`I’m not a conedropper, O.K.?’
By ddepledge
Many of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s Republican critics have been circulating a video of a frank exchange between the governor and several nurses from Maui Memorial Medical Center after an event at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center this month.
The nurses were the only unit in the Hawaii Government Employees Association to reject a new contract with a 5 percent pay cut, nine extra days off a year with pay, and a 50-50 split in health insurance premiums.
The public-worker nurses believe they are underpaid compared to their counterparts in the private sector. The contract dispute with the state could be headed toward binding arbitration.
Abercrombie asked the nurses why they and other public workers did not come before the state Legislature to support his pension tax, soda tax, and elimination of Medicare Part B reimbursements for retired public workers and their spouses, which he said could have provided more money to pay public workers.
While Abercrombie’s critics have seized on his tax comments, the most revealing part of the video comes at the end, when one of the nurses haughtily explains to the governor that she is no ordinary public worker.
Nurse: I’m not a conedropper, O.K.?
I’m not a conedropper, and I’m not a janitor, and I’m not a clerk. Even though those jobs are important, if that conedropper comes into my ER, I’m going to save their life for 34 percent less than what is out there.
And we’re talking benefits, too. Your benefit package. Your premiums. Your medical …
Abercrombie: Maybe that’s why they didn’t go down to the Legislature and work for you, because maybe the conedroppers and the clerks and so on thought that that’s what you think of them.
And so they didn’t show up for you.
Political Radar
May 20th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Thanks for th video. I came away from it with a different view than you. I did not view the nurse’s comments as “haughty.” She had been explaining how the use of travelling nurses is costing the state more than if they just raised the salaries of the regular nurses and Neil just wasn’t hearing her.
Neil had to STRETCH to offer an example of how “we” are calling for “shared sacrifice” from someone other than working people. He said “we are asking the oil companies to sacrifice,” is refers to an attempt by the Obama administration to eliminate billions of tax credits going to the oil companies. But can he cite an example of how the local Democrats are seeking some sacrifice from the corporations and the rich here in Hawaii?
He keeps talking about how he is willing to “share” some of the sacrifice” by subjecting his pension to taxes. How tone-deaf can he be? His pension(s) are a heckuva lot higher than those of most retirees.
I give the nurses credit. They are warning Abercrombie that they will leave for greener pastures, just as some teachers and cops have, if all he has to offer them is a guilt tripping admonition that they need to sacrifice more.
May 21st, 2011 at 12:33 am
I would like the words of Kolea entered into the records as if they were my own. My sentiments exactly.
May 21st, 2011 at 1:20 am
Well I hope for his sake he doesn’t have to get medical treatment at a state hospital. He is a goner if thats the case.
May 21st, 2011 at 1:31 am
The janitor will still mop the floors and throw out the trash for the nurse even though she thinks she is better than the janitor.
The clerk will continue to maintain records for the nurse even though she thinks she is better than the clerk.
That is the same attitude that most people have had in this budget situation – they want someone else to sacrifice so that they don’t have to.
If nurses wanted higher pay, they would have left a long time ago. They stayed because either they didn’t want to move from Maui, they like the benefits, or they can’t get hired anywhere else.
May 21st, 2011 at 6:31 am
ElGuapo..you are an idiot!! The nurse’s took a bold stand to fight for their rights and were the only bargaining unit within HGEA to vote down the Governor’s proposal. I have no friends, family etc..working as a private nurse or nurse in state hospitals but these nurses are waaaaaay underpaid working in deplorable conditions and for the Gov. to ask that the nurse’s share in the sacrifice is a reflection of just how stupid the public is when he has double pensions and benefits from serving in Congress…the Governor speaks with a fork tongue and double speaks and yet, its people like you, el guapo, that voted for the Governor and cannot see through his political deception .. The governor came out with his political platform called “a new day in Hawaii”..yeah, right…a new day in political deception never seen before from an aging old man that belongs or should retire in a senior home….he is disgusting but you get what you vote for.
May 21st, 2011 at 10:40 am
Nurses are highly trained and in great demand. Janitors are neither. They perform important duties that nevertheless can be performed by many others, just like Abercrombie.
May 21st, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Governor Abercrombie tells the nurses why didn’t they come to the legislature and ask them to take away money from retiree’s so that he can use it for pay increases for present employees. What an idiot he is.
He continues to grow government and asked for an 8 million dollar increase in his budget. He says that AARP is only for the insurance companies and not for the senior citizens. I don’t have to buy any insurance from AARP if I don’t want to but I am glad they are representing seniors against this one term governor who is trying to take away benefits that were promised to me prior to being employed by the state . If you don’t have money, cut the spending.
May 21st, 2011 at 4:38 pm
More like coneheads. Let them learn how to care first then earn more pay. Union or not they should earn their pay. I see many who should not even be Nurses. Some should learn how to communicate in a language I can understand. Stick a needle in that.
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:34 pm
El Guapo,
If you listen to Neil’s point in context, it is actually pretty sad. He says: “Maybe that’s why they didn’t go down to the Legislature and work for you.”
What the heck does THAT mean?
At what point were rank and file “conedroppers and clerks” expected to show up at the Capitol in support of nurses? Was there a hearing on nurse compensation that I missed? There WAS an event on April 4th where union members and others opposed to draconian budget cuts rallied in the rotunda. There were surely “clerks” present, maybe even “conedroppers.” They expressed solidarity towards each other, though the target of the rally was not clear. Abercrombie inserted himself into the program at the end, waving his union card and leaving the organizers scratching their heads.
