So How Much Do Public Union Workers Really Make?

Fox News ^ | March 01, 2011 | John R. Lott Jr.

[JohnRLott]

President Obama lashed out at Republicans Monday for having "denigrated or vilified" public union employees. Without collective bargaining and the ability to go on strike, he said we wouldn't be able to attract "the best and the brightest to public service." Are public employees simply the best and the brightest? Or are we simply lavishing them with much better employment deals than their private counterparts?

To measure how attractive a job is, economists study how employees vote with their feet -- that is, comparing the rate at which different categories of employees voluntarily quit their jobs.

Over the last six months, private workers have been 3.4 times more likely to quit their jobs than either state and local or federal workers. Indeed, no private industry comes close to the low "quit rate" for government employees. Manufacturing, which has the lowest rate, still faces twice the quit rate as the government. . . .

[Carry_Okie]

High time this data entered public media discussion...

...and FReepers have to do it for them.

Thank you, Dr. Lott.

[Arrowhead1952]

Without collective bargaining and the ability to go on strike, he said we wouldn't be able to attract "the best and the brightest to public service."

Here are what the best and brightest public service (government workers) are best at doing.

[GraceG]

[ Buddy of mine took a managerial job with the city. I realize that’s not Fed, bnt the bureaucracy is the same.

One of the guys in his his dept was a real dog. Showed up when the spirit moved him, didn’t work too hard when he was actually present.

Buddy tried everything that he knew to motivate this clown, then finally gave up went to his supervisor looking to fire the guy.

Supervisor said, “Honestly? It will be faster if you went down to this guys cube, shot him, did the time, then came back here to work.”

So, my friend did what was done to him ... pawned this loser off on the next new supervisor that came into the department. ]

If you want to get fired from a job like this all you have to do is to work as hard as you can and soon you will make all the other drones there look bad by compaison and group envy will kick in and all the drones will convince your supervisor to fire you.

[RWGinger]

You asked
“”...A couple of weeks ago, Obama told leaders of private companies at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that they had an obligation to hire more workers regardless of whether it meant they would lose money on hiring them...”
*GASP*! And that is not a fake gasp...I missed this. He ACTUALLY said this????? He SAID IT?”

yes in a manner of speaking he said that. But remember he is a commie POS who has never had his own skin in the game
this if rom his Chamber of commerce speech and he tries to make it clear he thinks they should hire Americans.
‘ I understand that you’re under incredible pressure to cut costs and keep your margins up. I understand the significance of your obligations to your shareholders. I get it. But as we work with you to make America a better place to do business, ask yourselves what you can do for America. Ask yourselves what you can do to hire American workers, to support the American economy, and to invest in this nation. That’s what I want to talk about today - the responsibilities we all have to secure the future we all share.”

He keeps saying he understands but he has no clue. and the ONLY reason he is asking for this is his poll numbers are suffering

[shotgun]

Here in Washington State, after all the original Public Employee Retirement System 1 (PERS) issues, the state and most other public agencies changed all of that. Back in the day (70’s and earlly 80’s) peaople were retiring form the state with multiple 1000’s of hours of banked sick leave and vacation. Along with all of the early 50 somethings retiring for hang nails etc and these large payouts were also calculated in to their total retirement and made thier check even larger.

They changed the PERS system now and it is capped at 2% per year of service of your highest grossing 5 years of employement.

Upon leaving a person is no longer entitled to any sick pay unless they are retiring and that is usually capped at 25% of 1040 hours, vacation is paid out up to 240 hours max, and the pension fund can be paid out after any employment seperation other than retirement subject to early withdrawal penalty of 20% plus Uncle Sam’s take of 10% and cannot be rolled into a private 401k plan. And if a person does take their pension out and then gets back in to public sector work they have 5 years to pay the early withdrawal back to PERS at current market value and not the value at the time of withdrawal...

How do I know? because I have jumped back and forth between private and public sectors many times...

[Buckeye McFrog]

I think the real issue is that they get to retire at absurd ages like 52. This makes their pensions unsustainable (as they could continue to draw them for another 40 years), and means that transit agencies and other departments don’t have cash to actually operate because it’s all going to fifty-something retirees sitting around on their arses.

[RandallFlagg]

So How Much Do Public Union Workers Really Make?

Are there any links that show the public union wages by state?

[Vendome]

There is an epidemic of Public employees looting the taxpayer.

Nationwide we are paying fealty and bowing in adoration to our public employees as they demand, each year, a larger share of the taxpayer wallet!

For instance, here in San Jose, CA our public employees have the most generous pay and benefits package, probably compared to anywhere.

