of tax revenues - their salary increases over-and-above the rate of inflation seemingly year after year.  There needs to be either a) salary freeze for a few years or b)1-2% increases in line with the inflation rate.

 

 We also should be reducing the hours and size of the police force if anything as crime rates are much lower than they were two decades ago.  Don't mention that to the Winnipeg police union though - I'm sure if you asked them crime is at an all-time high and the kids are running wild.  Gotta go now and catch the next speeder in a 50 km/hr zone!lol

[Brandon]

If we had a proper justice system they wouldn't have so many officers working so many hours.

The re-offenders tie up so much resources.

If the bad people were locked away in a terrible place for a longer period of time then the amount of police officers running around re catching the same guys would reduce big time.

It is not uncommon for the police to re arrest and waste time on a single person over twenty times.

[Mark H.]

6 hours ago, blueandgoldguy said:

People complain about lack of money for proper infrastructure in this city and province and the ongoing deficits.  The police(mostly) and to a lesser extent, teachers and firefighters' runaway salaries and pensions are the biggest factors gobbling up vast quantities of tax revenues - their salary increases over-and-above the rate of inflation seemingly year after year.  There needs to be either a) salary freeze for a few years or b)1-2% increases in line with the inflation rate.

Do you have actual numbers for the police?

The last two teacher contracts averaged a 2.25% increase per year, which covered a period of 8 years. That isn't very much more than the rate of inflation.

The next increase for all public workers has already been legislated - 1.75% over 4 years.

Yep, they should be able to start fixing the streets any day now...

[Mark H.]

4 hours ago, Brandon said:

If we had a proper justice system they wouldn't have so many officers working so many hours.

The re-offenders tie up so much resources.

If the bad people were locked away in a terrible place for a longer period of time then the amount of police officers running around re catching the same guys would reduce big time.

It is not uncommon for the police to re arrest and waste time on a single person over twenty times.

Even more common is the belief that tougher sentencing and more jails will solve any of that 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

10 hours ago, blueandgoldguy said:

Police officers are easily some of the most overpaid "professionals" in the workforce today.

Up there with those firefighters!

[Brandon]

11 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Even more common is the belief that tougher sentencing and more jails will solve any of that 

It would solve a lot of it,   you can't cause ten crime sprees while behind bars.  

Also did you know that once someone has a record,   they really don't care about paying $25 dollar fines for selling drugs and having to promise to stay away from drugs/weapons and to not stay out late.     

The punishment for red light cameras ,  driving in the bus lane and rolling a stop sign are way more severe then most punishments given out to people with real crimes.   

If only you knew what the average "punishment" is it would make you sick to your stomach. 

[nate007]

13 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Do you have actual numbers for the police?

The last two teacher contracts averaged a 2.25% increase per year, which covered a period of 8 years. That isn't very much more than the rate of inflation.

The next increase for all public workers has already been legislated - 1.75% over 4 years.

Yep, they should be able to start fixing the streets any day now...

My problem with looking at current raises is that you have to put them into context with past raises. If you consistently give someone raises that are above the rate of inflation, not only will they eventually end up with salaries that are well above the average worker whose wage only rose with inflation during that time, but you'll also create expectations for those increases to continue in perpetuity. In the case of police officers and fire fighters, the arbitration problem is well documented. But other public-sector jobs? In the case of teachers, you can compare their salaries against teachers in other provinces, but also against non-unionized teachers in private schools, and against the thousands of Education grads out there who can't find teaching jobs.

Then you've also got the many people in the public sector whose titles don't fall into the 'professional' categories. People with words like 'clerk', 'co-ordinator', 'technician', or 'analyst' in their job titles, all of whom make 10-20% more than they would for similar roles in the private sector (I am one of them, and would probably have to take about a 10k pay cut to move to the private sector). Then there's the fact that in many cases, these wage increases apply to everyone at the same rate, which further compounds the problem. A 2% raise to a clerk making $40,000 is $800, but that same 2% gives an analyst making $80,000 a $1,600 raise. Compound that over ten or 20 years, and you've got a massive difference between those at the top and bottom of the same union contract.

