Myth of the greedy public-sector workers

[cyberswede]

There is a class war, and the positions attacking public-sector workers are disgusting.

The article below also cites a study that shows that public sector workers actually earn less than private sector counterparts.
(link to study: http://www.nirsonline.org/storage/nirs/documents/final_out_of_balance_report_april_2010.pdf)

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Myth of the greedy public-sector workers

POLITICIANS AND the media have found a new scapegoat for the economic crisis and the savage budget cuts being carried out by state and local governments: public-sector workers and their unions.

(snip)

Of course, the budget crisis hitting state and local governments is real. On the very same day that the Times drew a target on the backs of retired teachers, it published an article documenting how states and municipalities are making stunning cutbacks--from Hawaii shutting down public schools on 17 Fridays during the last school year, to the city of Colorado Springs turning off one-third of its streetlights.

But the claim that public-sector workers are the source of the shortfalls is absurd.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FIRST OF all, the real cause of the state government budget crisis is a massive reduction in taxes on business and the wealthiest individuals over the last quarter century.

If states and cities wanted to find money for public spending, they could try eliminating the tax breaks they handed out like candy to big corporations. Likewise, the federal government could get $700 billion more in revenues over the next decade if it got rid of the Bush administration's tax breaks for the richest few.

Read the whole article: http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/18/greedy-government-workers-myth

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More links:

New Report Debunks Myth Of The State Worker "Wealth Class" - http://www.progressillinois.com/posts/content/2010/04/28/new-report-eviscerates-claim-state-workers-represent-wealth-class

Don't Buy the Myth That Government Workers Are Overpaid - http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/08/dont-buy-the-myth-that-government-workers-are-overpaid/61444/

War on Public Workers - http://www.thenation.com/article/war-public-workers

[empleh]

1. I thought the public makes more on average than the private?

[nebenaube]

2. No

You can always make more in the private sector.

[Wickerman]

3. As dear old Dad used to say

"That's what yo uget for thinking!"

Welcome to DU, btw.

From the Atlantic article are some facts.

Here is one of the most concise:

National Institute of Retirement Security by Milwaukee that accounted for education found that the public sector gets paid between 7 and 12 percent less when you control for age and characteristics. That gap remains if you include compensation like pensions and health care.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. Federal workers earn more than private sector workers in 8 out of 10 jobs.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm

The difference is not huge, but it is real.

The differences are less clear-cut for state and local employees - it depends very much on which state and which locality.

Socialistworker isn't a reliable news source.

[Wickerman]

5. USA Today isn't exactly known to carry out in depth statistical study, either

This scholarly paper, where they take the time to adjust for education requirements and the kinds of thing that make up scientific study rather than journalism says that overall Fed works are paid, on average, 11% less than private workers.

In this study we found that state and local workers
are compensated less than their private sector counterparts.
We implemented a standard comparability
exercise, using the CPS and following common methodological
choices that reflect the heart of the discipline.
Our results of lower compensation for state and local
workers are consistent with previous findings, and we
expand on them. The differentials were evident by 2000
in the work of others, and the patterns identified have
either remained or grown since then. Although a comparison
of unadjusted average earnings will show that
wages are higher among jobs in state and local government,
this result is largely due to the fact that the
workers in those sectors have more education. Holding
education and other characteristics the same, typical
state and local workers earn an average of 11 percent
less and 12 percent less, respectively, than comparable
private sector workers.


http://www.nirsonline.org/storage/nirs/documents/final_out_of_balance_report_april_2010.pdf

[Wickerman]

6. and, from the article you cited

But National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley says the comparison is faulty because it "compares apples and oranges." Federal accountants, for example, perform work that has more complexity and requires more skill than accounting work in the private sector, she says.

"When you look at the actual duties, you see that very few federal jobs align with those in the private sector," she says. She says federal employees are paid an average of 26% less than non-federal workers doing comparable work.