Nebraska Association of Public Employees
  • Pre-Bargaining Conference Election Results

    The election results for those members nominated to attend the Pre-Bargaining Conference have been confirmed. Please click on the 'NEWS' section above to view the election results.

  • The Examiner news

    Who gains? Not us.
    August 8th, 2010 3:44 am
    By Jim Celer, Omaha Liberal Examiner

    The radio station that brings us Rush “I hope the President fails” Limbaugh, Glenn “the President is a racist” Beck and Michael “kicked off TV for homophobia but still allowed on our airwaves” Savage is leading the charge against increasing revenue to pay the city’s bills.

    Tom Becka, while claiming to merely be highlighting topics of local interest, has been advocating against the mayor since day One, peppering his Facebook profile with such “objective” statements as “Can the mayor negotiate in the city’s best interests if he’s buddy-buddy with the opposition?” That was in reference to the Mayor and his staff going to a bar frequented by fire fighters, and assumes the singularly unobjective notions that 1) the Mayor’s presence in a bar demonstrates solidarity with other patrons not in his own party; 2) being in proximity to firefighters signals a selling out of other citizens; and 3) firefighters and the rest of the city are in “opposition”.

    A group of businessmen is now running an ad urging defeat of the mayor’s budget. The group is called “The Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector”, and is headed by Dave Nabity, an insurance executive and – surprise! – sometime fill-in host on KFAB.

    The OAPS mission statement says “Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector is an Alliance formed to free the Private Sector from excessive government and put political power back in the hands of the people instead of the big-government special interest groups that are spending us out of control.”

    Okay, let’s cut the B.S. By “the private sector”, they do not mean you. “Private Sector”, in this case, means businesses and corporations. Whether or not your street lights stay on, or your home is protected, or your parks are clean and useful – not in the equation of this particular “private sector”. Allowing businesses and corporations to do what they want, without paying taxes or being accountable for their actions and practices – that is what “free the Private Sector from excessive government” means.

    Meanwhile, KFAB’s anti-Suttle campaign is just that – anti-Suttle, not pro-Omaha; it’s personal, not civic.

    What other conclusion is there? These people are not stupid. They know the Mayor doesn’t unilaterally write contracts, that there are agreements and laws and regulations that have to be honored. They know that his staff aren’t just looting the city treasury, that they took 8 unpaid furlough days last year an are facing the possibility of 12 next year, that their wages are frozen, that over 100 city workers were laid off last year. They keep attacking the mayor’s staff, but since they have to know the staff is making sacrifices too, their hostility must be personal.

    Because if all these people get their way – if instead of increasing revenue, the mayor cuts more city services – how in the world do you benefit?

    There will be police layoffs (a good sign: despite constant agitating against the police by the anti-Suttle forces, only 30 Omahans showed up at the forum, meaning we’re maybe not as worked up as the corporate powers are trying to make us appear).
    There could be repercussions like Colorado Springs enjoyed, with the removal of trash receptacles from parks, the extinguishing of street lights, the loss of whole police units.
    Hawaii “furloughed its schoolchildren” An Atlanta suburb eliminated bus service.
    This week, Flint, Michigan police realized they had a serial killer in their city: 13 dead so far. And Flint, with the 5th highest crime rate in the USA, just laid off 40 officers, and is likely to have to lay off 10 more.
    But, you know, no tax increase, so it's all good.

    It's fun to bash selfish lazy bureaucrats, sure. What we really should be asking, though, is this: Where are these so-called concerned community leaders taking us? There’s certainly nothing in it for us – what’s in it for them?

  • JOIN NAPE/AFSCME NOW!

    Please Contact NAPE Office and we will send you a membership application card to fill in. You may also fill out our contact form online and we will be in touch to start the registration process.
    Lincoln 486-3911
    Outside of Lincoln 800-522-6273
  • Contact Us

    Nebraska Association of Public Employees Employees/AFSCME Local 61
    5625 O Street Suite 10
    Lincoln NE 68510-2198
    Phone#: (402) 486-3911 or (800) 522-6273
    FAX#: (402) 486-3924
    www.NAPEAFSCME.org
  • Furloughs for Master Contract Covered State Employees

    July 18, 2010

    As many of you know, the Governor has mandated that the agencies implement a 2 day furlough for all NAPE covered employees. This will most likely be a struggle for many of you and your fellow co workers. I do believe that this is preferable to lay offs, in which very few state employees are ever called back to their previous positions, and those positions are lost forever. However, the Governor and the Legislature need to look at other streams of revenue. Continuing to cut is not the answer. This will not sustain us in the future. By them cutting your wages, it cuts the amount of tax revenue the state receives. Furthermore, if they implement it in the 24 hour facilities, those agencies would likely have to incur overtime costs. As of Saturday, the Governor finally came out and said that some agencies may not be able to do the furlough. I am glad they finally thought about that. We also have state employees whose positions are grant funded, or partially or fully federally funded. The media is reporting the saving to being anywhere from 3 ½ to 6 Million dollars.

    It is important that we talk to everyone about public services. As you talk to your co workers, friends, family and neighbors, stress the importance of public services, not just for your jobs, but more importantly for the citizens of the state of Nebraska. Unfortunately, as many of you know, this IS a loss of state services. We cannot afford to lose employees and the services you provide that: protect those with Developmental Disabilities; Maintain and plow our roads; guard our prisons; regulate and license nursing homes and other facilities and businesses; protect our children and our elderly; provide social services; take care of our Veterans; protect our wildlife and state parks; and a wealth of other services to Nebraskans.

    I know many of you rarely hear that you are appreciated, but the services you provide for this state are very important. NAPE/AFSCME truly appreciates all that you and other public employees do for the people of Nebraska.

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