Unionized public sector pay and pensions are out of control and increasingly contribute to our fiscal demise.![mime-attachment[1]](http://renohayek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mime-attachment1.jpeg "mime-attachment[1]")
According to the 2008 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics while union members accounted for 12.4 percent of wage and salary workers, “the union membership rate for public sector workers (36.8 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private industry workers (7.6 percent).”
And, USA Today reported in April, (a) public employees earned average benefits worth $13.38 per hour vs. $7.98 per hour for private sector workers, (b) overall average compensation for state and local workers was $39.25 an hour vs. $27.35 for private workers, and (c) a full-time government worker gets benefits worth and average of $27,830 per year, while a private workers average benefits are worth $16,598 per year.
Finally, we’ve all seen reports on the looming time-bomb of unfunded state and local retirement benefits. Greg D’Angelo of The Heritage Foundation reports that those governments have promised but not paid for “roughly $1.5 trillion” in retirement benefits. This coupled with early retirement ages, high percentages of last paid compensation and final year “promotions” exacerbate an already bad situation.
Perhaps, though, the most damnable aspect of public sector unionization is the unholy understanding that the unions campaign for the elected officials who in turn “take care of” the unions come payday. There is no check on this unholy alliance.
Tom Motherway