I was listening to Jack Tomczak talking with AFSCME’s Javier Morillo on the lesser talk station yesterday, about the Dayton pay raises.
Morillo said, out of one corner of his mouth, that there is no way you could find people in the private sector who deal with headcounts and budgets like these administrators do, at the same pay, even with the raises.
And there may be something to that. Most people who can hold their own in the private sector and look for more out of a career than a pension (outside of law enforcement and fire, the military, teachers and a few other fields) look at government work as a purgatory of eternal frustration and career stagnation.
But out of the other side of his mouth, he said that the salaries still aren’t competitive with the private sector.
So if the salaries are not competitive, the “talent” still isn’t going to get attracted from the private sector (or, apparently, local government). So why have the raises?
It doesn’t make sense as a “talent acquisition” measure; Morillo admitted as much.
But as an expanded payoff to the political class?
There, it makes perfect sense.
State employees can’t make more than their boss, the Commissioner, meaning the state employee’s union – AFSCME – can’t negotiate pay raises until the Commissioner’s pay is raised. AFSCME dues are a percentage of pay. AFSCME contributes overwhelmingly to the DFL.
Commissioner’s pay goes up. Worker’s pay goes up. Union dues go up. DFL contributions go up. Taxpayers foot the bill for it all.
.
Well…..I somewhat sympathize with government upper level management. Often they could make much more in the private sector.
Its the lower skilled government employees that get the gravey train compared to real-world workers.
Javier has been on before. Every Tuesday morning, they have a segment called “Ask a Liberal” and they bring in moonbats that have no clue, are so drunk on the Obama ade that they can’t think straight and illustrate why liberalism is so dangerous.
Regarding higher pay for corporate managers, while I’m no fan of huge pay packages for executives, they at least can be accused of figuring out how to make their product for less. Government managers, not so much.