what's better - paying a lot in overtime or hiring another person and paying twice the amount in retirement benefits?

Option 3: Providing necessary services to the unfortunate people in our community without siphoning tens of millions of dollars out of the economy every year.

Option 4: Privatize! Especially if we're talking laundry here. At least the laundry service if not the whole hospital. There are hospitals and laundry service in the private sector don't you know.

This is the way of government. For years the Boston Globe has published a list of the highest paid cops. It is always a patroman in the $250,000 range. This is made possible by "work rules". If you work any portion of a detail, you are paid the entire amount.

Is that possible here, or are they really working 60 hour weeks? as mentioned above, frequently "overtime pay" is cheaper than another employee. Also mentioned is the probable economics of "privatization". By the by, that works out to an hourly rate of about $18.00 an hour, seems high for laundry work.

This is the way of government. For years the Boston Globe has published a list of the highest paid cops. It is always a patroman in the $250,000 range. This is made possible by "work rules". If you work any portion of a detail, you are paid the entire amount.

Is that possible here, or are they really working 60 hour weeks? as mentioned above, frequently "overtime pay" is cheaper than another employee. Also mentioned is the probable economics of "privatization". By the by, that works out to an hourly rate of about $18.00 an hour, seems high for laundry work.

The cops get a minimum for showing up on details because jobs cancel at the last minute or don't take the full 4 hours. If they're just working overtime contiguous to their regular shift it would be time and a half multiplied by the actual hours worked. It would be interesting to see if there are such minimums at the hospital and for what circumstances would they need them.

By the way, Projo did the same expose by town of the highest paid employees and the cops and firemen were always at the top. They were referred to as the 100K club.

False dichotomy, Tom. See Parkinson's Law - the amount of work expands to fill the time allowed for it. Unlimited overtime for extra work is like Parkinson's law on steroids - the incentives are all aligned in the wrong direction. Even if it did cost more to hire more people, there are also serious public perception problems to consider. Nurses and firemen should not be earning six figures simply because it erodes public trust and empathy between the public and private workforces.

"Option 4: Privatize!"

Gaack!!! Smelling salts!

--- RI's Public Union Leaders

/irony

Contracting for these services is the only answer. NOT like they've contracted for the child care placement, with "private" companies made up of former state workers who don't know how to do anything but spend as they please and come back with their hand out saying "we couldn't do it for the contract price, give us millions more".

Imagine all the jobs that could be created by contracting with private parties to run Eleanor Slater and the laundry.

Sigh. If only my parents hadn't guided me towards a career in technology... I could be making significantly more money doing laundry at the prison complex.