County workers on strike for higher pay note that their compensation is below county workers’ in comparable counties. This is one perspective. Another is comparing their pay to our local job market. County salaries may be modestly below comparable private sector pay in our county. However, if you consider their whole pay package that includes a lifetime pension, which could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even into the millions, over their life, depending on their tenure and salary, county pay is likely far above local private sector workers who don’t get pensions. If they want higher pay, it should be offset by reduced pension benefits.
Jim Slade
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Dec 20-30, 2018.
Always find it curious to compare Gov’t workers pay to “private” sector, as there are so many burger flippers and retail clerks in Gov’t work *shaking head*
Most Gov’t workers get max 2% a year for each year worked in pensions, 35 years you get 70%, UNLESS you’re “public safety” (cops, firefighters, DOC, etc) who get GREAT PAY and 3% per year. Want to see which sector of Gov’t is driving wages? It isn’t the DMV clerks, Court clerks, social services workers, etc…