I am on Disability and I got 2 percent!!! I dont have the ability to work longer or change jobs. My heat add gas costs the same as theirs!!! Let them try it once!!

Its not only inflation that state jobs have not keeped up with. They have not keeped up with the private sector as well. I have talked to people in the private sector that do the same job as I do. They start over what I get after 10yrs.

For years we have given up good pay increases to keep benefits. The Legislators wanted us to pay more like the private sector does. We gave in to help the state. My guestion is if state employees pay like private sector why can't they get paided like them also? The state also has no health care for the retired.

Don't take me wrong. I like my job. And I like working for the people of wisconsin. We do all we can to give the people a good value and take care of state owned property. After all we pay taxes too. It just gets old justifying your pay and job to politicans who see you as a caues of all state trubles.

It is well known that here in Wisconsin, wages and salaries have not kept up with inflation for a long time. That doesn't stop the state from increasing spending by more than the inflation rate. Property taxes are also on the increase as well.
Civil servant jobs are protected by unions and laws that make it difficult to dismiss unneeded or incompetent employees.
A lot of the inflation rate is caused by health care cost increases that are 3 to 5 times greater that the overall inflation rate. State employees have great health insurance and do not generally bear these extra costs.
I am in favor of higher raises based on merit, but as a general wage increase, 5% over 3 years seems fair to me.

I agree, the State Employees I know have not even kept with inflation over the recent 5 to 10 years, maybe longer. They deserve to have at least a 5% raise as their wages have not kept up the rate of inflation, which means they have been getting pay cuts. When you look at the cost of living over the past 5 to 10 years, the employees that I am familiar with have been getting 1% TO 2% per year while the cost of living has generally been 3% per year and no, I am not a State employee.

Perhaps now they will settle the County's contract. They've been working 2 years without one.
As for the private sector versus the public sector, if you don't like your job, then find another one.
The county's insurance coverage has large deductibles and only pays 75% after the deductible. You aren't guaranteed any retirement, and there's no insurance after you retire.

This would be a great benefit to all the citizens of Wisconsin if it goes through. As a state employee, I have yet to get a raise that covers the annual 3+% cost of living increase. The old joke about state employees is that they get paid to do practically nothing because the union is so protective. I take great pride in my job, and I assure you that we all work very hard to take care of our friends, neighbors, and families here in Wisconsin. It's time we get some of the respect we so rightly deserve. Unforturnately, a 2% per year increase is about all we can hope for. When adding in inflation, rising healthcare costs, and rising gas prices, we're really losing money. But, at the same time, some is better than none, I guess.

Let's see. Here in the private sector, some of us are lucky to even get enough of a raise to cover the increase in the cost of living (including our taxes). Most of us don't have unions and therefore no clauses that let us retire at a certain age or after so many years with sufficient health insurance benefits and pension until SS and Medicare kick in, and therefore we can't afford to quit or retire, either. We realize that there aren't enough state employees to get the job done (ex: DMV), which adversely affects us all, but neither are there enough employees at most of the places in the private sector, either, whether it's service, retail, mfg., etc. And if you're salaried in the private sector, they've got you as many hours as they can make you, or they'll get the next guy.

Nice headline. They make it sound like it is 5% a year. Show me a state employee that makes $50k a year. Not many. 2% will not cover inflation, the cost of my parking increase, or ins. increase.

I will say it is one of the best offers I have seen in my 10yrs.+. What can you do when the media and elected officals make you out to be the cause of all the states problems. It would be nice if state employee union members got the same respect that other union members get. The state needs to start taking care of it employees before they none left. Only the ones who can't afford to retire.