I hope law enforcement is not excluded from layoffs or wage freezes. The genius cops decided to perform a seat belt/ cell phone checkpoint during rush hour this morning. Traffic was tied up for so long. End this police state we are living in and let people live in peace and FREEDOM!

(republished from a Star ledger letter to editor)

The average state worker averages $50,000 . We work at prisons, developmental centers, psych hospitals, we handle motor vehicle issues, we protect the environment as well as the vulnerable children of this State. We go to work every day and we give the taxpayers an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. We are your neighbors, our children play together, they attend the same schools. We pay our taxes. We pay for our families health benefits. We contribute to our pension fund. We are good citizens of this State.

So why are we so despised, so maligned? Why are we stereotyped as greedy and lazy?

Is it comments and "stands" by our Union leadership that gets people angry? Well many times those comments get us angry also.

Is it a bad experience with a State department that has some angry? Well we don't make policy we just have to enforce it. To be honest some of the policies are outdated and plain silly.

Our political leaders are going to have to make some difficult fiscal choices in the coming months. Using us point of service state workers as scapegoats has become politically popular. I hope that we are judged on the work that we do for the taxpayers of this State and not on stereotypical rhetoric.

We are not rich and we are not lazy, and the overwhelming majority of us do the best we can to provide the services, you, the taxpayer demand. I simply ask that you judge the point of service state worker fairly.

Thanks.

FAIRNESS IS ALL ANYONE CAN ASK!

non-public employees who have lost their jobs or have had their incomes frozen through no fault of their own.

For them, seeing yearly raises from the public sector when their taxes are increasing is not a heart warmer.

The bad feelings people may have towards civil servants, is due to the fact that most civil servants feel they they shouldn't have to play by the same rules as employees at private, for profit corporations.

For example, private corporations don't consider sick time an "entitlement"; if you're sick, take it .. if not, you can't accumulate it and retire 2 years early.

And when a corporation isn't doing well, raises are eliminated or reduced; unionized civil servants fight that, until the other alternative becomes layoffs.

Recession has been targeting the regular employees to get laid off in their respective jbs.If you have just been laid off from your job, or expect that you will be laid off soon, you may be wondering how this will affect the health insurance coverage you get through your job, and what you should do to stay covered. They might be worrying about what would gonna be happening at home after telling it to family members.

In response to firstamend:

I have no doubt that most state workers are good people who try their best to do their jobs. But the public has a perception (rightfully so at times) of state workers. People judge by their personal experiences. Private sector workers cannot demand a raise in bad economic times. They cannot accrue years and years worth of sick time. Most private sector workers don't get a hearing to determine if they can keep their jobs if they screw up. They just get let go. And it makes the perception worse when you are standing in line to conduct business with a deparment with in the state and the worker behind the counter is dismissive, snotty or tries to talk over you.

I think State workers also need to remember that the taxes, fees, etc paid by the average taxpayer help to pay their salaries.

The perceptions may not be fair but neither is the taxpayer getting less bang for their hard earned buck.

That said our state workers are people too. They have families, obligations, etc. So maybe both sides need to do a better job of seeing the others point of view.