Watch Policy Matters Ohio stand up for public employees

July 21, 2010 - The progressive Cleveland think-tank Policy Matters Ohio went head-to-head with the ultra-conservative Buckeye Institute to defend the salaries and pensions of state employees this past Sunday on the WVIZ/PBS program “The State of Ohio.”

During the weekly news program spotlighting Ohio policy and politics, PMO stood up for state employees by challenging a misleading Buckeye Institute report that wants to solve the unemployment problem and balance the state budget by the cutting the wages and benefits of the middle class, particularly public employees.

In reality, while making less than those in the private sector, public sector workers, often require a higher level of skill and education than their counterparts in the private sector, which the Buckeye Institute research did not factor that in.

OCSEA News Release:
Flawed report blames middle class for economic woes

July 2, 2010 - Westerville – Union leaders from the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association today are blasting a Buckeye Institute report that tries to chip away at the middle class to solve the problems of unemployment and a potential state budget gap of $8 billion. The study’s conclusion, that public sector compensation has outpaced wages and benefits of the private sector, is not only flawed in its methodology but has been disproved by national research that draws the opposite conclusion, say OCSEA officials.

According to an analysis by Policy Matters Ohio that looks at several national studies, public sector workers, in reality, make less than those in the private sector: “Including benefits, state and local employees still have lower total compensation. On average, total compensation is 6.8 percent lower for state and 7.4 percent lower for local workers, relative to comparable private sector workers.”

“Without an apples to apples comparison of positions across public and private sectors that takes into account experience and educational level requirements, the Buckeye Institute research does not hold up,” said OCSEA President Eddie L. Parks. “Government jobs, some of which are regulatory in nature, often require a higher level of skill and education than their counterparts in the private sector. Their research does not factor that in.”

The analysis by PMO bears this out: “Half of state and local employees have a four-year college degree or more, and nearly one-fourth have an advanced degree…. Less than 30 percent of private sector workers have a four-year college degree and less than 10 percent have an advanced degree.”

In addition, the Buckeye Institute cherry-picked positions to compare and failed to analyze job classifications that have substantially lower compensation than they do in the private sector, such as registered nurses, attorneys and psychiatrists.

The report also avoids a discussion of excessive executive pay in the private sector and why the loss of manufacturing jobs has occurred in Ohio in the first place. Instead, the study blames public sector compensation for the struggling economy.

“The reality is, Ohio was a significant manufacturing state, and all around Ohio and even around the world, manufacturing has decreased,” said OCSEA President Eddie L. Parks. “It has nothing to do with government jobs. Outsourcing, NAFTA, low wages of workers in countries like China as well as technological advances—these are the things that have impacted our workforce in Ohio, not government workers.”

On the other hand, the union points to a sharp increase in the need for public services at a time when unemployment is high and the economy is weak. “Case loads that state and local governments have had to deal with have increased substantially, while the state workforce has decreased,” said OCSEA Associate Director Bruce Wyngaard. “People are not asking for services like unemployment or job matching to go away – they want someone to deliver those services.”

“We have taken brutal cuts over these last few years, including layoffs, pay cuts and leave and step freezes. The state has closed five institutions and eliminated 5,000 positions, while the demand for our services has skyrocketed,” said Park

Nor does the Buckeye Institute study recognize how excessive compensation for top-level positions in the private sector has contributed to driving down the salaries of low- and middle-wage workers. “The point is not to reduce the salaries of the middle income earners so everyone is paid what the very bottom is paid, but to ensure that top level pay does not consume an excessive share, and that the front line workers are making their fair share,” said Parks.

“In reality, the Buckeye Institute is trying to deepen a wage gap, while low and middle income families continue to struggle and make less,” said Wyngaard. “This is what we would expect out of the mouthpiece for corporate America: to attack the middle class worker, protect executive compensation and drive up profits through privatization.”

OCSEA represents approximately 35,000 state employees who work in a wide range of security, regulatory, administrative, direct care, maintenance, customer service and other positions.

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