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[retired_at_last]

I guess I'm a little disappointed in this forum.

I find:

1. a lot of friendly fire
2. people reading 'facts' into plain English statements; bodes ill for the students of the future trying to separate fact from fiction from opinion
3. many self-appointed Dr. Phil's

[aandsdean]

I guess I'm a little disappointed in this forum.

I find:

1. a lot of friendly fire
2. people reading 'facts' into plain English statements; bodes ill for the students of the future trying to separate fact from fiction from opinion
3. many self-appointed Dr. Phil's

1.  We've never killed anyone with friendly fire.
2.  You are the one who is adducing violations of the law that don't exist.
2a.  Your writing, at least here, is not the best, and it's not always clear what you're arguing, so misinterpretations may not be the readers' responsibility.
3.  You implicitly or explicitly ask for advice, perhaps you should expect to get it.

GCF

[john_proctor]

I own 1 house in TX, $7000 under water.

I lived in a bad neighborhood, dumpy apartment in GA. Double murder in the complex the year before I went there.

3-10% meant I couldn't even afford to live dangerously!

So you opted, instead, for 90-97% reduction with no health insurance?

And how'd that work out for ya?

Jesus, you teach physics?

[pocksuppet]

I guess I'm a little disappointed in this forum.

Why?  Were you expecting more commiseration, more sympathy?

Ok, I feel horrible about your situation.  It sounds lousy, and you really got screwed over on the COBRA issue.  But as many people here have pointed out, you may have misinterpreted the legality of your employer's initial pay reduction.

You "took a stand" here over a relatively small pay cut (one that many people here have taken as well), and you are now far worse off because of this decision.  Until you acknowledge and understand your own role in your misery, you are unlikely to figure out how to bounce back from this.

You've already cut off your nose.  Please put the damned knife down already.

[retired_at_last]

1. I wasn't expecting sympathy...I was sharing what happened so newer faculty might be alerted and more careful about what committments they make on the basis of a 'letter'
2. To take advice of some of you, sign contract, would have meant letting my home in TX go into foreclosure
3. retirement was the only way to save the house...I'm too old to live down a credit melt-down
4. this was not a stand on a small item...people who accepted a 3% salary cut in CA in the 80's stayed at flat salary until 1997, when they THEN got the 3% back, but none of the raises (by economy increases) between.
5. legislators cut faculty, wait for an outcry, interpret THAT as no harm done, do it again, repeat. unless someone makes a fuss, they will lower to zero. that's history. heed it or repeat it
6. two new-hires at my former U walked into orientation, saw the cuts, called home and begged for their jobs back, and walked out with me. that was a statement.

[polly_mer]

1. I wasn't expecting sympathy...I was sharing what happened so newer faculty might be alerted and more careful about what committments they make on the basis of a 'letter'

And some of us moved cross-country without even having the letter in place because the gamble was worth it.

2. To take advice of some of you, sign contract, would have meant letting my home in TX go into foreclosure

So you made a decision based on your priorities, what's your beef?

3. retirement was the only way to save the house...I'm too old to live down a credit melt-down

Again, you made a decision based on your priorities that don't happen to be relevant to many of our situations, what's your beef?

4. this was not a stand on a small item...people who accepted a 3% salary cut in CA in the 80's stayed at flat salary until 1997, when they THEN got the 3% back, but none of the raises (by economy increases) between.

I took a freakin' 50% pay cut this year by going to a new job because I decided I would rather do that than choose my other options, which included a 100% pay cut.  When it turned out my 50% pay cut was actually closer to 55% and we are paying for two houses, I didn't blink because it was still better than my other options.  You do what makes sense to you, but I don't understand being surprised that some of us would take the lower-than-expected-paying job in hand as a short-term stop gap while we look for other employment at a better rate.

5. legislators cut faculty, wait for an outcry, interpret THAT as no harm done, do it again, repeat. unless someone makes a fuss, they will lower to zero. that's history. heed it or repeat it

<sarcasm> Yeah, because with nearly every state having a budget crunch and too few jobs to go around, the best policy is to paint oneself as a martyr or whiner.</sarcasm>  With many qualified people looking for work, being a known whiner tends to put one out of the running for the few good jobs.  That's history as well.

6. two new-hires at my former U walked into orientation, saw the cuts, called home and begged for their jobs back, and walked out with me. that was a statement.

Yes, and that's a reasonable course to take.  I've walked off the job because I decided I wouldn't work under the specified conditions.  However, I haven't made a statement by saying, "Nope" to a job in hand that was my best option because of something petty that might build to something sizable over the course of years.  I instead sucked it up for a few months, whined quietly to my friends until I lined up a better job, and then quit.

[retired_at_last]

Relative to your last comment about taking a job, then finding another ....

Education likes to have its cake and eat it too.

They may shaft you right up until classes begin, but ONCE you've signed the contract in education, if then YOU walk out you are blackballed. The 'victim' argument is the 'poor students who depend upon you'. Many job applications these days ask if you have ever walked out on a contract.

In my case, the contract was for two years, and they had the 'right' to suck out 10% (if I signed it) EACH YEAR.

That's slavery.

Sorry about your 45% loss. I've done that too, but I do tend to take a stand when possible against employee/faculty abuse.

This economic bust is tough on everyone, but public institutions aren't the only ones being hurt, and passing hurt along to others just makes this whole thing snowball.

[madhatter]

In my case, the contract was for two years, and they had the 'right' to suck out 10% (if I signed it) EACH YEAR.

That's slavery.

Oh, you're being too mild. That's genocide, at least. Possibly even global apocalypse.