Detroit Has No Horses But Pays $56K for Horseshoer — Union Boss Says It‘s ’Not Possible’ to Eliminate Positions
- Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:20pm by
Jason Howerton
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(Source: Michigan Capitol Confidential)
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) pays a “horseshoer” $29,245 in salary and roughly $27,000 in benefits. There’s only one problem — Detroit has no horses for the horseshoer to shoe.
Some critics argue that the department has been turned into some sort of a government jobs program. Meanwhile, the local union president says it is “not possible” to eliminate positions, the Michigan Capitol Confidential reports.
The horseshoer’s job description, which was last updated in 1967 (Lyndon B. Johnson was president), is “to shoe horses and to do general blacksmith work… and to preform related work as required,” according to the department’s website.
With a large amount of debt, DWSD has struggled with rising water prices and inefficient services. They use roughly twice the number of employees per gallon as comparable cities like Chicago.
The Michigan Capitol Confidential has more details:
A recent independent report about the DWSD recommends that the city trim more than 80 percent of the department’s workforce. The consultant who wrote the report found 257 job descriptions, including a horseshoer. Capitol Confidential sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the department for the salary, benefits and job description of the horseshoer position.
In response to the report, John Riehl, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 207, which represents many of the DWSD employees, told the Detroit Free Press that the department needs more workers.
“They don’t have enough people as it is right now,” Riehl said. “They are just dreaming to think they can operate that plant with less.”
But critics say this is just another example of city departments operating as a jobs program for union employees.
“They have said for years that they don’t have enough people,” said Roi Chinn, a former city administrator and 2013 mayoral candidate for Detroit. “As the bureaucracy thickens and union power grows, there is always a built in reflex … to want more.
“Whenever you think you’ve heard the bad about the city of Detroit, it gets worse.”
Chinn said if he was mayor he would sell the water department.
Daniel Edwards, a construction contracts manager with the DWSD, said the so-called horseshoer was transferred from the Detroit Police Department five years ago. And even though the police department does currently have horses, the DWSD employee doesn’t work with the animals. So the question is: what exactly does the horseshoer do?
“DWSD has a blacksmith shop in our Central Services Facility,” Edwards explained, attempting to justify the position. The shop “also … repairs equipment and works with various metals and welding for the department when needed.”
Detroit Free Press editorial editor Stephen Henderson recently described the “intolerable waste” in Detroit’s water and sewage department. He writes:
“For unions and the whole idea of collective bargaining, this is the kind of report that just makes any sort of future very, very hard to negotiate,” he wrote. “It suggests that collective bargaining turns government into a provider of jobs instead of public services.”
(H/T:: Drudge)
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Comments (131)
Sicialian Eyeball
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:07pmAnd 0bama was heard to say,“You didnt shoe that”! Is the choice of who to vote for in Nov. all that hard? ABO
Report Post »desertspeaks
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:57pmthese must be the jobs obama was so insistent that were saved !
Report Post »Wolfgang the Gray
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:48pmWhat a load of crap, no doubt horse crap! As for Obama, I remember them saying they bought 65 pairs of work boots so that saved 65 jobs. They will spin any yarn, tell any lie to get what they want. That is exactly the purpose of the Muslim Taquia. Allah allows them to lie if it will bring about the victory of Islam. Maybe Obama would be doing better if his middle name was Mohammed instead of Hussein.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:41pmI wouldn’t go to Detroit if they gave free tickets to get there , free lodging and free meals. One problem is they won’t recognize my carry permit from Oklahoma.. This guy needs to file a greivence. A good Furrer here in Oklahoma makes $80,000 to $100,000. When you are taking care of million dollar horses you are compensated for it.
Report Post »rusooperman
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:49pmDemocrats solution to the issue? Get some horses!!!
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:54pmEvery democrat should be required to spend one solid week in that god forsaken welfare democrat controlled for fifty years,,,,hell hole….hey democrats, go look at what you did to Detroit ……li dare you……..but I know you won’t…….
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:57pmFifty years of compete democrat control ==== DETROIT…..LIBERALISM,kill it before it kills us….
Report Post »000degrees
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 7:38amTurkey, I carry in Mi. with an Indiana permit…..stay away from Detroit though…..
Report Post »LaBelle
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 9:51amSeen this in the news anywhere except at it’s source?
“ Minnesota Democrat posted Craigslist ad trolling for anonymous sex partners”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/minn-rep-kerry-gauthier-caught-zipper-literally-admits-strings-attached-sex-17-year-old-boy-rest-stop-article-1.1140833
Report Post »PATTY HENRY
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 12:32pmWhy is it that every state run by DEMS is going bankrupt and every City has already been gutted and in decay?? The reason is simple: DEMS are DEMS because they are immature. They want what they want when they want it and have no clue about the real purpose of life: Build Character, Introduce us to GOD/JESUS. So they take like kids in a toy store or candy shop with no thought of any future. They have learned to lie, cheat, steal and worse to protect their habit.
