I am a civil servant; I work for the state of New Jersey and I am a member of a Union. I have always been grateful that I am part of a bargaining unit, that I have a say in my benefits, my future. I always knew that I could make more money going into the private sector, but I felt staying in my state job gave me security and helped me provide for my children.
Lately there is so much bashing of state workers, like we sleep on the job while making a million dollars a year. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Let me tell you what it is like to be a Social Servant.
I graduated from Fordham University with Honors with a Masters in Social Work. I started out as a social worker for a local county agency, covered by the state civil service system. I was responsible for monitoring people released from State Mental Health Institutions who were placed in boarding homes. One case comes to mind. There was a woman who not only suffered from a mental illness, she had a serious heart condition. Without her psychotropic medications and her heart medications, she would die. Her Physician called me one day to report the boarding home operator had canceled several appointments and by his calculation she was now out of all her medications. I, being young and idealistic, drove out to the boarding home to see her. I must state that this was back in 1980..no cell phones..no "911". When I arrived at the boarding home I was met with the operator's husband holding a sawed off shot gun in his hand. At first he refused to let me in, but being young and idealistic, I pushed past him and insisted he unlock the boarding home door. He did as I asked and I was horrified to see the lady in question lying naked, covered with feces on the floor. I grabbed the boarding home phone,while the husband holding the gun screamed at me how the lady was a "b----". I called her doctor and he asked me if I could to get her into my car and transport her to the local emergency room; I said I would. I went to her room only to find her clothes were covered in feces. I cleaned her up the best I could, borrowed someone else's clothes and drove her to the emergency room. She almost died; she was in Intensive Care for several weeks. Eventually she recovered and went to live in a wonderful boarding home. This is just one of the hundreds of situations I have dealt with over the past 30 years. If I wanted to make money I would have gone into business or been a corporate lawyer..but I didn't. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable, most exploited people. I am not a villain; I am not a bad person. I am a dedicated worker!
I now supervise Case Managers and I am in awe of their dedication to their work. They work through their lunch hours. They donate goods to those who are in need. I had a Case Manager who actually made a Christmas celebration happen for one of his families in need. All of them on their own time, without any monetary compensation.
The state workers I know are selfless, dedicated, caring and devoted workers. They give far more than they get...they do not twiddle their thumbs, they work hard! The assault on state workers is not deserved; we did not make the decision not to contribute to our pension, we have contributed towards our health benefits and pension. It was politicians who decided they didn't have to contribute towards the pension system, going back to Christie Whitman.
We are not the "pork"!
We are not to blame for the current state of affairs in the state of New Jersey. We are working hard towards resolving problems...not creating them!
Lately there is so much bashing of state workers, like we sleep on the job while making a million dollars a year. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Let me tell you what it is like to be a Social Servant.
I graduated from Fordham University with Honors with a Masters in Social Work. I started out as a social worker for a local county agency, covered by the state civil service system. I was responsible for monitoring people released from State Mental Health Institutions who were placed in boarding homes. One case comes to mind. There was a woman who not only suffered from a mental illness, she had a serious heart condition. Without her psychotropic medications and her heart medications, she would die. Her Physician called me one day to report the boarding home operator had canceled several appointments and by his calculation she was now out of all her medications. I, being young and idealistic, drove out to the boarding home to see her. I must state that this was back in 1980..no cell phones..no "911". When I arrived at the boarding home I was met with the operator's husband holding a sawed off shot gun in his hand. At first he refused to let me in, but being young and idealistic, I pushed past him and insisted he unlock the boarding home door. He did as I asked and I was horrified to see the lady in question lying naked, covered with feces on the floor. I grabbed the boarding home phone,while the husband holding the gun screamed at me how the lady was a "b----". I called her doctor and he asked me if I could to get her into my car and transport her to the local emergency room; I said I would. I went to her room only to find her clothes were covered in feces. I cleaned her up the best I could, borrowed someone else's clothes and drove her to the emergency room. She almost died; she was in Intensive Care for several weeks. Eventually she recovered and went to live in a wonderful boarding home. This is just one of the hundreds of situations I have dealt with over the past 30 years. If I wanted to make money I would have gone into business or been a corporate lawyer..but I didn't. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable, most exploited people. I am not a villain; I am not a bad person. I am a dedicated worker!
I now supervise Case Managers and I am in awe of their dedication to their work. They work through their lunch hours. They donate goods to those who are in need. I had a Case Manager who actually made a Christmas celebration happen for one of his families in need. All of them on their own time, without any monetary compensation.
The state workers I know are selfless, dedicated, caring and devoted workers. They give far more than they get...they do not twiddle their thumbs, they work hard! The assault on state workers is not deserved; we did not make the decision not to contribute to our pension, we have contributed towards our health benefits and pension. It was politicians who decided they didn't have to contribute towards the pension system, going back to Christie Whitman.
We are not the "pork"!
We are not to blame for the current state of affairs in the state of New Jersey. We are working hard towards resolving problems...not creating them!
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