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Public Sector Workers Are the New Privileged Elite Class
September 14, 2010
The alarming compensation gap between public and private sector workers that places undue stress and suffering on taxpayers and public services. A very thoughtful piece by Mort Zuckerman, editor of U.S. News and World Report. A must read, check it out!
You need to check your facts before posting these articles. My husband is a public sector worker and we live just above the poverty line, his salary has been frozen for three years, and as of October he will have to take furlough days each month. He is not and has never been in a union. He maintains the roads that you and your families drive on every day. So when you cut him out of a job with your skewed inflammatory articles, I hope you know how to repair a road. BTW, he works 10 hour days in 90 degree heat, he has cleaned up after tornados and hurricanes LONG before the cops show up, and quite frankly has EARNED every penny he makes as well as the pathetic benefits he recieves. I hate what the national government is doing as much as the next person, but you are going after the WRONG people with this article. Just like in any other organization, crap floats to the top, and that is where the money is going. BTW, my husband’s salary comes solely from the gas tax, which is paid by everyone including myself and my husband.
There are truths on both sides of this issue. Transportation, construction, forestry, fish & game, etc tend to work hard and earn a fair, sometime even low wage. Hiring is funky, valuing a degree over experience. Sometimes a layoff is better than a furlough, though right now any job beats unemployment. With 15 years experience dealing with white collar government oversight employees I feel like they get paid more and get better benefits than private sector employees. Rather than complain about how much public employees make we should get America back to work. Governments raised wages and benefits to attract workers from the private sector. Let’s get the private sector back in the race.
Thank you for your response. The point of this article is certainly NOT to demean government workers but rather to point out overall disparities that exist in a public sector largely controlled by special interests. I wholeheartedly agree that there are many good individuals working in the public sector that are worth their weight in gold. From the information that you provided about your husband, it certainly sounds like he fits this description. However special interests, claiming to represent government worker’s best interests, have worked out deals that take advantage of the system, reducing current public services and increasing the debt that future generations have to pay back. Quite frankly, unless reform takes place, these “special interests” will continue to put your husband in a unfair competitive disadvantage when it comes to obtaining a job that he deserves.
“In 2008, the average wage for 1.9 million federal civilian workers was more than $79,000. . .” Not sure which pay grade you are averaging, but you are way off track for the majority of Federal civilian employees. I will agree that the Federal employment is top-heavy with “upper management types” who do very little for a great amount of pay. Most of us, however, are the grunts in the trenches, struggling to pay mortgages, car payments, insurance premiums, college tuition, etc. just like everyone else. I know for a fact that my current Federal position pays quite a bit less than a comparable position in the private sector and I have no hope of any increase other than the meager COLA due in January (which will be eaten up by higher taxes and higher health insurance premiums). I’m sure you realize by now that your article has stepped on more than a few toes. In the future, please don’t lump ALL public sector employees into one elitist group!!!
I would have to agree with ND. I have worked for a state agency for over 23 years. I have not seen an increase in pay in over half those years of working. My insurance has tripled in price. For the last two years we have had to take furlough time equal to a half day or full day of pay every week. Mean while the daycare costs have gone up and we barely break even after paying all the bills. I think government workers get a bad rap because all you ever hear of are the bad workers. Plus the area I work in has seen a substantial rise in people needing our help. They get a cost of living raise in thier FS while we workers get nothing.