Bashing government workers is nearing a crescendo as we stare into the abyss of American public finances. There's nary a mayor, governor or president who hasn't found his or her work force an irresistible target of criticism for "greedy unions," "extravagant benefits," "unaffordable pensions," and "shared sacrifice."
Why is this?
Are teachers, fire fighters, snowplow drivers, and environmental
regulators really that well paid?
Do FBI agents, state troopers, and local cops really have "overly
generous" health benefits? Do health care aides, prison guards, and those who
protect our drinking water really have platinum-plated pensions?
To answer these questions we must do some comparisons and some
contextualizing. There are countless tendentious manipulations of the private
vs. public sector compensation data by corporate-backed think tankers out
there. That's what they get paid to do. Simply looking at public vs. private
pay averages is deceptive.
Governments do not have many minimum-wage jobs, whereas the private
sector offers at least 10 million of them. Government work forces tend to be
older and better educated, and thus better paid.
The vast capital gains of America's billionaires do not count as wages
or benefits; this makes private sector compensation appear lower than it
actually is.
The private sector generates temporary jobs that tend to be lower paid,
part-time and without benefits (80 percent of the jobs created by the private
sector in November are temporary). Governments generally produce positions that
tend to be more secure, full time and with good benefits.
One study of federal government vs. private compensation for nearly 600
comparable positions found that civil servants make 20 percent more on average.
But again, averages are often deceptive. Another study, which adjusted for the
variables of age and education, found that pay for local and state jobs is
about 7 percent lower than in the private sector. Government pay scales often
are higher for lower skill jobs, but lower for higher skill jobs. Look at the
pay for physicians, IT types, engineers, lawyers and other professionals in the
public sector. It can be half or less of what one finds in the private sector.
This partly explains the "revolving door" of non-career
government executives spending years in the private sector to make up for a
comparably meager public paycheck.
But the ultimate test is individual. Do it yourself: go to http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/
or http://www.cs.state.ny.us/
to see what the job most like yours pays.
As to public vs. private sector health benefits, the data are even
trickier. There are no large, nationally representative databases. There's no
doubt that most small businesses do not offer health benefits as generous as
those found in government, if any at all. But if you compare public employee
benefits to those for staff at large corporations (500 or more employees), the
benefits are nearly identical.
A fair comparison? You decide.
What about pensions? The fundamental issue is the difference between
defined-benefit plans (prevalent in government jobs) and defined-contribution
plans (e.g., a 401k, the standard in most of the private sector). The former
promise a certain monthly pension check, the latter leave you at the mercy of
Wall Street. Defined-benefit plans clearly cost employers more than
defined-contribution plans. That explains why 85 percent of private-sector
workers do not have them.
At the same time, about 30 percent of state and local workers do not
receive Social Security retirement benefits. They see their defined-benefit
plans as making up for that.
Is a guaranteed pension really too generous? Or should one's old age
security not be left to a rigged casino?
Claims over what are fair or affordable public employee
compensation packages must be seen in political-economic context. We're in the
midst of another jobless recovery. Despite record corporate profits, "American"
companies are not hiring in America. Instead, they created 1.4 million jobs
overseas last year. We're witnessing the deliberate restructuring of America's
private sector work force.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
