State workers, you're the face of California government – and for many outside of it, you're also the hired help.
What really ticks off the "boss" is that their money pays your wages, but they feel powerless to dictate what you do or what you earn doing it.
The complaints surface on The State Worker blog, in phone calls and e-mails. Here are a few, with numbers:
• State workers make more than the "boss." California state employees' average base pay in 2008 was $63,815, according to a Bee analysis of state wage data that excluded the university systems. The median, the point at which half earn more and half earn less, was $66,006.
Meanwhile, federal statistics show that the average wage among all Californians last year was $48,090 and the median was $36,441.
Just goes to show that ...
• State workers are in an economic cocoon. Businesses are shedding workers, cutting pay and shutting down. California's unemployment rate from January through March of this year went from 10.1 percent to 11.2 percent.
State government? It grew by 1,362 full-time jobs during that same period, according to state payroll data. And this while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued 20,000 layoff warnings and ordered a virtual hiring freeze. Another sign that ...
• State workers are pampered. Example: For years, working holidays for the state earned what amounted to double time-and-a-half: Overtime pay for working the day, plus another day off with pay.
Schwarzenegger and the Legislature changed those workplace rules and others during the last budget crisis. Although the new policies are in line with federal standards, the unions are fighting to keep the old ones.
And don't get the "boss" started on ...
• Retiree benefits. State workers have $48 billion coming to them in the future, money that the state doesn't have. The government has been making minimum payments, when it should be setting aside extra.
And the state's retirement plan uses a a formula based on pay and service time – not the value of, say, stock investments – to set payments. Some folks say that the deal is an example of how ...
• State worker unions have power – too much.
Another measure is money. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, for example, spent about $4 million on state political campaigns last year, according to state records. Service Employees International Union Local 1000, representing about 95,000 state workers, paid out $3.4 million.
And if the economy gets worse – and it might – what do you think the boss will do?
Call The Bee's Jon Ortiz, (916) 321-1043. Read his blog, The State Worker, at sacbee.com/blogs.
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