State Budget Problem? Look for the Union Label
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 By Marc KilmerThe Weekly Standard has a great article about how government employee unions are contributing to state budget problems. It points out the generous compensation government workers receive, courtesy of your tax dollars:
For every $1-an-hour pay increase, noted Dennis Cauchon in USA Today, public employees have gotten $1.17 in new benefits. Private workers have gotten just .58 cents in benefits for every $1 raise. This gap worries left-liberal labor economist Barry Bluestone. The price of state and local public services increased by 41 percent nationally between 2000 and 2008. Private services only increased by 27 percent. The benefit growth has continued unabated into the Great Recession, and Bluestone says the gap will inevitably produce a backlash.
The rising compensation of state government workers in Ohio has contributed significantly to the current state budget problems, as I wrote about here.
