Posted on 11/21/2012 7:43:35 AM PST by IbJensen
Federal employees—who work on average a month less than private-sector workers and get paid more—are lobbying for higher pay.
Government unions know that Congress is looking for ways to nip and tuck the federal budget, and they’re counting on being left out of the deal.
“The Federal-Postal Coalition—a group representing more than two dozen federal employee unions—pleaded with Congress on Monday to spare their members in any deal related to the ‘fiscal cliff,’” Government Executive reports.
Government unions went all out to re-elect the President—the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spent more than any other outside group on Obama’s campaign. While only about seven out of 100 private-sector workers are unionized, in government, that number rises to 36 out of 100.
Now they’re complaining that they don’t get paid enough.
Federal employees and Members of Congress are working under a two-year “pay freeze,” though “individual employees still remain eligible for raises if they receive promotions, step increases or performance awards,” explains Government Executive.
Of course, these are employees who are paid by the taxpayers. So their compensation deserves every measure of scrutiny. Unfortunately, faulty comparisons to the private sector have been muddying the waters—something Heritage’s Jason Richwine and the American Enterprise Institute’s Andrew G. Biggs have been working to correct.
When Richwine and Biggs wrote in The Washington Post November 18 that government unions were using bogus numbers to push for raises, a firestorm of reader comments erupted. As of this morning, there were 2,480 comments on the piece.
One of the main issues: “The Federal Salary Council, an advisory body of academics and leaders of public employee unions, suggested last month that federal workers are underpaid by an average of 35 percent relative to nonfederal employees.”
What’s behind the huge gap the council is claiming? For starters, a huge omission: benefits packages. Richwine and Biggs note:
First, the pay agent doesn’t consider fringe benefits, even though benefits for federal workers are famously generous. In addition to a 401(k)-type pension with a handsome employer match, federal workers receive a traditional defined-benefit pension—for which they contribute less than 1 percent of salary—as well as retiree health coverage. A Congressional Budget Office study published in January found that the federal retirement package was 2.7 times more generous than what is paid by large private-sector firms. Federal workers also receive more paid vacation and sick days.
According to their own reporting, government employees work fewer hours than private-sector employees. To measure this in the fairest way possible, the American Time Use Survey allows workers to record all of their time, including any hours spent working from home or outside normal business hours. Using this data, Richwine found that government employees worked about one month less per year than private-sector workers.
And not only do they work less, they get paid more.
A January 2012 report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) showed that federal government employees receive substantially higher compensation than similarly skilled workers in the private sector. The report’s methodology and conclusions were broadly similar to previous studies from both The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. Richwine, Biggs, and Heritage’s James Sherk concluded:
Federal compensation should be scaled back and reallocated to reward the most productive federal workers. The government should replace the seniority system with performance pay, paying higher salaries to good workers without guaranteeing raises for mediocre performers.
Government unions worked hard to re-elect President Obama, and now they’re expecting a payout at the expense of taxpayers. Any suggestion that their pay is below market levels is completely false.
I work for a school district and have met more women who work there just for the medical benefits. Their husbands are all self employed.
I'm off because I'm a TEACHER.
Most businesses no longer have parties or bonuses, not even when I had a real job like programming for Oracle and not this crap ass teaching that I now have to do.
You, sir, do not seem to be living in the same country that I do.
Hope that doesn't burst your little poor-me bubble.
Hell yes! keep cutting their salaries until they are like the rest of us.
The Federal government cannot give Christmas parties or bonuses. That would violate the separation of church and state. Are all the atheists employed by the Federal government opposing bonuses and parties?
Oh, puleeeeese! I don’t think I can take “If I worked for a private company, I’d make so much more” kind of stuff anymore. As I always say to these “public servants”...Do it...do it...do it! None ever have.
My Father once told me that the only job you can complain about is the one you took because you had a gun to your head.
What was the line from the Godfather? Either your signature or your brains will be on that contract.
If anyone doesn’t like their Job, they can quit and find another one without retribution.
The VA is on the forefront of Spinal Cord injury research.
My great christmas party was 35 years ago, when was yours?
I have your back on this one. Are there some government positions that are overpaid/over manned, hell yes. But that is not the norm. Most of us make pretty close to what our non-government counterparts make.
Thank you! There isn't exactly a high demand for surly, morbidly obese DMV "workers" out there in the private sector.
“You might think differently if you take a hard look at retirement plans in the private sector.”
I doubt that. A federal civilian employee only gets an annuity of 1% for every year of employment. Currently, it is based upon your high three years of salary.
So, a federal employee that works for 40 years that makes 70K a year at retirement would get an annuity of 40% of their salary during the time highest three years (usually the last three). How many people actually work for the same employer for 40 years these days? Anyway this employee’s annuity would only be 28K a year after 40 years of service. Hardly living in the tall grass.
There is also a “matching” 401 program. IF an employee will contribute up to 5% of their salary it will be matched by 5% from the government. It isn’t that great of a deal, plus the options of plans to invest your money in are very poor...some of the worst out there.
Then, federal employees can draw Social Security....IF it is still there in the future.
No, it is not the wondrus retirement program most think it is.
BTW - Federal employee health insurance is very expensive. That is why many federal employees are retired military that are covered under TRICARE. To have decent medical coverage....you pay much. And many medical facilities don’t want to take federal employee health insurance.
Ummmm.... No. Most private businesses might be off tomorrow, but only take maybe 7 paid holidays per year. No veterans day, no MLK birthday, no Columbus Day, etc., etc. Most private businesses have not given raises for any reason in the past 4-5 years. Most private businesses are not giving Christmas bonuses.
“Oh, puleeeeese! I don’t think I can take “If I worked for a private company, I’d make so much more” kind of stuff anymore. As I always say to these “public servants”...Do it...do it...do it! None ever have.”
You sound like someone who is just jeolous you couldn’t get a federal job.
Does that include health care and retirement bennies?
My FiL is retired from the gub’mint and lives on what can only be described as an extravagant pension. He was a senior technocrat, admittedly, but he lives well.
goobermint pensions seem to be what's most quickly killing the most economically screwed states.
But once TSA is unionized, I'm sure we'll all get fantastically better groping,not to mention a once-a-year Greek style shutdown.
Health care for my family was a net zippo ... price was about the same. Both have 401K plans, both pension plans ...
I’ve had a federal job (USMC), post office and a couple state gigs before I saw the light in my mid 20’s. No...I am definitely not “jealous”.
This thread is a mirror of the nation we live in: nearly as many posts by government workers as by those who pay for the government.
Many of us remember that when we were young we might see, during the course of a day, a postal worker, a cop, some teachers and a county road grader or snowplow driver...that was government for us and we were grateful for it.
Those workers saw themselves as public servants and we were glad that they (and of course ALL military personnel) were on the job.
Nowadays I can’t turn around but to encounter an imperious tax assessor, tax collector, building inspector, fee collector, councilman, commissioner, regulator, permitter, faculty member, government union boss, designated government protected identity group member (or his or her lawyer), etc. etc. etc.
Those who are paying the tax bill are now also somehow working FOR those who collect and spend the proceeds. And they not only tell me what to do and how much it will cost me for the privilege, many of them also seem to despise me for trying to do anything at all.
Furthermore, as can be seen in this thread, they also wish to make clear just how damn tough they have it, apparently because of ingrates like me.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-08-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Is the narrative is now taking a 180 turn now that Dear Leader has got a 2nd term? In 2 years, Obama has made federal employees destitute, too!
http://www.dailyjobcuts.com/
so soon we'll see sites like this for federal employees?
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