At least that is the way it feels after looking at the numbers:

We employ approximately 945 people in the Fire Department

Of those employees there are 675 Firemen, that’s firemen, who earn in excess of $100,000 per year.

The city and that should really read “The Taxpayer” pays for their Medical / Dental to the tune of about $14,287 Dollarino’s!
The taxpayer further kicks in another $30,000 to $60,000 for their retirement package.

So let’s take a fire fighter who earns only $125,000(approx) and add in the Medical/Dental of about $14,287(which comes out of the tax payers wallet) and add in the taxpayer contribution to their retirement of say $37,000.

That fire fighter actually makes:

$125,000 (Salary approx)
$14,287 (Medical/Dental)
$37,000 (retirement)
$176,287 per year! Total compensation

Oh! And he gets something called “Other Cash Compensation” of around $14,000 bringing his real wage to $190,287! Per Year!

So let’s take a fire fighter who earns only $150,000(approx) and add in the Medical/Dental of about $14,287(which comes out of the tax payers wallet) and add in the taxpayer contribution to their retirement of say $37,000.

That fire fighter actually makes:
$150,000 (Salary approx)
$14,287 (Medical/Dental)
$40,000 (retirement)
$204,287 per year! Total compensation

Oh! And he gets something called “Other Cash Compensation” of around $14,000 bringing his real wage to $249,287! Per Year!

Look at those figures again.

There are approximately 945 employees in the Fire Department and of those 675 have a total compensation of at least $176,287 per year! That’s at least 2/3rds of their department making easily more than 3 times what the average citizen makes here in San Jose.

Firefighters, on average, earn more than twice the median income of a typical San Jose resident ($66,000 approx.)

By the way, those 675 firefighters earn more than our Mayor!

Now let’s look at the San Jose Police Department

We employ approximately 2,010 people in the Police Department

Of those employees there are 1,215 Policemen, that’s Policemen, who earn in excess of $100,000 per year.

The city and that should really read “The Taxpayer” pays for their Medical / Dental to the tune of about $14,287 Dollarino’s!
The taxpayer further kicks in another $30,000 to $40,000 for their retirement package.

So let’s take a Police Officer who earns only $125,000(approx) and add in the Medical/Dental of about $14,287(which comes out of the tax payers wallet) and add in the taxpayer contribution to their retirement of say $37,000.

That Police Officer actually makes:
$125,000 (Salary approx)
$14,287 (Medical/Dental)
$37,000 (retirement)
$176,287 per year! Total compensation

Oh! And he gets something called “Other Cash Compensation” of around $14,000 bringing his real wage to $190,287! Per Year!

So let’s take a Police Officer who earns only $150,000(approx) and add in the Medical/Dental of about $14,287(which comes out of the tax payers wallet) and add in the taxpayer contribution to their retirement of say $37,000.

That Police Officer actually makes:
$150,000 (Salary approx)
$14,287 (Medical/Dental)
$40,000 (retirement)
$204,287 per year! Total compensation

Oh! And he gets something called “Other Cash Compensation” of around $14,000 bringing his real wage to $249,287! Per Year!

Look at those figures again.

There are approximately 2,010 employees in the Police Department and of those 1,215 have a total compensation of at least $176,287 per year! That’s at least 2/3rds of their department making easily more than 3 times what the average citizen makes here in San Jose.(That number holds true if you factor in 225 jobs are most likely part time and earn less than $10,000 per year such as “Cross Guards, radio dispatch, etc. even they get some sort of “Other Cash Compensation”.

Police Officers, on average, earn more than twice the median income of a typical San Jose resident($66,000 approx.)

Oh! And did I mention that 1,215 Police Officers earn more than our Mayor!


So for Public Safety we have some 1,890 employees earning at least 3 times more than the average citizen of San Jose and even more than our terrific Mayor, Chuck Reed!




Heck, we even have Librarians earning more than $100k per year with one who makes a fabulous $223K!

And check this out. We kick in the following for her grand salary:

Sick and Vacation Payouts *** Other Cash Compensation Deferred Compensation City Paid City Paid Medical / Dental City Paid Retirement Contribution
$12,420 $4,200 $0 $6,246 $52,681 $75,547


That means she actually made some $298,000(approx) Last Year!

A Fr ic kin Librarian? Really?

If I look at jobs such as Air Conditioning Mechanic or Network Engineer their wages are typical of a private sector job except for their benefits package, which they would never earn in a private job.

And dang if a Street Sweeper doesn’t earn some $85,000 in total compensation.

How in the heck is this fair?

Don’t forget, if you retire from the Police/Fire Department you are paid 90% of your 3 highest earning years.

