STOP THE LIES: 60 MINUTES REPORT HARDLY FAIR AND BALENCED

Washington, DC — On the December 19 edition  of 60 Minutes, Steve Kroft’s segment correctly noted that many of our state and local governments are struggling to close looming budget gaps. But his one-sided report failed to identify the root causes of this crisis, or barely recognize the sacrifices that public employees have made to help address these deficits since our financial system nearly collapsed more than two years ago.

During these difficult times, public employees have helped bring budgets back into balance by sacrificing pay and benefits. However, the 60 Minutes report relied too heavily on testimony by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie which falsely blamed public employees and unions for the fiscal challenges that have arisen because of the irresponsible behavior of Wall Street and Christie’s predecessors.

Gerald W. McEntee, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), had this to say:

“Chris Christie is more interested in scoring political points than solving state and local budget challenges and getting the economy moving. The fact is, hundreds of thousands of public employees, just like private sector employees, have been laid off and taken pay and benefit cuts – even as Wall Street executives lined their pockets with taxpayer money and took home huge bonuses."

Additionally, Steve Kroft’s report noted that the pension problem stems from the fact that politicians did not contribute to their pension funds.

Contrary to what Christie would have Americans believe, public employee pensions are not the problem. The average pension for an AFSCME member is just $19,000, and eighty percent of this comes from investment returns and contributions by the employees themselves. The challenge can be met if state and local governments, began contributing just 1.5 percent more of their budgets toward their pension funds in the years ahead.

The long term solution to state and local fiscal challenges is a robust economy – one that is creating jobs and replenishing tax revenue. Christie’s chest-beating decision to scuttle 6,000 new jobs to build a needed tunnel between New Jersey and New York shows that he’s more interested in scoring political points and flaunting a national platform for a possible presidental run in 2012.

CSEA and all public employees stand ready to help state and local governments get through our current economic crisis. But to suggest that we, hard working public employees, have not sacrificed is a complete fabrication.  We will not allow politicians like Chris Christie blame the economic problems of our states and our country on working and middle class Americans.  Period.  For more information about the Stop The Lies campaign, you can go here.

AFSCME’s 1.6 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations – from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers – AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families.  CSEA is New York State AFSCME Local 1000, representing nearly 300,000 workers in the Empire State.