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August 17, 2010 in Opinion
Editorial: Government must take hard look at worker pay
Federal pay has hit the headlines again, with USA Today reporting last week that: “Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.”
This has provoked outrage from many quarters. Critics say such pay for public employees is unsustainable. Defenders note that the comparison is simplistic.
They’re both right.
The data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis include some low-skill private-sector jobs such as restaurant and retail work that don’t exist in government. A higher percentage of government jobs require college degrees and specialized training, which are factors that generally lead to higher wages. The government has also outsourced many lower-paying jobs to the private sector.
The apples-to-oranges complaint is duly noted. Comparing government work to private-sector work can be tricky. In some cases, government workers in comparable jobs are better compensated. In others, such as law and medicine, they are not. Further complicating matters is that the government is a large employer and, like other large employers, it offers health care benefits and retirement plans, and both drive up compensation.
Still, the overall trend is favorable to public employees, so the critique that this is unsustainable is undeniable.
The reason for the widening gap in pensions and health care coverage is that the private sector has aggressively cut those benefits. Many private companies have eliminated or reduced traditional defined benefit plans for retirees. Government continues to take on future pensioners. On the whole, private companies have asked their workers to pick up more of their health care costs.
As a result, we have private workers whose pay has stagnated and whose benefits have been slashed supporting public employees who aren’t feeling commensurate pain. The government cannot mandate raises for the private sector, but it can look at the widening disparity and the overall federal budget mess and do more of its own cutting. This problem goes beyond the federal government. State and local entities are facing the same structural budget deficits.
Civil service officials and public employee unions can bemoan the trend in private-sector compensation and the pressure that has put on budgets, but government leaders still need to recognize what taxpayers can afford.
The trend has to end.
To respond online, click on Opinion under the Topics menu at www.spokesman.com.
Don’t fudge fish standard 
JBlim on August 17 at 6:52 a.m.
There really is no way of getting around paying the market rate for qualified employees. If you underpay, you’ll end up with too many incompetent professionals and other workers.
greyhound2 on August 17 at 7:25 a.m.
If public sector employees were moved into the private sector, they would see their wages and benefits decline by about a third.
For years, government workers were not allowed to unionize due to their monopoly power. Since that changed, they have abused their monopoly power to bankrupt the country.
misjustice on August 17 at 7:28 a.m.
Why should Gubmint workers be dragged into the global jobs auction with the rest of us; forced to compete against “emerging markets” where workers are paid pennies per hour and a bowl of rice, if they are lucky?
Gubmint workers, including teachers and first responders, are now being assigned the role of “welfare queen”. Just as Ronnie Raygun blamed black women with Cadillacs going to pick up their welfare checks ( a complete lie) Gubmint workers are now being painted with a broad brush and are the target of those that love out sourcing our jobs to third world nations.
soccermomsusie on August 17 at 9:23 a.m.
I think everyone is missing the point. I will try to enlighten you.
When Ronald Reagan was president (great, but not as great as GWB) he gave businesses tax breaks so they could move manufacturing jobs overseas. This helped gut the socialist manufacturing unions. That is why I love to shop at WalMart now! Chinese commie slaves working for me! Anyway, I digress.
With the gutting of manufacturing unions, the only ones really left were the socialist government workers. The Spokesman-Review is right we need to bring them down to our level. Mostly because corporations and other wealthy entities need to be in charge of us and these workers are not yet begging like the rest of us. READ THE BIBLE!
Anyway, if we could somehow ship our police, fire and teaching jobs to China, we could gut the public sector unions too.
Thanks Spokesman-Review editorialist! We know the kind of USA/Spokane you want to create and I am all for it. Why should China be the main place that has slaves doing the work when we could be slaving here? Sign me up. I will never regret leading a Bible-Centered Life!!! Don’t forget to vote for John Ahern to help make this happen.
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!!!
bdr on August 17 at 10:41 a.m.
The major problem with gov jobs, their pink slips lag the private sector by 2-3 years, creating deficits between.
If government was faster to lay people off to match the private sector (that typically tumbles into recession every 5 years).
There would be fewer deficits and catastrophic layoffs Governors have to sign 3 years after the fact .
Our system is flawed but yet the best available in the entire world.
west on August 17 at 12:07 p.m.
As to the wages of private workers,they will soon hit gov workers also, you cannot continue gov wages with the private wages that going into a sinkhole..we pay gov wages. new world economy is comming to gov workers…great!!
ChefGus/ John Olsen on August 17 at 5:16 p.m.
SoccerMomSusie…. what is your favorite book in the Bible… Mine is Ecclesiastes …..??? John
JBlim on August 17 at 6:32 p.m.
Government employees make LESS than their counterparts in private industry, despite all the rhetoric from pennywise but pound foolish ideologues in the peanut gallery. At least that’s what people who actually study the issue and know what they’re talking about say:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/wage-penalty-state-local-gov-employees/
Joe5sly on August 19 at 10:47 a.m.
Spent 30+ years in federal service. Beginning 1980, we were paid 25% below private employment, and that continues today. No article would have the pages needed to addess the subject fully. IE: The same job performed in Defense sector is paid far less than the identical position in bureau of interior. A material handler in defense moves material worth 8 million—is paid $45K a year—VS the longshoreman moving chinese trash ,starting at $110K a year.
The real story is–if congress was not immune to all the requirements it forces on government service—it could not function.
With all the new groups trying to roll back benefits for civil service—has anyone noticed that the folks complaining were never willing to do that work—for that pay ? And they still won’t.