Why Are State Mill Employees Getting Bonus Checks?
In 2009 the manager of North Dakota’s state-owned mill got a 4% raise even after the mill posted a $10 million loss. And, in recent years, the mill has been posting a lot of losses.
But more recently, the mill is performing better. Now the state is handing out bonus checks. Which is strange. They get rewards when they lose money and rewards when they make money.
BISMARCK, N.D. – A $16 million record profit at North Dakota’s state Mill and Elevator also meant hefty bonus checks for its workers.
The state-owned flour mill has a profit-sharing program that kicks in if the mill meets specified goals for profits, productivity and worker safety.
Mill general manager Vance Taylor says $1.4 million in profit-sharing checks were handed out at a company picnic for the mill’s 134 employees. The payments came after the mill’s budget year ended July 31.
Taylor says the payments averaged $11,600 per employee. They equaled almost 22 percent of each worker’s pay during the previous year.
Maybe they ought to share some of that money for years when the mill loses money.
Or, maybe the taxpayers ought not be on the hook for a state-owned mill.