All you do is put in a tremendous amount of overtime your last three years, bringing your total earnings to about $200,000 and you can retire with $180,000 per year for the rest of your life! Oh and you get to keep your Gold Plated Mecical/Dental plan Grati and you can buy good and services all around the country for less than your private sector neighbors can.

Ain’t it great!

Makes me think I should have gone on to become a LEO and I could retire in just a couple of years, print some business cards and hand them out at parties when people ask me what I do for a living.

Who in the private sector can retire at 50 years old with a $180k a year guaranteed check and then pretend to be in business or have that for a safety net if you actually do something?

 

Think about this:

If an Officer or Fireman retires at the age of 50 he can be expected to live til at least 70 if not 80 years old and beyond.  At that rate for 20 years of retirement the taxpayer will hand the retiree some $2,000,000 for 20 years of retirement and over $3.5 million for 30 years of retirement!

 

Doesn't that strike anyone as just plain unfair and outrageous!?

 

And get this, due to collective bargaining all other departments have similar retirement packages.

 

Now multiply those numbers time the current amount of retirees and then start adding more retirees every year and the numbers are astounding!

 

We simply cannot continue to pay government workers, at all levels, these lucrative retirement packages and nearly free Medical services.

And don’t any of you get cute about the whole thing. I personally know off the top of my head 10 former LEO who have some weird business, supposedly and they are only a few years older than me.

Wanna confirm my numbers above? Well then click thee to this website, the City of San Jose 2010 Employees Salaries:
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/salary/Default.aspx

 

At some point it comes down to this:

 

How much more will the taxpayer continue to put up with the evergrowing pressure on their finances to support an over compensated public employee and still be expected to finance their lavish retirement packages?

[arrogantsob]

Rush keeps saying the Wisconsin public sector workers are paid twice as much as private but that is clearly not true.

[Vendome]

LOL

Oh boy....

[Avid Coug]

Two of my employees quit their jobs with my company during the past two years to take cushy, lifetime jobs with the local city water/sewer crews. Both of them spoke of their amazement at how little gets done in their new work environment, and both were literally told to slow down their work and quit making everyone else look bad. In no uncertain terms. The standard stories about government jobs are really true.

[RandallFlagg]

He was also saying that Wisconsin union teachers make $89,500 per year. His source was Fox News, who’s source was some book that costs $75 that had statistics in it.

I wish it was easier to look these things up.

[RandallFlagg]

Sorry. Fox News’s source was CQPress:

http://www.cqpress.com/product/Education-State-Rankings-2011-2012.html

(I still had that window open from last week)

[dearolddad]

Have you ever talked to the IRS?!

Or... the DMV or the USPS.

[KeyLargo]

Wallstreet Journal * FEBRUARY 26, 2011

Wisconsin’s Newest Progressive
The Republican governor wants a new social contract.

By JOHN FUND

Snip:

“I very much want to avoid laying people off,” Mr. Walker says. But his experience as county executive taught him that “not everyone feels that way. During budget crises I would push for a couple of weeks where workers would only put in 35 hours so we didn’t have to cut jobs, but union leaders would say no. It’s reactionary.” He says there’s a gulf between the interests of union leaders and those of their members. “When they say it’s about worker rights, it’s really about big union bosses running their own political dynasties.” That’s why the parts of his plan that most stick in the craw of union leaders are the ones that would limit their power.

---

Snip:

Mr. Walker says that the employee rights that people care about are protected by civil-service rules, not collective bargaining. “We have the strongest protections in the country on grievance procedures, merit hiring, and just cause for disciplining and terminating employees,” he says. “None of that changes under my plan.” Mr. Walker notes that the single largest group affected by his proposal are the 30,000 workers at the University of Wisconsin who were only granted collective-bargaining rights in 2009. “If they only got them two years ago, how can you say they’re set in stone?”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704150604576166034245532792.html#printMode

[Let's Roll]

How could one be more of a moron? IF American companies could afford to hire American workers, they d*mn well would. Why would they want the hassle of hiring overseas? Really, does odumbo think at all?

[dervish]

Nice work. Thank you.

[hal ogen]

In my life experience at least 90% of government workers I have had to deal with on any level did not have good knowledge of their area of responsibility, had a bad attitude and bad work ethic. That goes from teachers to house inspectors to toll takers to police to... Probably if 1/3 were fired tomorrow no one would notice other than their co”workers” who might...just might, be asked to do a little more “work”. It is pathetic.

[Farmer Dean]

Try talking to the ATF if you want a real treat.

[COBOL2Java]

It appears to me that unions generally try to ensure that their workers don't have to work too hard -- with mandatory breaks guaranteed...

And sometimes those breaks can go on for HOURS...