...

 JB> GOV'S HY-PAY-CRISY
 JB> STAFFERS GET SECRET RAISES AMID 'FREEZE'

 JB> ALBANY - Gov. Paterson has secretly granted raises of as
 JB> much as 46 percent to more than a dozen staffers at a time
 JB> when he has asked 130,000 state workers to give up 3
 JB> percent pay hikes because of the state's fiscal crisis, The

 ...

 JB> Two of the raises were tied to publicly proclaimed
 JB> promotions - granted despite the supposed hiring freeze -
 JB> of some of Paterson's most important appointees,

 Promotions normally are not considered hires, and normally do
 include raises.

 JB> Paterson's top aide, William Cunningham, a one-time law
 JB> partner of the governor's father, Basil, saw his pay jump 5
 JB> percent to $178,500 - just $500 less than Paterson himself
 JB> - from $170,000 on Nov. 7, after he was promoted from a
 JB> temporary "acting" secretary to permanent.

 That sounds like a promotion to me.

 JB> Charlotte Hitchcock, one of Cunningham's deputies and a
 JB> personal friend of the governor's, received an $18,000, or
 JB> 11.25 percent, raise on Dec. 22. While a press release said
 JB> she was promoted from deputy secretary to "chief of staff"
 JB> and "director of financial regulation," it made no mention
 JB> of a higher salary.

 Sounds like a promotion to me.

 JB> Cassie Prugh, a confidential assistant, was given a 46
 JB> percent pay hike in late November, raising her annual
 JB> salary to $125,000 from $85,721, while Gaurav Vasisht, an
 JB> assistant counsel, received a 6 percent, $7,427 increase in
 JB> December, bringing his salary to $130,279.

 No mention of a promotion.

 JB> Paterson, in his budget proposal outlined in December,
 JB> demanded that state workers who belong to the Civil Service
 JB> Employees Association and the Public Employee Federation
 JB> forgo negotiated, 3 percent pay hikes that would kick in
 JB> April 1 or face massive layoffs.

 All of which seems reasonable, and it seems reasonable that the
 raises be also denied to management. Still one wonders, why the
 outcry by some on the right when the US govt demanded pay
 restrictions on corporate beneficiaries of govt assistance?

 If we even suggested restrictions on pay in the private sector
 it would be called class warfare. Yet it is that private sector
 that is crying for bailouts now.



BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... "Some days you just can`t get rid of a bomb!"
 * Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5a