“Why in the world do THEY need a union? they’re running things as it is!”
It seems they were being underwritten by Federal Grants until that money dried up.
Oct. 27, 2008 “Amy Menzel works two jobs: She is an assistant district attorney prosecuting domestic violence cases in Outagamie County and, to make ends meet, she waits tables at an Olive Garden restaurant in Appleton.
“The sad part is that I make more money waitressing,” she said. “Hour for hour, dollar for dollar, I make more money as a waitress.”
Menzel graduated from Marquette Law School in 2006 with $125,000 in student loans and was hired as an assistant district attorney in February 2007, making $48,000 a year. At age 27, she is questioning whether she can afford to make a career of prosecuting.
“If money wasn’t an issue, I would love to stay here,” she said.
She is not alone. Frustrated by stagnant pay and burgeoning workloads, assistant state prosecutors are quitting in droves. And cuts in state spending, combined with disappearing federal grants, have forced layoffs - with more expected to come.
[snip]
The union claims pay has driven the turnover and that the failure of the office to negotiate has damaged the state’s entire prosecutorial program.
“We are ready to go back to the bargaining table anytime,” said Jennifer Donnelly, director of the state office.
“There are really two issues here,” said Catharine D. White, who is president of the prosecutor’s union and an assistant district attorney for Shawano and Menominee counties.
“The first, we need to stop the bleeding. We need to keep the people we have (by increasing salaries).”
When White tries to explain the predicament to her clients, many of whom make much less than the average district attorney, she offers a quick lesson in market economics.
Most of the best lawyers go where they can earn the most money, she explains.
[snip]
One source of help for district attorneys across the state has been federal grants to expand their staffs. Most notable has been the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. In December, the grant’s fiscal-year 2008 funding was slashed from $520 million to $170 million.
This loss of federal grant money, Chisholm said, means the potential loss of 10 or 12 assistant district attorneys positions in his office by spring. .....
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/33422524.html
By all means, all 27 yo folks should make 6 figures...I think it's in the Constitution and is a "right."
This is a sign of very bad budget practices. If you can't align your personnel numbers within a reasonably expected tax revenue, but figure to use grants to fill any budget shortage then you're an idiot.