This article is a good historical explanation of public compensation but does not say much about the impact of inapporiate collective bargaining influences, locality and private sector comparisons etc. Federal pay for example is a mishmash of pay panels, locality estimates, grades, steps and longivity raises. It should be completely abolished (along with unionism) and re-established to pay federal employees what they are really worth in terms of their individual jobs, which, in most cases is far less that what they presently earn.
has the government employees union ever been tested in court as to its Constitutionality??
It appears to me to be a taxpayers versus union situation with bureaucrats from both sides being the contract negotiators. Is it right to strike against the tax payers??