Injury rates for sanitation workers outstrip harm done even to cops and firefighters. The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks refuse and recyclable materials collection as the nation's fourth most dangerous job, exceeded only by commercial fishing, logging and plane piloting. Like Rodney Dangerfield's everyman, they get no respect.
Many new state workers — ranging from teachers to police officers to street cleaners — will retire with fewer retirement benefits than their current counterparts. Since 2009, faced with ballooning bills and strained budgets, 45 states have either cut pension benefits or increased mandatory employee retirement plan contributions, or both.
The AFL-CIO expects 22 states to consider restrictions to the bargaining process, such as preventing particular types of government employees from joining bargaining units, this year.
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