You may have heard that public employees are living high on the hog at the expense of Wisconsin taxpayers. Or that state and government employees take home fat paychecks and plush benefit packages -- while the rest of us make sacrifices. Many of us know that these myths are simply political talking points. Now, we have proof. A new, non-partisan study by the Economic Policy Institute sets the record straight and concludes that Wisconsin public sector employees are underpaid when compared to their private sector counterparts.
Yet some politicians want to circumvent the negotiation process and force major benefit concessions on working families that are already stretched to the limit. Please take a moment to send an e-mail to your Representatives in support of public employees.
According to the report done by University of Rutgers Professor Jeffrey H. Keefe, the annual wages of public sector workers are 14.2 percent lower than wages for comparable workers in the private sector. Even when benefits, such as health care and pension plans are also considered, total public employee annual compensation is still 8.2 percent lower than their private sector counterparts.
“Don’t get caught up in the political rhetoric” warns Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt. “Many of us have known that our brothers and sisters in the public sector aren’t responsible for the budget crisis, and that cuts to their compensation are not the way to solve Wisconsin’s financial problems. We want to work with the Governor to find balanced solutions that will create jobs and protect – not attack – the middle class.”
The fact of the matter is when you compare “apples to apples” and account for education levels, years of experience, organizational size and a host of other factors, public employees are compensated less than private sector employees.
“Wisconsin public service employees take great pride in the services they provide to keep Wisconsin’s families safe and our economy working,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. “This study confirms what many of us have suspected; namely that public sector workers choose, through their collective bargaining rights, to pay for stable benefit packages in the form of lower wages.”
The Economic Policy Institute has set the record straight. Wisconsin public employees are undercompensated when compared to private sector workers.
The complete report from researcher Jeffrey H. Keefe is available at the Economic Policy Institute’s website: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/6759/
We need everyone's help! Is WI a Communist state? I feel like we are with our new governor.
Posted by: Lynn Binder | 02/12/2011 at 08:08 AM
These employees who keep us and our children safe and who respond to dangerous situations - every day - should not have their health and other benefits further attacked! They have already had wages frozen for four years as a balance to benefit costs and now they have unpaid furlough days. Please look further to find actual waste in State spending and make your cuts there.
Posted by: Sandy D | 02/19/2011 at 10:11 AM