Just out of curiosity since you obviously aren't a fan of prevailing wage jobs (obviously related to the roadways), have you ever worked a 16 hour day in 90 degree heat while standing on or over asphalt that is 250-300 degrees?

I think they make a fair living. They make less hourly than most police officers, teachers and fire fighters.

You forgot Christie using the helicopter as he pleases :rofl::rofl:

That sounds tough, they deserve better.

:bertstare:

If the heavy laborer highway jobs are such great pay and easy work, feel free to go do it. Then you can live in your 10,000 square foot mansion and eat caviar every day.

Are there not chances to advance oneself upwards towards better pay and or easier work conditions?

Focus.... conversation is about a tax, not labor conditions/compensation.

The inefficiencies of state and federal government are always easy to point out. If the $ was truly going to the things we need, in an efficient manner, then I likely would not have an issue. Unfortunately, more often than not the funds tend to be squandered, misused, abused, etc. If you are on the side of the folks receiving these funds, and may not live in the state, then I likely already know your opinion. On the flip side, we all think we are brilliant and could do it better.

The simple fact of government business (on either side of the table), is no one wants to make the hard cuts. Being more efficient means more effort and working with the state is already an inefficient process (I know first hand). Contracts will be padded, price of materials will continue to increase and everyone working a job whether difficult or not, wants doctor money.

No gas tax hike for now. Go burn some fuel.

They will be doing something. They said .23 cents overnight I just too much of a jump so it'll get voted on in tiers now.

Don't care for caviar but thanks, the dogs are hungry! Its weird because I can't think of a worse occupation, you win.

What's amazing is all the hate for workers.

The contractors doing the road work? The poor schlub standing in the heat, busting his ass fixing the roads? Here's a quick tip: The checks from the state don't go to that guy. They go to the owner of the company, who proceeds to take a huge piece out of that pie.

Anyone who thinks that type of work is easy can feel free to do it for a while, then give me your thoughts on how 'easy' it is. I've done similar work; it sucked royally and I moved on as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Another note: The worker cleaning the back of the sign? In all likelihood, some administrator making 100k+ a year saw the graffiti there on the way to work and sent that guy out to clean it off. Another free hint: The guy cleaning the sign isn't making $100/hour.

Not everyone working for the state/municipalities is swimming in cash. In fact, *most* of them aren't. However, there are plenty of administrators/political flunkies with two (or three!) jobs that add up to over 200k a year. However, that isn't your average worker.

Who is saying road work is easy? While I can appreciate those who do hard physical labor, the jobs will only pay so much. Those folks chose their career so why should others not doing it feel bad for them? I'm sure no one feels too bad for me if I'm working 60+ hr weeks.

^This. I never put the blame on the worker (although when it takes 2 guys more than 8 hrs double OT to change a light bulb, and they still have to go back then it is their fault AND admin for allowing such poor work ethic. And yes, that's a real example.) I'm talking about the CONTRACTOR, the guy/company in charge. They make a killing. The prices and schedules they come up with are ludicrous. And the state pays them. It's takes more than a YEAR to replace a small culvert ...

My point is there is no accountability to ensure the current TTF and other related taxes are spent wisely. Nothing is done in a timely fashion either. Adding more money to the pot won't help anything. I'm sure cleaning graffiti is a legit job. But from the back of a sign in Camden along a highway? Seriously? That's like kicking an ant hill over, you know it's going to be there again (in fact, passing by again this week and it's still mostly there...). We have bridges literally on the verge of collapse. There are craters that could swallow your car. Mangled guide rails along dangerous curves. There are plenty of higher priority jobs to be tackled before worrying about graffiti in Camden of all places. And that's the problem, the public relies on the state to appropriate the funds wisely and they're not doing it.

You guys would hate how jobs/tasks are handled in the military lol.

I'm not very amused working in my climate controlled environment at my personal computer. I do pity all those hard workers who have such a tough job to do. Life is cruel. Cheer up, some of us are feeding caviar to our dogs in their 10,000 sq ft dog mansion.

I like turtles.

Nobody said anything about feeling bad for people. One person bashes the guy who is cleaning the back of a $60 sign that's making $15-22/hour. Then other person attacks prevailing wage. I'd love to see some prevailing wage jobs done by shady fly by night contractors and when people end up dying due to quality control of the final product, it won't be an issue!

But let's bash road construction guys instead of the guy who is sitting at home on welfare with his 70 grand a year in free benefits and nicer stuff then those union workers making a base salary of 52 grand a year... or the medical bills some illegal citizen racked up that is paid for on your dime...

You're missing my point. My comments were directed at the inefficiencies of government work on both sides of the table. I'm not critiquing the actual folks working the road except for the fact that most any laborer, road worker or not, expects more than the job pays. I'm not hating on anyone who does hard labor and even mentioned I respect it. Could I handle it? Maybe, maybe not but same could be said the other way around.

You are using strong words like attack and hate but I'm not seeing any of it in this thread. More like criticism.

A lot of these guys are driving all up and down the east coast to job sites, sometimes staying months without seeing their family. I hardly think a fair, lower middle class, living of 52 grand (base) plus benefits is ridiculous wages. It sounds like an astronomical figure when you hear $62/hour (of that $37/hour is your actual hourly pay) but now consider that the asphalt they use is roughly $60/ton; I know a ton of asphalt sounds like a lot but that will get you a few feet of one lane.

I'd also like to point out that generally these big union companies aren't all crooks - they truck in the asphalt, install it and roll it for less money than most townships or companies can purchase and truck the asphalt for (this is no joke). This is why you do not see towns or small companies pave long roads.

None of your original comments said this. There are plenty of laborers on this site so bitching and moaning about hard work falls on deaf ears. Plenty of places where money is misused throughout the state, too. I can agree with your points. 8-)