State Workers Need Pension Stability
Re “State Workers Wary of Pension Idea,” Jan. 23: Proponents of the plan to turn public employee pensions into stock market crapshoots claim Census Bureau figures show that state and local government workers earn more than private-sector workers.
Sure, if you compare the salary of a fast-food hamburger flipper or retail clerk with that of a policeman, fireman or government auditor, which is what the Census Bureau did, the public employee probably makes more. The Census Bureau data simply group all these employees as “service workers.” But if you compare public- and private-sector employees with similar job duties, you’ll find in most cases that the private-sector individual makes more for doing the same work. For example, state registered nurses make an average of 26% less than their private-sector counterparts.
Public employees have always accepted a trade-off: Lower salaries in return for better benefits, including a stable, reliable pension plan. Now Gov. Schwarzenegger and his right-wing friends want to break that agreement.
J.J. Jelincic
President, California
State Employees Assn.
Sacramento
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