Saturday, November 19, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
A good place to start
This article is as good a place as any to start the discussion regarding the recent attack on public employees.
JANUARY 24, 2011
Government Employees Are Not "Over-Compensated"
The War on Public Workers
by STEVE BREYMAN
Government worker bashing 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?
Today’s 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. Gone are the days of life-long employment at a single firm with good pay, adequate benefits and a guaranteed pension. Welcome to the era of temporary, deskilled, part-time jobs with few benefits and a lousy pension. We’ve witnessed the deliberate restructuring of America’s private sector work force; government employees are next.
People are worried about holding onto jobs they hate. Almost every state’s budget is in crisis. The federal government is set to raise the debt ceiling again. Tax burdens grow much more often than they shrink even with cynical gimmicks like Obama’s one-year cut in the payroll tax that funds Social Security. We’re encouraged by much of the corporate media to resent the benefits of civil servants rather than the bonuses paid at Goldman Sachs. Decades of redistributive policies–forcing income from the bottom upwards–have fewer Americans eating more of the pie than ever before.
Elite interests allied with Andrew Cuomo set up The Committee to Save New York to press hard for givebacks, cuts, and other "reforms." Even with their strong unions, it will be very difficult for public sector employees to resist the current onslaught.
Let’s be clear now: beating up middle-class public servants will not slow the growing economic inequality underlying many of our present problems. Governments under the sway of powerful lobbies have avoided progressive taxes on all the income of their millionaires and billionaires for far too long. This is fair? "Shared sacrifice" begins when those at the top no longer pay lower tax rates than their secretaries.
STEVE BREYMAN is Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
JANUARY 24, 2011
Government Employees Are Not "Over-Compensated"
The War on Public Workers
by STEVE BREYMAN
Government worker bashing 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?
Today’s 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. Gone are the days of life-long employment at a single firm with good pay, adequate benefits and a guaranteed pension. Welcome to the era of temporary, deskilled, part-time jobs with few benefits and a lousy pension. We’ve witnessed the deliberate restructuring of America’s private sector work force; government employees are next.
People are worried about holding onto jobs they hate. Almost every state’s budget is in crisis. The federal government is set to raise the debt ceiling again. Tax burdens grow much more often than they shrink even with cynical gimmicks like Obama’s one-year cut in the payroll tax that funds Social Security. We’re encouraged by much of the corporate media to resent the benefits of civil servants rather than the bonuses paid at Goldman Sachs. Decades of redistributive policies–forcing income from the bottom upwards–have fewer Americans eating more of the pie than ever before.
Elite interests allied with Andrew Cuomo set up The Committee to Save New York to press hard for givebacks, cuts, and other "reforms." Even with their strong unions, it will be very difficult for public sector employees to resist the current onslaught.
Let’s be clear now: beating up middle-class public servants will not slow the growing economic inequality underlying many of our present problems. Governments under the sway of powerful lobbies have avoided progressive taxes on all the income of their millionaires and billionaires for far too long. This is fair? "Shared sacrifice" begins when those at the top no longer pay lower tax rates than their secretaries.
STEVE BREYMAN is Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Robinson Supports Firefighters Pension
Local 341's endorsed candidate, Laurie Robinson (running for City Council At-Large-Five) was recently misquoted regarding her views on firefighter pensions in a local daily newspaper. To be clear, Laurie favors the current state controlled system because it is more stable and less susceptible to local politics. We thought it was important for you to hear her answer to our question during her screening with HPFFA Local 341. The question we asked was “Do you support local control of the pension or should it remain under state and firefighter control?” Click here for a video except of her screening interview.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Breaking News - It's All My Fault
I
have a copy of a recent Letter to the Editor on my desk at the office and framed
copy of the same letter in my home office. It is a litany of complaints about
me and my leadership style. It is, for the most part, the illogical ramblings
of a misanthrope. It summarizes some of the complaints I have heard that I am solely
responsible for. To the best of my recollection these
include: the nationwide increase in insurance premiums, the current collective
bargaining agreement, the apathy of our membership, age discrimination, sex
discrimination and the Great Recession. I’ve tried to explain all of this to my
wife in a manner which advances the premise that a man with that much authority should get out of
having to take out the trash, but so far she’s not buying it.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Member Tip: Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the existence of rights on a page somewhere means that you’ll always be able to count on those protections. Rights that aren’t exercised can in fact disappear over time; you can lose what you don’t protect.
So you need to know where your rights come from, and how to use your union to protect them. In practical terms, this means that when your employer breaks the rules, you need to make sure that your union knows about it. A steward’s job is to be the “eyes and ears” of the union, but a steward can’t be everywhere at once, and that’s why individual members have the responsibility to alert the steward if they see a problem. That way, the union/employer structures that are in place can be used to prevent changes for the worse in the day-to-day conditions of the workplace.
-- Adapted from The Union Members Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer
So you need to know where your rights come from, and how to use your union to protect them. In practical terms, this means that when your employer breaks the rules, you need to make sure that your union knows about it. A steward’s job is to be the “eyes and ears” of the union, but a steward can’t be everywhere at once, and that’s why individual members have the responsibility to alert the steward if they see a problem. That way, the union/employer structures that are in place can be used to prevent changes for the worse in the day-to-day conditions of the workplace.
-- Adapted from The Union Members Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The Darkness
As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. Justice William Douglas
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Building Trades Legislative Conference Opening Prayer
Brother Mike Cunningham of the Texas Building & Construction Trades Council offered a highly relevant excerpt from yesterday's opening prayer at the national Building & Construction Trades Department legislative conference. It's well worth the read:
Building Trades Legislative Conference:
Opening Prayer: April 4, 2011
Father Cletus Kiley
O God, your prophet Isaiah spoke your Word: "For Zion's sake I will not be silent,For Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet……"Like Isaiah this morning we must say we will not be silent.
We will not be quiet. Something has gone awry in this land. And guided by you, we must speak. We must act.
There was a time in this country when a man who worked hard could count on a fair day's pay. But not today!
There was a time in this country when, after a lifetime of hard work, a man could look forward to retirement. But not today!
There was a time in this country when we respected the women and men who worked in our schools, protected our cities, made our levels of government work. But not today!
Today somebody has changed the rules. And we will not be silent about it!
First came the Wall Street Gamblers who crippled our economy, gave themselves obscene bonuses and began the great Lie that those to blame were Labor unions and the Middle Class! This a Lie and we will not be silent about it!
When they couldn't fool us on that one, they blamed the immigrants, and pitted working people against each other trying to wreak havoc on a level playing field for workers.
When we saw that for what it is, they demonized our public sector unions. And we can only wonder, aren't our unions next?
Today they balance their budgets on the backs of the working class. Tax breaks go to the ultra wealthy. General Electric doesn't even pay a dime. They say our unions have too much voice in political life, but pretend that we don't see the hand of the Koch brothers and other billionaires underwriting their efforts.
O yes, Lord, something has gone terribly awry in the American House! But today we will not be silent about it!...
Sent from Jeff's iPhone
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