I'm not for busting unions at all, they are the last bastions of the dem party. But contracts might have to be broken. When you have to choose from already depleted employee base being fired and cutting benies the benies go.
Are Public Employees Overpaid?
Walker has said that the labor changes are necessary because Wisconsin’s local and state employees haven’t made the same sacrifices during the Great Recession as private sector workers.
Walker glossed over the fact that state employees had eight unpaid furlough days in 2009 and 2010, which saved the state $121 million, and their wages have been flat for years.
He also forgot to mention that when he was Milwaukee County executive, members of the largest county employee union took 26 unpaid furlough days in 2010, or one unpaid day off for every two-week pay period—a 10% pay cut. They’ll have 26 unpaid days off this year, too, as a result of Walker’s final county budget. (The employees at the Shepherd Express, a private sector company, did not have any wage decreases or forced furlough days.)
So is Walker correct when he says that public employees are making more than their counterparts in the private sector?
The short answer is no, according to a new study by the national nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which found that Wisconsin’s state and local employees earn 4.8% less per hour in total compensation than their peers in the private sector. That number jumps to 25% for college-educated employees. EPI found that, on average, Wisconsin’s public employees with a bachelor’s degree earn $61,668 in total compensation; their peers working for private employers earn $82,134 in wages and benefits.
And although Gov. Scott Walker is earning $144,423 as a public sector employee with “some college” education, his pay package is not typical. Public sector employees who attended college but did not earn a diploma earn an average $46,707 in wages and benefits, while those in the private sector earn 7% more, or $50,324, EPI found.
Extra Cost of Cutting Wages: Killing Jobs
Although Walker took office promising to focus on job creation like a laser beam, he has not explained how many jobs this budget bill would create.
In fact, a new study by the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF) found that cutting public sector employees’ pay to the degree demanded by Walker would be a disaster for the state’s economy. In fact, about $1 billion of public employee wages would be lost each year:
* State workers would lose $429 million of disposable income
* Local employees would lose $335 million of disposable income
* School district employees would lose $230 million of disposable income
“Public sector workers are moderate-income people who spend the vast majority of their income on consumer goods—unlike rich households who save the bulk of their wealth,” wrote Jack Norman, the study’s author.
Since that $1 billion would not be spent—and recirculated—in businesses throughout Wisconsin, the study projected that 9,900 private sector jobs would be lost.
“State leaders cannot make up for the loss in consumer purchasing power by an equivalent amount of tax cuts,” Norman wrote. “That would worsen the deficit and cancel out any savings created by cuts to public sector compensation.”
And what about the ripple effect on local governments? IWF’s Norman calculated that $46 million of property tax revenue would be lost because of the wage cutbacks and depressed economic activity. Dane County would be hit the hardest and lose $14 million in property taxes; Milwaukee County would lose $6 million in property taxes.
http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-13897-why-are-the-wealthy-in-america-so-unwilling-to-pay-.html
