During this debate about the damage unions have done to this country, it is very important to make a distinction between public and private sector unions. While there valid arguments that even private sector unions have flourished because of favorable regulations and requirements, the fact remains that companies have options.
Where options don’t exist are with the public sector unions. Back when these folks started to unionize, government employees were being paid much less than their private sector brethren. But what the public sector jobs did offfer was security and benefits. But as is this case when the people in charge (politicians) are allowed to spend other people’s money, they realized that by giving the public sector employees huge raises and outrageous lifetime benefits, they could secure their support and votes.
So now we have a situation in which public sector employees are paid at approximately 2 1/2 times the rate of their private sector brethren and retain the gluttonous benefits that they’ve always had. A great example is the Lancaster City Police force. Starting pay is about $41,000 and within 5 years they are at about $58,000.
This, of course, does not include the generous and regular overtime pay. Whena patrolman retires, after only 20 or 25 years of service, they receive 2/3 of what a then lieutenant is making. Right now, that is about $80,000 per year.
So at 45 years of age, a career patrolman can retire making over $50,000 per year. On top of that, they receive LIFETIME health insurance benefits.
Compare this to a police officer in Philadelphia, where it is actually dangerous to be a cop. They only get health insurance benefits for 3 years after retirement.
It’s time to break these collective bargaining agreements and reduce the pay and benefits of public sector employees dramatically.
Note that once a law enforcement officer or firefighter retires, they will never receive a cost-of-living increase; whatever they receive when first received will be the amount they collect for the rest of their lives. And neither is eligible for Social Security benefits on their earnings while in uniform.
The only way to bring the cost of local government under control is to do away with all municipal boundaries within Lancaster County: one police force, one fire department, one school district, and only one local government for the entire county.
It’s often been said that government should be run more like a business; what business would cut a territory the size of Lancaster County into so many pieces? The duplicate overhead alone costs local taxpayers many millions of dollars every year.