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State legislators speak
at Staff Senate meeting
Two members of the state House of Representatives from Wake County told NC State's Staff Senate on Wednesday that they believe the climate is right for state employees to get a long-awaited pay raise next year.
Republican David Miner and Democrat Bernard Allen said the legislature reached an unprecedented level of cooperation this year, the economy appears to be improving, and tax revenues are starting to meet projections.
But there remains hundreds of different other groups also fighting for a share of the pie, so Miner and Allen stressed the importance of state employees standing up for themselves and speaking out.
"You have to have your message out there resonating in the House and the Senate," Miner said. "...The money is generally there to fund increases, but it's not going to be there to fund every increase, so you have to be able to emphasize the positive reasons why a particular program should be increased."
The Staff Senate is attempting to do just that. As one of its top priorities for the year, the senate set a goal of building direct relationships with members of the state legislature. Bringing in Miner and Allen to speak was a first step in that direction.
The senate is also working on a resolution specifically calling for the state legislature to fund a cost-of-living increase for state workers. It hopes to have both the Faculty Senate and Student Government also support the resolution.
Miner said that, despite what most people seem to think, such actions do have an impact.
"People believe that their voice does not count, that you have to have a lot of money, you've got to be a big contributor, you've got to be a political action committee, or you've got to be a Gucci-loafer lobbyist to get your word heard," he said. "I can tell you that's not true.
"I represent some 70,000 people, and if I get 5 or 10 e-mails from people in my district, I listen, because 99 percent of the people ... don't even take the time to vote, much less contact us. So if I get a resolution from the NC State Staff Senate, am I going to look at it? Absolutely. If you don't think those things make an impact, you're wrong. It is worth your time to do those things."
Allen suggested going one step further.
"Yes, I welcome that," he said of NC State resolutions. "But I would suggest to you that not just NC State, but every state institution in the state of North Carolina must come together as a voice. That way ... every member of the General Assembly will see that this association has some influence."
As an example, Allen pointed out that the salaries of the state's teachers languished until they organized and became active politically.
"Make no mistake, teacher salaries are where they are today because the association exerted a hell of a lot of influence on the outcome of an election," Allen said. "And that's how this game is played ... No one is going to do anything for you (just) because it's the right thing to do."
Posted October 10, 2003
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