By the Numbers, Public Workers Defy Anti-Government Stereotypes

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6455/new_england_government_workers_deft_stereotypes/

Friday September 17 8:39 am

By Michelle Chen


(Photo: Santa Cruz Indymedia, Bradley @ riseup.net)

Want to get a disgruntled worker really mad? Just point to his arch enemy: the civil servant. You know, the shiftless paper-pusher, fattened on our tax dollars, the epitome of “waste, fraud and abuse.”

Alright, this might sound harsh to those of us who still think the government has some useful functions in society today. But bashing on the government and its workers has become a favorite pastime for conservatives like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has argued that public employees enjoy undeservedly lavish compensation packages while their private-sector counterparts grapple with shrinking paychecks. So the logic goes: Why should struggling families' tax dollars finance the bloated wages of bureaucrats?

An analysis of New England public employees by the Center for Economic Policy and Research and Political Economy Research Institute helps dispel the myth of the “spoiled” government worker. Researchers found that New England's state and local workers are actually comparatively disadvantaged. After taking into account variables like age and education level, "state and local workers actually earn less, on average, than their private-sector counterparts."

While it's true that the public workers in the study have higher average incomes, this is primarily due to their higher ages and educational credentials. All in all:

While low-wage workers in New England receive a small wage premium in state and local jobs (about 5 percent for a typical low-wage worker), the typical middle-wage worker earns about 3 percent less in state and local work, and the typical high-wage worker makes about 13 percent less than a similar private-sector worker.

The government workers do tend to have better benefits, like sick leave and health insurance. But the researchers explained, “Benefits offered by state and local governments are roughly as generous as those offered by large firms in the private sector" (presumably when they're not busy laying people off in droves).

FULL story at link.