--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wgm4u" <wgm4u@...> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" do.rflex@ wrote: > > > Over time, organized labor managed to abolish child labor all > > together, as well as institute an 8 hour work day, 40 hour work > > week, mandatory breaks, safety guidelines, grievance procedures, > > a minimum wage, the concept of a work free weekend, workers > > comp, pensions, health safeguards, and paid sick days, vacation > > days, and holidays. > > > > If you enjoy any of these things, thank a union member. > > > I don't think *Public Unions* accomplished *ANY* of those things!! Primarily it was *Private Unions* who did all of this years ago. All public unions have done is benefit from it, they're phonies...... >
Why do you have such hostility toward public workers, BillyG? The Wisconsin and Ohio public workers make far less than private workers of the same educational level : Wisconsin, Ohio public employees are not overpaid Contrary to conventional wisdom that public employees across our nation are collecting bigger paychecks than their counterparts in the private sector, the Economic Policy Institute has found <http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/wisconsin_public_servants_a\ lready_face_a_compensation_penalty/> quite the contrary. That's true in Wisconsin and Ohio, which have become the latest battle fronts in the right-wing's 65-year-long effort to gut the legal collective bargaining rights of Americans that were established after decades of bloody struggle during the New Deal. In Wisconsin, which has become a focal point in this debate, public servants already take a pretty hefty pay cut just for the opportunity to serve their communities ... The figure below shows that when comparing the total compensation (which includes non-wage benefits such as health care and pensions) of workers with similar education, public-sector workers consistently make less than their privatesector peers. Workers with a bachelor's degree or morewhich constitute nearly 60% of the state and local workforce in Wisconsinare compensated between $20,000 less (if they just have a bachelor's degree) to over $82,000 a year less (if they have a professional degree, such as in law or medicine). SEE GRAPH: http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac74/JacksonBrown/Economics/wisconsin\ _public_sector.jpg [Photobucket] The deficit that Wisconsin faces is caused by the current economic downturn and the recent tax cut package. It has nothing to do with the compensation of the people that educate our children, keep the streets safe and clean, keep dangerous chemicals out of our water, and keep insurance companies from taking advantage of us. These public servants are already paid less than those in the private sector, and nationally, this gap has actually been increasing over the past few decades ... The situation in Ohio is quite similar. In a "rigorous analysis" of full-time state and local government workers in Ohio, EPI found that they are undercompensated by 6 percent. The analysts screened for variables including hours of work, organizational size, gender, race, ethnicity, experience, citizenship and disability. Among EPI's findings: On an annual basis, fullâtime state and local workers and school employees are undercompensated by 6.0% in Ohio, in comparison with otherwise similar privateâsector workers. When comparisons are made for differences in annual hours worked, the gap remains, albeit at a smaller percentage of 3.5%. Ohio publicâsector workers are more highly educated than privateâsector workers; 49% of fullâ time publicâsector workers hold at least a fourâyear college degree, compared with 26% in the privateâsector. Ohio's state and local governments and school districts pay collegeâeducated workers 25% less in total compensation, on average, than private employers. In addition to having higher education levels, Ohio state and local government employees, on average, are also more experienced (23.2 years) than their privateâsector counterparts (21.7 years). More here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/21/947132/-Wisconsin,-Ohio-public-\ employees-are-not-overpaid
