New Report Debunks Perceptions of Labor Workforce Salaries

New York City Comptroller John Liu released a report earlier this month, debunking perceptions that city workers are making big bucks to do minimal work. The report, entitled, "Municipal Employee Compensation in New York City,” shows that New York City government workers are, on the whole, paid less than those who work in the private sector.

The report comes on the heels of a burgeoning anti-labor movement, beginning most notably with Wisconsin labor movement's fight to retain bargaining rights, and continuing with Mayor Bloomberg's demand for sweeping reforms to union pensions.

Local unions are watching closely the outcome of the city's proposed cuts in the labor workforce and its pensions, both of which would negatively affect the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of labor employees, many living in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“These findings about municipal salaries are an important foundation for any discussion about public employee pensions,” said Liu in a statement. “The issue of retirement needs to be looked at in the context of the overall compensation package earned by public employees.”

The main highlights of the report are bulleted below. You can view the report in its entirety here.

• The average full-time government worker in the public sector receives, on average, 17 percent less in salary than those who work a similar job in the private sector. However, the average job in the private sector entails a 45 hour work week, versus a 40 hour work week in the public sector.

• The discrepancy in annual salary between men and women is vastly greater in the private sector ($75,000/$54,000) than the public sector ($60,000/$50,000).

• White workers receive much higher salaries in the private sector than the public sector, while African-American and Latino workers receive higher salaries in the public sector. Asian workers receive about the same salary in either sector.

• Individuals with no high school diploma, a diploma or GED, or some college experience make higher annual salaries in city government than working in private, for-profit companies. Individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher make  larger annual salaries working in the private sector.

• Nearly 50 percent of the City’s labor force has a Bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 41 percent of the private workforce.

• Fringe benefits account for 33.5 percent of compensation costs in establishments of 500 or more employees, versus just 25.7 percent in establishments with 50 or less employees.

• Nearly one-quarter of all full-time employees in the private industry did not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Out of those who did, only 59 percent participated in one. This compares to nearly universal access for full-time City of New York employees.