Freezing workers' wages won't solve city's woes
10/3/2005
The City of Buffalo is under a control board that has seen fit to freeze wages for its civil-service workers. For those of us employed by the city and the school district, that wage freeze is affecting individuals who make up a considerable portion of the economic force in this area.
Spiraling upward prices of gas (at the pump and for home heating), food, clothing, taxes and fees are eating away at what little disposable income is left. We are all feeling the crunch of doing more with less, stressing out to the point of becoming physically ill and going home at the end of the day wondering where the incentive is to report to work tomorrow.
Having been forced to a single health care provider has added fuel to the fire. The jury is still out regarding hidden out-of-pocket expenses for those of us now under the new plan. This forced action begs the question: Whatever happened to negotiation, a term that infers give and take? Sound economics tells us that competition is a healthy thing, pandering to a monopoly is not.
Does the control board really think that financially strangling civil service employees is the answer to this city's woes?
Ann P. Rossiter
Grand Island