From the exchange, it is clear what REALLY upsets Neil is that the conedroppers and clerks did not support HIS proposal to tax the pensions, end the Medicare reimbursements for retirees and tax the sodas. Using the logic he employed against the nurses, maybe they didn’t come out for his proposals because they know he looks down on them?
Neil is capable of being a great Governor. But he will have t overcome his bullheaded refusal to listen to people outside of his TINY inner circle. Those nurses overwhelmingly voted for him, as did the retirees whose pensions he wants to tax and upon whom he wants to shift more medical costs. His stumbling, incoherent messaging, despite the occasion nod to rhetoric of “labor solidarity” and “shared sacrifice,” suggest he cares more about the interests of the Hawaii Venture Capitalists than Hawaii’s working and middle class families.
He CAN turn this around, but there is a big chunk of his own personality which is standing in the way. After years of toiling in the political process, his career is headed towards a tragic end.
Hey, I’m a strong advocate for worker solidarity, but it is perverse for Neil to chastize the nurse’s for wanting a better deal.
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:51 pm
I’m an idiot? So what is your point?
So what is your solution? Should he have pushed for higher taxes or fees in some other area in order to find the money to pay the nurses? Should he have cut some other services instead? Maybe HHSC should be run more efficiently? He and the Legislature could obviously do a much better job, but what exactly do you want to see?
If a friend working in the private sector took a stand because they felt that they are being treated like crap and didn’t get what they wanted, what then? Would you tell your friend to keep fighting, or would you tell your friend, screw your employer, find someone else who appreciates what you do and will compensate you fairly? Nurses on Oahu have more choices if they want to continue working in a hospital, not much choice for a nurse on Maui, but that’s the decision they have to make – stay or move. But if you work for government, don’t complain about the money because that is the trade-off for the benefits later on.
And this will hurt in the short run, but a mass exodus of nurses might be exactly what is needed to get Neil’s attention.
May 22nd, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Hey Kolea,
I did try to listen to the whole thing, it’s hard to hear exactly what is said at certain points.
The entire situation is messed up, and it is really sad. But to me it’s really sad to act as though you are more important than others. Yes, the nurses probably are more important, but it isn’t a very nice thing to say. Of course everyone wants a better deal, but right now, what can you do?
May 23rd, 2011 at 2:40 pm
They don’t like it? They don’t see the state wasted so much kala over the years that, yes, state workers — yes, ALL state workers — must help to correct? They wanna leave? Frakkin’ leave, then! I can’t think of a better place for the cream of the crop of recent nursing graduates to have a few years experience to get them to the next level. Nursing students across the nation, too? Have the chance of gaining experience . . . in HAWAII? Yep. Bad deal.
Maybe Abercrombie can create a program to cater to something like that and fire all of the current dissatisfied nurses right now. Good way to save on paying all those post-job state benefits which, oops, no, surely these nurses didn’t intend on procuring in deciding to work for the state. Nah.
May 23rd, 2011 at 4:36 pm
So the Hawaii budget crisis is the fault of underpayed nurses? Makes about as much sense as Michigan Governor Scott Walker blaming Wisconsin school teacher’s for the Wisconsin budget shortfall.
Republicans hate unions as an abridgment of the “liberty” of business owners to pay as low a wage as possible. I get it. Republicans hate public sector unions because they have been able to resist the de-unionization pressures of the private sector and because they tend to vote for Democrats who believe in maintaining public services. I get that, too.
BTW, we could have the SAME conversation about the pay and benefits for cops, but that would create a different discussion because most Republicans don’t have the guts to badmouth cops when they lament their low pay and warn they might emigrate to other municipalities which offer more money.
Hawaii (and Wisconsin, etc.) DOES face a fiscal crisis. There is the immediate crisis, caused by the collapse of the financial market and the underlying real estate bubble. That crisis affects all states, whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans, with high unionization rates or low ones.
We have to figure out a fair, equitable solution to the crisis which also puts people back to work. Neil’s SLOGAN: “Shared Sacrifice,” is exactly right. But that is words. The actual implementation of his vision puts him on the same side as Chicken Grease and other rightwingers.
Where is the “sacrifice” being asked from the corporations, from the venture capitalists, from the more affluent? Nah, more easy to tax the kid drinking soda pop. Tax the pensions of retired folks. And tell the unhappy nurses to “Move if you don’t like it.”
There would have been a lot more votes from HGEA members against the contract had members not misunderstood the “most favored nation” clause. The nurses only voted what a lot of other members were thinking. They have guts and I expect a lot of “conedroppers” and “clerks” are rooting for them from the sidelines.
May 23rd, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Where were they, then? Abercrombie is right. And that the “conedroopers and clerks” weren’t there shows exactly why unions aren’t really unified. Where were they to support their fellow nurse-unioners? Abercrombie is right. Where were they to support their fellow nurse-unioners? Other unionites are there to support unioners who go on strike when the former ain’t striking. So, why not across the board? Abercrombie is right.
Get off my planet, unions.
May 23rd, 2011 at 9:37 pm
You wanna know where those non- state worker/union-ite sacrifice came from (yes, offered long ago) . . . go find it in gov’ment’s frivolous use of our tax dollars over decades of misuse. Now YOU pay for it, unions and state gov’ment; you never thought you had to do your share? Well, here it is, so start helping.
Heh, right-winger. If you only knew.
May 29th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Actually one is not an idiot but a genious.