Six Meat Buffet » Blog Archive

Silly Socialists

February 28th, 2006 at 12:01 pm by Preston Taylor Holmes

The United Campus Workers – a University of Tennessee employees’ union – is demanding a $1,200 across-the-board raise from the state legislature.

“We feel like the principle (of last year’s effort) stands,” said UCW President Tom Smith. “We feel like it is the fairest way, currently, that raises should be done at the university, and we feel like it addresses one of the fundamental problems with pay on this campus.

“One of our members, she is 58 years old and makes $7.41 an hour working 40 hours a week. That is state-sponsored institutional poverty,” he said.

Among the things Smith fails to note, like so many of his fellow travelers, is that, in America, if you want to make more money, you simply improve your skills and get another job. I realize that takes a little effort and unionized employees aren’t big on effort, but maybe it’s something this poor woman should look into. Additionally, there is no mention of what this woman does for $7.41 and hour. Perhaps what she does isn’t even worth that.

This isn’t China, and no one is holding a gun to her head – well, other than the union.

Knowing full well that the rank-and-file class warfare vote is at stake, State Senator Tim Burchett jumped on the bandwagon quicker than John Edwards can channel the spirit of a dead infant.

More than 1,000 full-time UT Knoxville employees make less than $10.73 an hour, which is what the UT Faculty Senate contends is a living wage for a family of four here based on a study it did last year.

Last year the flat-raise bill, co-sponsored by state Rep. Harry Tindell, D-Knoxville, and state Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and others made it out of the education committee but didn’t get to the floor for a vote.

Instead, the Legislature passed a budget calling for a 3 percent raise for higher education employees. All UT employees, for the third straight year, got at least a $750 hike no matter how low their annual salary was.

“We’re going to run with it (the $1,200 flat-raise bill) again this year and just see what happens,” Burchett said. “These folks are such good people, and they just want their fair share and I’m trying to help them get it.”

“Their fair share.” Classic. Burchett has already proven that he can’t be trusted with the State’s affairs, and now he demonstrates that he’s willing to play the “living wage” card to curry the favor of the union vote.

Guess what, Tim. I’m good people too. How about giving back some of that tax surplus? I just want my fair share. Cuz I’m gooood people, Timmy.

Burchett is simply another example that – whether at the state or federal level – there is really no difference between the Republicans and the Donks. It’s all about grabbing political power and holding onto it, no matter the cost – and core values rarely – if ever – enter into the equation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2006 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Class Warfare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Silly Socialists”

Duncan Avatar Says:
March 1st, 2006 at 8:57 pm
And that is exactly why I have never joined the Republican party. Do I tend to vote Republican, yes. However, the very fact that sometimes, more often than not, I can’t tell the difference between the Dhimmicratic Party and the Repubs makes me worry. Third Party? I can only dream. Until there becomes a real push and popular support behinda 3rd party, a vote for them , whether Green vs. Libertarian, is really a vote for the opposition party. And I truly hate that.