Today at noon, the National Treasury Employees Union plans to rally at the U.S. Capitol in support of public-sector employees. The rally follows ongoing protests in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio — demonstrations that are part of broader budget battles playing out across America.
The entrance of federal workers into the debate only further illustrates the hypocrisy of the protests, given the great disparity between the pay and benefits of public-sector employees and their private-sector counterparts.
According to a House Republican Study Committee policy brief, federal-sector employees have posted surprising salary and benefit gains throughout the recent recession.
Consider: There are more workers in the federal government earning at least $100,000 than $40,000. In 2008, the average federal salary, including benefits, was $72,800 — and that number is projected to grow to more than $75,000 by 2010, according to a CBS News report. Since the recession began in 2007, public worker pay has risen 7.8 percent.
All in all, more than 82,000 federal jobs have been added since December 2008.
Meanwhile, personal income for Americans, not counting government benefits, has fallen by 3.2 percent since President Obama took office. The private sector has also shed an estimated 7 million jobs in the past three years.
Federal employees simply make more than their private-sector counterparts. In fact, the average federal employee earns 57 percent greater cash pay and 85 percent greater total compensation than the average private-sector worker, according to research from Heritage’s James Sherk.
The Republican Study Committee found this federal pay premium cuts across all job categories — white-collar, blue-collar, management, professional, technical and low-skill.
Seems like federal employees have all the “support” they need.
