[lbo-talk] The real problem: public sector unions!

[Miles Jackson]

Doug Henwood wrote:
> 
> On Mar 14, 2009, at 7:21 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote:
> 
>> I'm not exactly sure what to make of this or where it's coming from.
>>
>> http://ecoworld.com/blog/2008/10/07/abolish-public-employee-pensions/
>>
>> But: it's a bold new idea :-)
> 
> 
> No, don't know where it's coming from, but I'm really not sure about  this:
> 
> "the average government worker in California often earns 2-4x what  
> globalized private sector workers earn to do jobs of comparable worth"
> 
> First, the assumption that the private sector wage is somehow correct,  
> and the public sector wage is inflated, is based on a lot of  unexplored 
> assumptions, like the notion that the private sector worker  can't be 
> underpaid. And second, public sector workers are, on average,  more 
> educated than private sector workers, so the wage premium may  simply 
> reflect that.
> 
> Doug

I don't know about other public agencies, but my experience in public 
colleges and universities is completely inconsistent with the claim of 
inflated salaries.  Most of my colleagues who teach at the community 
college could earn far more in the private sector than they do as 
tenured faculty members (e.g., nursing, economics, business management, 
counseling).

Miles