workers in government

1. 60

   JON EWALLposted 14 years ago

   Just recently a report came out regarding employment.The report stated that the average pay in the private market was $40.00/hr. and the average pay in the public sector was $70/hr.
   
   In the public sector the fringe benefits also are higher.Could it be that in the public sector 50% of the workers are in unions.
   Maybe government needs to go back to the time when workers were considered civil service employees.
   
   Part of the problems in the country is that government continues to grow larger.One can imagine that if the union employee is being paid higher than the private sector, a correction must be made by governments.
   
   During the recession years 2008 and 2009 congress took their annual raises.Government workers got raises while the private marketplace went into a recession.
   
   It may be the time that the people should question their elected officials as to why government employees are exempt from a downward economy.
   
   Congress and the president failed in the first year of the Obama administration to get the jobs that he promised in the campaign for the presidency.

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      Tadeusz598posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The comparasion only makes much sense when you are comparing like job with like.
      
      In general, when you do that, you discover that actually private sector empolyment is better renumerated. Traditionally, people worked for the state because alothough it offered lower pay, it compensated by offering greater security of tenure.
      
      The reason the average pay in the state sector is higher is probably because state sector positions demand higher levels of educational attainment, while many private sector positions such as in retail and service require low skills levels. It may also be because state employees have greater union leverage.
      
      I would add also, that the private sector is often extremely mean towards lower level employees, paying them very badly, so badly, indeed that many have to hold down several jobs just to get by. That the state does not pay so ungenerously is surely intrinsically a good thing.
      
      And if those state employees have money to spend now then that is a good thing: they can visit shops and restaurants and employ private sector workers in these difficult times.
      
      
      It may be the time that the people should question why the private sector has been so disasterous. Why the private sector car industry, its banks and financial services have been so badly run?
      
      
      Obama had the misfortune to inherit Bush's legacy, a legacy so shameful that it will take years for the US economy to recover. So sniping at Obama is missing the point rather.

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      cosetteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      actually i have worked in both the public and private sector, and have always found that the government pays less than private companies. well, for technical positions anyway. much less.

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2. 0

   Ghost32posted 14 years ago

   I'd settle for figuring out where on Earth the average private sector pay comes out to $40 an hour in the first place.

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   1. 79

      ngurecoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Once you collect taxes from the people, you have to return the same money back to the people using various outlets. One of the best political outlets is through government workers.
      
      The main decisions are made by government workers and if it was to happen you pay them less then the outcome will be that they will not leave any cent on the table for the private sector.

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   2. 61

      GNelsonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Fretting about how much a working person makes is like beating the horse because the wheel broke.  Management needs to buy the grease and schedule the maintenance and they didn’t do it.  They take the credit when things are going great but blame the working guy when they screw it up.  Have you looked at their pay lately?  200 times the average worker and growing.   I don't hear much about that.

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3. 79

   skyfireposted 14 years ago

   Here in asia, government workers do corruption,bribe and do everything to eat green paper and nickel. 99.991% government workers are corrupted and if any wanna-be non-corrupted joins them then they take him down in all possible ways. Spot a non-corrupt worker in any asian government and you'll be millionaire.

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4. 67

   MikeNVposted 14 years ago

   Then numbers don't add up.  I read a report posted in Yahoo Finance and this ABC News Article:
   
   http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4625654
   
   
   "The average American this year made something like $37,000. Celebrities went into the stratosphere," said Parade Magazine editor Janice Kaplan.
   
   The Yahoo Finance article stated 75% of Americans make 60k a year or less.
   
   The work week is 8 hours a day x 50 weeks = 2,000 hours.  2 Weeks of vacation not included.
   
   So the math is pretty easy.
   
   $37,000 is $18.50 per hour not including benefits.

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   1. 74

      WriteAngledposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Two weeks vacation! I'm glad that's not me. As a freelance, I work 70+ hour weeks when I work, but I also have one or two long (3-4 day) weekends off most months, plus 4-5 holidays abroad for 1-2 weeks each time per year.
      
      Do US employers really only offer 2 weeks vacation? I thought I was hard done by as an employee in the UK when I had the rights to 5 weeks vacation per year.

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      1. 70

         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hey WriteAngled,
         
         Not everyone in America earns 2 weeks of vacation. It depends on other factors. Example: my mother where she works and your length of employment was giving her 4 weeks every year.
         
         Most average dead-end jobs get 2 weeks vacation, after 6 months - 1 year on the job.
         
         Hope that cleared it up.

