It won't make any difference to the propagandists, of course, but a favorite Republican myth took another hit Thursday. Following up on his nationwide report showing public employees are not more highly compensated than workers in the private sector, Jeffrey H. Keefe at the Economic Policy Institute has now made a similar assessment for Michigan. His analysis directly contradicts Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and GOP lawmakers in the state.
The governor's just-released 2011 Citizen's Guide to Michigan's Financial Health claims state workers earn considerably more than workers in the private sector. Keefe's briefing paper, which includes school employees, shows otherwise:
On an annual basis, full-time state and local employee government employees in Michigan are undercompensated by approximately 5.3% compared with similar private sector workers. The compensation disadvantage of public employees is a smaller but insignificant 2.9% when annual hours worked are factored in. Full-time public employees, particularly employees with bachelor’s, master’s, and professional degrees, work fewer annual hours. Comparisons controlling for the difference in annual hours worked reveal no significant difference in total compensation between full-time local government employees and private sector employees. However, fulltime state employees suffer a 7.15% compensation penalty relative to private sector employees.
Six other recent studies show similar results for California, New Jersey and the nation as a whole.
David Holtz, executive director of Progress Michigan, told The Michigan Messenger: "The facts are clear: Michigan’s public employees, from road and food safety workers to school staff and teachers to nurses, police and fire fighters are NOT overpaid as some politicians have claimed. Public employees provide vital services that are crucial to Michigan’s future, and further cuts to services and staff will only put that future at risk."
As if facts could budge ideologues intent on using the current economic squeeze to demonize public workers.