In reality, you could probably freeze the wages of all public sector workers for about ten year before they even came close to the salaries of their private sector counterparts. Toss in the benefits, DB pensions, lack of accountability/performance standards, and (by comparison to the private sector) the vast majority of public sector workers have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Edited May 22, 2017 by nate007

[FrostyWinnipeg]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/plain-bicycle-project-dutch-bikes-1.4126582

 

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[The Unknown Poster]

awful 

[JCon]

21 hours ago, nate007 said:

Then you've also got the many people in the public sector whose titles don't fall into the 'professional' categories. People with words like 'clerk', 'co-ordinator', 'technician', or 'analyst' in their job titles, all of whom make 10-20% more than they would for similar roles in the private sector (I am one of them, and would probably have to take about a 10k pay cut to move to the private sector). Then there's the fact that in many cases, these wage increases apply to everyone at the same rate, which further compounds the problem. A 2% raise to a clerk making $40,000 is $800, but that same 2% gives an analyst making $80,000 a $1,600 raise. Compound that over ten or 20 years, and you've got a massive difference between those at the top and bottom of the same union contract.

Interesting. Comparatively, in my line of business, the private sector pays at least 20% more. Makes it near impossible to attract staff, never mind quality staff.

Non-professionals are over-compensated, I agree.

[nate007]

2 hours ago, JCon said:

Interesting. Comparatively, in my line of business, the private sector pays at least 20% more. Makes it near impossible to attract staff, never mind quality staff.

Non-professionals are over-compensated, I agree.

I don't have much experience in these fields to make comparisons, but it seems like the ceiling is much higher for engineers, lawyers, and IT professionals in the private sector.

[JCon]

Just now, nate007 said:

I don't have much experience in these fields to make comparisons, but it seems like the ceiling is much higher for engineers, lawyers, and IT professionals in the private sector.

I would say IT professionals are well, well, paid in the public sector. There were crazy bumps getting geared up for Y2K (remember that?) and they've kept up the pace. I know that they don't have any challenges attracting qualified staff for the wages and benefits they pay. Also, fixed workweek, is a bonus.

[SpeedFlex27]

Funny, blueandgoldguy (who happens to thinks cops & firefighters are overpaid) would be the first one running away from the Manchester Arena in terror. While the first responders of police, firefighters & paramedics would be running inside or towards the danger area putting their lives in danger to save him & others like him. The critics like him never talk about that.

Edited May 23, 2017 by SpeedFlex27

[The Unknown Poster]

37 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Funny, blueandgoldguy (who happens to thinks cops & firefighters are overpaid) would be the first one running away from the Manchester Arena in terror. While the first responders of police, firefighters & paramedics would be running inside or towards the danger area putting their lives in danger to save him & others like him. The critics like him never talk about that.

I dont think that's fair.  If the job of the police is to run into life and death situations on a continually basis, how much pay is too much?  Shouldn't they be paid $1 million?  But that's the the life of a police officer.  As others have pointed out, it can be a very mundane thing with lots of tasks more suited to a clerk.

No one is criticizing the bravery or heroism of police, many of whom are just that - brave and heroic.   However, the idea of paying those people a salary commiserate with the most dangerous task they have is simply not sustainable.  And while brave and heroic are commendable traits, for most officers, you dont need to be a genius.  That was the original point.  You could be an average student, graduate high school and become a police officer making $100,000 after 5 years.  We're not talking astronauts where I imagine many aspects of the job are very mundane and boring but also have instances of extreme danger...and you also have to be a genius (give or take).

Again, no one is critical of the bravery of police officers.  And keep in mind, as those young people were running from the scene, dont pretend that the only people running in to help were officers, medics and fire fighters.  Many brave and heroic people ALWAYS step up in times like that to help others...and they dont do it because they're paid to.

[nate007]

43 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Funny, blueandgoldguy (who happens to thinks cops & firefighters are overpaid) would be the first one running away from the Manchester Arena in terror. While the first responders of police, firefighters & paramedics would be running inside or towards the danger area putting their lives in danger to save him & others like him. The critics like him never talk about that.

That is an absolutely valid point, but what about the officers who are paid under the same union contract, making the same wage, who never see those dangers because they work in the communications department, or the traffic division. 

When my property taxes continue to go up 5-8% per year, you can't fault me for asking if there is a different way to deliver these services.