America‘s problems are not about HAVE’S and HAVE NOTS…it‘s about GREED’S and people not willing to pull their share vs. the people who work and save and are responsible. This election is about that. Communism is nothing more than a way to control people so other people can get what
Report Post »they want. They try to sell the “ALL OF US ARE EQUAL” but ask any Communist survivor and you‘ll find out that the GOOD OL’ BOY network was REALLY prevalent under Communism. OBAMA wants to be NWO Dictator of the world. He’ll say anything, lie about everything, be anything, use anyone towards that goal. He is blinded by his own competitiveness, greed and ego. He does not deserve to be President. He blew the biggest opportunity that has ever been given to anyone. “You can fool some of the people ALL of the time/ but you’ll never fool ALL of the people ALL of the time” Lincoln I believe said that. WORK HARD PATRIOTS!!!
SharonIsCaring
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 12:46pmhttp://www.itbn.org/index/detail/lib/Networks/sublib/TBN/ec/VidGEwMzoQ87NAk6RkeVN1_cmUgEhMZZ (See with your own EYE) GOD’S 1st creatures. PROVES Dawin‘s error’s and EVOLUTION DOES NOT EXIST1
Report Post »mesaman2
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 1:06pmYou must admit there are an abundance of horse’s parts in Detroit. All trying to sit at the same freebie trough.
Report Post »socialism.rocks
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 4:17pmthere is lots of things blacksmithing is used for in the modern world…. you guys just are idiots
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:05pm“not possible” to eliminate positions ? Now there’s some far reaching outside the box thinking.
Report Post »IIIcorp
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:41pmWhy not start with the union head.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 12:38am“Meanwhile, the local union president says it is “not possible” to eliminate positions”
Meaning that he refuses to agree to eliminate such a job, because he is afraid that he will get voted out of union office or he doesn’t want to eliminate such a job.
If you are going to eliminate such a job or have the current occupant change to another union jobs, the union will take you to court.
Report Post »rosegrower
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 11:17amBut where else could the unemployable relative of the union boss get a job with benefits? These featherbedding positions are one of the reasons jobs have left Michigan, period. As for having a farrier in Detroit – a job that was in existence as late as 1967 – that’s about as legitimate as having a color specialist working at a school for the blind. There haven‘t been horses in Detroit since Henry Ford’s day; he put them out of business.
Report Post »jettson
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 11:51amWho do you think is the horseshoer ?
Report Post »JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:03pmJust one more reason why unions do not belong in the public sector. Public sector wages and benifits should mirror the counter parts job in the private sector. No more, no less. I still say unions have out lived their usefulness. We have labor laws to protect the worker.
Report Post »BubbaSC
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 9:42pmHAHAHAHAHAHAHA your funny, Government jobs should get an 1/8 to a 1/4 what the same private sector job makes. These jobs should be for the public, not to get wealthy off.If you get PAID LESS as a public employee you will find a better job. Low pay would cut down on the amount of idiots the feds have working! Congress should go back to the way it was in the beginning and ONLY get PER DIEM, and only while in SESSION. Let’s only pay them while they are PHYSICALLY there and sitting in their chairs and along with everyone else. Say at least 90% attendance every working day of the members during the session time frame. If you are absent, there should be a VALID EXCUSE along with PROOF, This would make a very big difference in the size of the gooberment!
Report Post »Just Me 2day
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:32pmBubbasc, that is the same thing I have been saying forever. I don’t think these people should go to Washington and within a few years, they’re millionaires. Your plan would defiantly put a damper on that plan, especially if they only get paid while their butts are in their seats. Good idea. I think I may contact my house rep and see what his thoughts would be.
Report Post »POPTARTMONKEY
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 6:27amjust me you must have a lot of time on your hands
Report Post »Socco
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:01pmDetroit; Chicago part duex
Report Post »bannedfromCNN
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:06pmWith all the horses azzes in Detroit, I can‘t believe they can’t find at least a few that need shoes.
Report Post »ANTISOCIAL-IST
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:41pm@banned: if maxine waters moved to detroit this guy would barely have time for a toilet break; have to renegotiate his contract to hire him an apprentice.
Report Post »MrKnowItAll
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:55pmDetroit has Paid Elected Positions by the Boat Load. Most people don’t know of these Positions. No one is ever on the ballot on hundreds of Elected Job Positions. I know many people in Detroit that get a few friends to write in their name and being they are the only one’s to get votes, They Get Elected and they get Paid to do Nothing. Honest To God. This is the Truth.
Report Post »noland
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:53pmDetroit should be the poster for the democratic party and all black americans and anyone voting for that party needs to se what happens when unions and polititions get into bed together.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:12pmThe parasites that live off the rest of us don’t care about anything but the cash flow from us to them and our Marxist POS president has been engaging in class warfare from day one.
