Posted on 05/19/2006 4:25:10 PM PDT by lauriehelds
The pay gap between private and public sector employees seems to be a given. Just this week, 10 congressmen made their case for a higher 2007 civilian pay raise than President Bush has requested by citing a 30 percent private-public gap reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"The federal government may never be able to compete with the private sector, dollar for dollar, but we must ensure that we do not fall further behind in the battle for talent," Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va.; Jon Porter, R-Nev.; Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and others said in a letter to fellow members.
But a new paper from the libertarian Washington-based think tank the Cato Institute argues that the pay gap actually travels in the other direction. Pointedly titled "Federal Pay Outpaces Private-Sector Pay," the paper by Chris Edwards, the institute's director of tax policy studies, makes the case for freezing government salaries.
By bundling federal benefits -- including defined pensions, the Thrift Savings Plan and health care subsidies -- together with wages, Edwards calculated that the average federal worker earned $100,178 in 2004, compared to $51,876 in salary and benefits for the average private-sector worker. Those numbers were based on statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
"The federal civilian workforce has become an elite island of secure and high-paid workers, separated from the ocean of private-sector American workers who must compete in today's dynamic economy," Edwards wrote.
In an interview, Edwards said he is trying to stir the pot on an issue that has no real adversaries. Federal employee unions are so vocal on pay issues, and Washington-area congressmen, including Republicans like Davis, who chairs the Government Reform Committee, are loyal to the many federally employed voters in their districts, Edwards said.
He said he suspects the BLS studies that find such a marked pay gap, and which do not take benefits into account, are flawed.
"There are questions about how these comparisons are done," Edwards said. "If you, say, look at a government lawyer versus a private lawyer, or accountants, the responsibilities and the hours worked per week can be quite radically different."
Most compelling, he argued, is the quit rate for federal employees, which is quite low and suggests that workers are satisfied with their pay.
Edwards said in his paper that some academic studies have found government workers to be overpaid, but his citation is a 1985 study by Steven Venti at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Why did he pull from a 20-year-old study? Because, he said, there has been so much agreement in recent years on the pay gap that no one has bothered to complete an updated independent analysis.
So what. Gubbermint jobs are better that private sector and Federal jobs are pure cream. Secretaries get paid outrageous amounts and minorities get great Fed jobs in the DC area due to affirmative action. The benefits are better than what GM workers get
Again -- if you don't want to compete in the private sector then why even bother? The private sector is a competition pure and simple. The winner gets the money, chicks and corner office -- the loser gets squat. He's home in a studio apartment eating hot pockets on a Saturday night. This is the way it's always been and always will be.
They also are subjected to anthrax attacks ~ something that hardly ever happens at GM.
Is Dan Rather doing anything for 60 minutes? He could go up there to Mr. Tokenman with one of them there hidden cameras and a pocket full of nickels and record his dumb butt blabbing about who he works for and then Dan could broadcast all over the USA this dweeb in action. Millions of Americans could then travel to Boston with their pocket change and oblige Mr. Tokenman with their change! We could really "change" his world!
(Do I need pyschiatric treatment for thinking this way?)
Surely, you jest....!
Federal civilian employees do not get the same amount of time as the military.
Do I remember correctly that when Clinton shut the government down everyone got paid for days they didn't work.
Benefits are non stop in the gov. sector and in California the state is even more generous with flex time, accumulated sick and vacation days, paid pension, paid medical, early retirement at 50 with little loss of pension payments and on and on and on. A California court clerk makes about $80,000 a year. Responsibilities are not much different than an general office clerk's who makes $13 to $15 per hour in the private sector. Full staffing is usually the case in government vs. the private sector. Termination is almost impossible and the entire city hall and state buildings empty out entirely at the first stroke of 5pm on the clock, management and union employees. Show me a private sector mgt staff that can time their departure so narrowly. My boss would probably remark, "leaving early today Joan?"
As a retiree I have every day off ~ sometimes I forget that it's Wednesday and not Saturday (for example), and I get to sleep in all I wish.
Another comedian. You think federales are immune from job stress?
Response: Translation-most of the well paying jobs have long gone. Those that remain are in the process of leaving. Welcome to the new Third World Hell Hole kiddies!
This depends on which part of the fed employs you. TVA, for example, does recognize unused sick time at retirement, though not in a 1:1 relationship used towards service time. But there is a benefit to NOT using sick time there. It's a useless benefit if you have a major illness and need to take the time off.
I lost over 250 days of accumulated sick time when I left the private sector 5 years ago. No compensation, no nothing.
There's a fair amount of variance between the various federal agencies.
I hate comparing jobs, and I hesitated to post, because some of the higher ups that I work with (Government workers), really know their jobs, and you can see how they got the positions they got. But truly for the every day work (the stuff that I see) the level of mistakes is unbelievable. These people would not be working for my company. 95% is obviously the minimum, but the contrast was pointed out only because of the level of expertise that we must reach, as opposed to their own employees.
BTW...Thank you for your service. Anyone that does work for "us" does deserve our respect!
There is a reason Democrats get 50% of the vote.
Most of their support that doesn't come from socialists, morons, and trial lawyers comes from Gubmint workers.
Response: Translation-most of the well paying jobs have long gone. Those that remain are in the process of leaving. Welcome to the new Third World Hell Hole kiddies!
Cute, but hardly accurate. Couple years ago I'm talking to an African guy who had been in the country about six seconds. He says, "Capitalism is very easy. Easy. Either find something that people want to buy or find a way to make someone else money, they will pay you well to make them money."
My response was, "Dude, in ten years you'll be a millionaire. Most Americans haven't figured that out."
You got that right.
It is my experience that federal workers are paid much better, with much greater benefits, than are private sector workers. I have been a federal civil servant for over 20 years. I have always thought that the "pay gap" was propaganda.
There are exceptions, to be sure, but the benefits *are* generous.
If the pay were not competitive, we wouldn't have 20 competitors for every open position.
As a retiree I have every day off ~ sometimes I forget that it's Wednesday and not Saturday (for example), and I get to sleep in all I wish.
Get off your butt and mow the lawn!
Best thing about sick leave, though, is NOT HAVING TO USE IT.
Sick leave is time to be used in times of emergencies, not extra pay. No private sector employee I know is able to cash in sick leave upon retirement.
However, I do know a lot of government employees who are able to cash in their sick time for money. Almost all the Wisconsin state and local government employees get extra pay (and that is what it becomes -- pay for work never done) when they retire.
My experience with friends who work for the Feds is that they have good working conditions, low stress, and generous benefits. I don't begrudge good working conditions and good pay, but government employees need to recognize that they don't have it bad.
The private sector is becoming tougher and tougher, benefits are being cut, people are being laid off and raises are virtually nonexistent. Rising health care premiums are leading to reduced takehome pay.
If you work for the government, be thankful for the positives and don't try to make it into some awful form of indentured servitude.
...and this from a guy who went from a genuine Third World hell hole to NYC. He figured it out in record time.
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