The world has been watching the pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt. This has been an interesting time for the Egyptians, and people all over the world who treasure the ideals of democracy. I hope that in the coming days, weeks, and months, the Egyptians will be able to embrace democracy and live peacefully with their neighbors.
**** Here in Ohio, Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, has declared war on the working people of Ohio, especially unionized teachers, firefighters, police officers, service workers, and state employees. Kasich is pushing the blame on these people instead of the recession. According to Kasich, unions are robbing the state. Of course, he is wrong.
Cincinnati.com:
This study released Thursday found Ohio’s full-time state and local government workers are paid about 6 percent less than private-sector workers. Even adjusting for fewer hours worked per week or year, government and school employees still made 3 percent less than private-sector counterparts, according to Jeffrey H. Keefe, an associate professor in Labor and Employment Relations at Rutgers University.
Keefe’s research was provided to the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, part of a national study of wage and benefit compensation from 2006 to 2009. Other studies released Thursday found even wider disparity among public and private-sector employees for Indiana (7.5 percent margin) and Wisconsin (8.2 percent). Keefe found Ohio’ public work force is highly-educated, underscoring why the state’s average pay is reasonable.
EPI, a 25-year-old nonprofit policy research group, has this Internet site: www.epi.org.
In Ohio, Keefe also found:
– 49% of full-time public-sector workers hold at least a four-year college degree, compared to 26% of full-time private-sector workers.
– state and local governments and school districts pay their college-educated workers an average of 25 percent less than do private employers.......
Well, that certainly destroys Kasich's theories. This article might be a good one to email or fax to state senators. Here is the link for the article:
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/02/11/study-finds-public-jobs-paying-less-than-private/
Here is the link for members of the Ohio Senate with contact information:
http://www.ohiosenate.gov/directory.html
