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Are Wisconsin public employees overcompensated?

Are Wisconsin public employees overcompensated?


  • Total voters
    42
Compare what a state or county or city engineer makes to what a private sector engineer makes. It is really not even close. Not to mention working in the private sector, as far as engineering goes at least, you get all the perks that you would NEVER get working for the government. A Christmas party at an extremely fancy restaurant, beer on Fridays, accepting gifts from clients, etc.

Why'd you ignore the pension and healthcare aspect of public employment?
 
We should, because public schools cost so much money and allow for no school choice.



We can get rough comparisons, but that's as good as it gets.



Not all things that exist can be measured.

So in otherwords you are basing your arguments on blind faith. I guess I am done here then, there is no good way to argue against something when evidence doesn't matter.
 
Why'd you ignore the pension and healthcare aspect of public employment?

I'll agree with you that gov employees generally have better benefits, hell, I think they get their b-day off :lol:. But they typically get paid less hourly, anyways, that chart is of total compensation, which I assume is everything combined. Regardless, I still say the private sector is where the money is at if you are looking for it. Plus, many of the higher paying jobs such as engineering in the private sector will typically give you partial ownership in the company, a stock option, etc, something that would never be an option in the public sector.

Edit: Things like teaching or police officers might be higher in public simply because they so dominantly public. Supply and demand are probably more of a cause of this than anything in these areas IMO.
 
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Like Paul Simon wrote in The Boxer..." a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest".

it's from EPI. So.... the unions agree that union members aren't overcompensated.

big surprise.
 
Not being from Wisconsin, I can't give you an informed answer to the poll question. However, I will say that the comparisons between public sector jobs and private sector jobs are often misleading. There are other ways to overcompensate employees besides higher salaries. Higher benefits, higher pensions, more job security, cushier jobs, etc. So I'm not sure that those comparisons are particularly valid. In general, when you take all these factors into account I would say that public employees tend to be AT LEAST as well compensated as their private sector counterparts...and in some cases they are vastly overcompensated.

But as I understand it, in Wisconsin the negotiations over compensation for public employees have already been settled. What's still in dispute is whether public unions should be able to bargain collectively for things OTHER than their compensation. And even aside from my long-standing philosophical problems with public unions, I have to say that the teachers' unions absolutely NEED to be reined in as a practical matter. It's hard for me to have the least bit of sympathy for an entity that has opposed every worthwhile education reform for the last 30 years.
 
Yes, and one of the myths it talks about is that the public pension system is on sound financial footing. The truth is that there is a $137 million shortfall this year in Wisconsin's public pension system.

The study presented their data and actuarial information.

Where is yours?
 
The study presented their data and actuarial information.

Where is yours?

Mea Culpa. The $137 million shortfall is the entire state budget's problem. The Pew Center actually says that Wisconsin's public pension fund is one of the most well-funded in the country.

I guess it's just a matter of those receiving public pensions not wanting their ox gored as the state tries to save money.
 
Mea Culpa. The $137 million shortfall is the entire state budget's problem. The Pew Center actually says that Wisconsin's public pension fund is one of the most well-funded in the country.

Thank you Maggie. A show of honor and integrity. Well done.
 
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