He thinks it‘ll save his job but he’ll be sorely mistaken because too many producers have been screwed by that Marxist pig and on election day he’ll see just how we feel.
Report Post »Eric_The_Red_State
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:53pmTypical INSANITY
Report Post »It would be funny if it wern’t so sad.
thibx
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:52pmthis is the jobs bill oboma wants passed so we can keep paying for jobs that don’t exist and he wants to keep his union buddies happy. if another 4 years oboma will destroy the nation and its’ military he is taking the cuts to the military and putting it toward green energy. nobody could be as dumb as that he wants to destroy the usa. unions is why states and cities are are emploding. corrupt politians and unions destroy.
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:52pmThis is the type of jobs the POS POTUS wants us to support
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:50pmslip-shawed & slack jawed
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:54pmWell guess what? Now they will spend the money to house, feed several dozen horses to keep him gainly employed. Add 1mil a year to the 57k.
Report Post »PointBreak
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:49pmAnd we wonder why we’re a crumbling society. The guy collecting that check needs to go to jail and pay reparations the same way the girl who won the lottery did. It’s just as fraudulent.
Report Post »DouglassFiller
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:13pmI’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. He probably does end up doing metalwork now and then under the “and other blacksmithing duties”. I disagree that he should go to jail. In the past, I’ve been paid to show up “just in case” an extra hand was needed. Not a steady union job, though.
Report Post »mixplix
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:46pmWe laugh at the city that has a Farrier that draws a check, keep on laughing while you read about the 10,000 staff members of Congress http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/the-number-of-congressional-staff-is-the-real-problem/ Different story, huh?
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:58pmYes all government is too big and needs to have it‘s power reduced and shown who’s in charge,they‘re supposed to be working for us but we’re the serfs to those pigs in DC.
Report Post »Socco
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:14pmIs it alright with you if we walk AND chew gum in our outrage against waste, MIXPLIX? Thanks in advance…
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:40pmShoe… the Mayor!
Report Post »MrButcher
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:39pmThe also employ a chiseler to record the minutes of city meetings on small stone slabs.
Can’t get rid of him either.
Report Post »superinfidel
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:44pmHa!
Report Post »Socco
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:15pmLol, I wouldn’t be surprised!
Report Post »texastommy
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 8:45amI thought the chiselers were the director of finance and his staff.
Report Post »sgtlmj
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:34pmJust heard on WJR (Detroit’s news radio station) today that two people were killed in a house fire last night in Detroit. There was a fire station 3 minutes from the house, but it had been closed down due to budget cuts.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:46pmSame thing happened in my Michigan hometown (not Detroit) it was only two weeks after the fire station had closed. Michigan has been ruined by unions.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:49pmMust have been at least 50.00 in damages .Progressivism kills,literally.
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:32pmThen let the pay come out of the UNION BOSSES pocket. I bet he could find a way to eliminate it quick.
Report Post »Socco
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:18pmIs there anything more likely to get my hackles raised than the word “union boss”? It invokes an image of corruption, that needs to be stomped out of existence.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:32pmColeman Young destroyed Detroit with the help of union pigs and he was the precursor for the Marxist heathen currently destroying our economy.Private sector unions were bad enough then the hogs in government allowed public sector unions which is even worse and they’re currently bankrupting cities states and municipalities all across this country. Look at any city controlled by progressives and you’ll see a dead city that will never recover,unless the infection of progressivism is eradicated. All unions should be eliminated,they’re good for two things,driving jobs overseas and causing prices to be higher than they should.
Report Post »MiCurmudgeon
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:31pmIf Detroit had a mayor in charge they could eliminate the position. However there has not been a Republican as mayor in 50 years.
Report Post »Mr.Fitnah
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:31pmFarrier .
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:41pmYes… the correct name for the Job Function!
Report Post »possom
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:31pmThe way king barry‘s destroying our coal and oil industries we might need a good blacksmith for the horses we’ll be riding.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:47pmNo the EPA will not allow the horses.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:53pmCATB, and especially not the operation of the forge necessary for the blacksmith to do his job.
Report Post »Adalwulf
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:30pmThank you Blaze! That is one of the best laughs I’ve had in days!
Report Post »txannie
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:30pmTrust me…being able to shoe a horse does not make you a welder and being a welder does not make you capable of shoeing horses.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:29pmGeez, this does sort of go along with that last Bloomberg and Detroit article.
Report Post »Also, sounds like an old story I heard about a union night shift sweeper at a steel plant who came to work with a blanket and pillow disappearing into a closet each night so he could get enough sleep for his day job. That steel mill closed near the end of the Clinton Admin.
Bobaz
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:28pmPlace a team of bulldozers on each corner of Detroit and push everything into a big pile and burn it. Shoot the rats that come running out.
Report Post »wisehiney
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:24pmHorses asses do not need shoes.
Report Post »