I was at an event for my daughter a few weeks ago and had an opportunity to speak with another parent about what’s been going on in Albany. We agreed that the state is in a financial mess and that our government leaders do everything except lead. The conversation quickly turned sour when he said the biggest problem is public employees. I was told that we are overpaid and underworked, our benefits and our pensions are too generous, and we have it better than our private-sector counterparts. Then he attacked our unions: Unions aren’t sacrificing like everyone else and they protect bad employees.

I wish I had a camera when I told him I was an officer in a public employees union and a state worker. Priceless!

When it was my turn to respond, I said: First of all, we do work hard. Public workers teach our kids, take care of the sick, put out fires, protect our families and property, fix our roads, take us to the hospital, pull us from car wrecks, protect our environment, and so on.

As for being paid too much, I reminded him that we also pay taxes and generally our salaries are lower than private-sector salaries for the same work. The lower salaries are offset by the deferred compensation (pension) we receive. I also said salaries need to be fairly competitive, otherwise no one would want to work in the public sector. Sure, we have good benefits, but shouldn’t everyone have access to quality health care? Instead of beating up public workers for what they have, we should work together so everyone can have equitable salaries and quality health care.

I went on to tell him that even though his workplace isn’t unionized, the benefits he enjoys are directly related to unions. Employers know they have to give their employees some of the benefits in order to keep them from unionizing. I reminded him that management can unilaterally take away any or all of his benefits if he doesn’t have a union contract. Maybe organizing is the answer and not the problem. With a union, he and his working sisters and brothers can negotiate better terms and conditions of employment. After all, that’s what unions do.

Here’s what I asked him:

Do you like having weekends off? Thank the unions.

Do you like a 40-hour workweek? Thank the unions.

Do you like overtime? Thank the unions.

Do you like the eight-hour workday? Thank the unions.

Do you like paid vacation and sick days? Thank the unions.

Do you like safe working conditions? Thank the unions.

Do you like paid holidays? Thank the unions.

Do you like health insurance? Thank the unions.

I’m growing tired of the argument that unions protect bad employees. Unions guarantee due process, not lifetime job security. Workers are sometimes targeted for dismissal for no other reason than their boss doesn’t like them. Shouldn’t they have a chance to argue their side, rather than face immediate dismissal at the whim of their managers?

I’m also tired of hearing how public employees should share in the pain. Public employees are not responsible for the economic downturn. Wall Street is. Yet, public employees are continually threatened with givebacks, furloughs, lag pay and layoffs. We have become the scapegoats for the bad economy.

I’m not sure if I changed his mind about public employees and their unions, but it sure felt good to state our case. Enough is enough. We must tell people that we, as public employees, are important to the health and well being of the state and its citizens.