Thousands of state employees face pay-raise deadline
Sep 5, 2012, 6:55 AM | Updated: 6:55 am
PHOENIX — Arizona state employees have two weeks to decide.
On Sept. 14, state workers who are covered by the state merit system can get a 5 percent pay raise, but they have to give up some of the employee protections that guard against them being disciplined or fired.
A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer said this will make the state workforce more flexible and nimble.
“It gives the state supervisor more flexibility to reward our best employees,” Matthew Benson said. “Likewise, it gives them more tools to discipline those employees who aren’t stacking up.”
But Roman Ullman of the Arizona Chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees calls the pay raise a bribe. Workers who want to report government wrongdoing will give up their security.
“If you represent the people, and there is corruption in government, it is your responsibility … in fact, the ethics call for you to reveal that scandal, to reveal those vibes, to reveal what the public officials are doing,” he said. “That’s what Jan Brewer does not want the state employees to do.”
Benson contends that whistleblowers will still be protected under the law.