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         1. 61

            tobey100posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Wages, vacation time and hours worked can be very tricky mainly because what sounds really good isn't.  For example, I'm a salaried employee in law enforcement criminal investigation.  I make roughly $45 an hour, however, I work about 80 hours a week so even though my salary sounds great, i wind up making only about $18 an hour.  I get a 3 week vacation but so far haven't had one in 6 years.  thank God I like what I do.

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5. 59

   LaViejaposted 14 years ago

   I'm moving to the States! I work in the public sector here in London and I can tell you that none of us get that amount!

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6. 87

   IzzyMposted 14 years ago

   There are many people in the public sector overpaid, especially the bosses.
   If what was quoted was the average pay, then the office girl is on $3 per hour and her boss is on $200!
   Governments for a while during the 80s and 90s have been increasing public sector pay to try and match the private sector (to attract better recruits). Trouble is when the private sector went tits up, all the workers had to accept a pay cut but public sector retained their higher wages.

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7. 79

   brimancandyposted 14 years ago

   I don't agree with any of these statistics. It is next to impossible to figure the average income of every working american verses those who work in goverment jobs.
   
   The only thing that may be true, is that the wages of governemnt workers may be going up slightly, while the pay of the average american worker is going down. Mainly because corporations are sending the message to workers that if they do not want to work for less money, they can pick up shop and move to a place like Mexico, and find people willing to work for a fraction of what workers are making today.
   
   Rates of pay in the private sector go up and down like a yoyo.
   Someone like me, who was once earning $23,000.00 a year, now has in income of $0. per year. So figure that in.
   
   You also have to consider all the corporate hot shots, and those getting rich overnite on the stock market. Someone who might have been rich last month, is now barely making any money.
   
   Also you have to consider where the people who come up with these numbers are getting their information. Certainly not from the entire workforce on either side. usually, they poll about 500 people on both sides to come up with their numbers.
   
   Those people do not include the unemployed, the homeless, or
   people working 3 jobs to get a $10,000.00 a year income, while trying to feed a family of 5. The media wouldn't even think to check there.
   
   So, when you read numbers like this, give Santa Claus a call and tell him you belive in him too. Because that is about as true as this information is.

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8. 79

   LeanManposted 14 years ago

   In the UK 51% of the working population is now employed in the public sector, I can't remember the figure for the US, but it is not far behind.
   My background is business improvement within the private sector but then went to do consultancy paid for by the UK government.
   I have never seen so many people in my life with jobs that add zero value to the economy and with highly inflated wages far beyond what they could earn in the private sector.
   There appears to be no control and no concern over how the money is spent, after all it is the "governments" money not theirs! They have no idea of the real world!
   But there appears to be two tiers, those that have the basic jobs that earn less or similar to the private sector, but management jobs are well in excess of the private sector!
   
   I also worked within education in a voluntary position and became involved in purchasing lighting for tennis courts for the school, the same as for street lighting.
   The company that i was working for had purchased the same lights and the local council regularly purchased these lights from the same company. The price to the government TEN times higher than the private company! No one cares what they spend!

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   1. 0

      LegendaryHeroposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The US is only 17%.

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9. 61

   tobey100posted 14 years ago

   Simple, their bosses have no need to worry about the bottom line and there's no competition.  They have no worries regarding profit or sales.  It's not their money they throw around....it's yours.

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10. 79

    LeanManposted 14 years ago

    A little more.....
    
    It is competition that drives improvement, what competition is there in government, what driver is there to become better at what they do and spend less money doing it?
    
    Without any competition there is no need to do things efficiently, no need to spend less, where else can the customer go?

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    1. 61

       tobey100posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Wish I'd said that.  You've nailed it

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       1. 79

          LeanManposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          You're welcome!
          
          This is why they have tried to introduce competion between different areas of the UK health service, in some areas it is actually working with regard to improvements in efficiency but has not yet impacted wages (If they paid less the people would just leave to a different area as no shortage of posts)
          
          Two of my good friends have gone from working in industry applying lean and six sigma to the health service and are making some huge improvements, but there are many many years to go yet..

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11. 60

    sir slaveposted 13 years ago

    It is because businesses are greedy, and the government(us)
    is less greedy!  I know that sounds oversimplfied
    and there are other reasons, but that is one major underlying factor.  the culture of stingyness being copied and passed aound like used toilet paper!!

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    1. 60

       Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah, thats it

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12. 59

    logic,commonsenseposted 13 years ago

    Just wondering, why does the White House need a staff of 300?!
    Wow!  That is just insane!

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    1. 60

       Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Somebody has to carry Michelle's luggage.

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13. 59

    logic,commonsenseposted 13 years ago

    That and there is  a lot of BS to clean up after!

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