State Could Save $250 Million by Banning Collective Bargaining, Study Says
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A study released this week by the Goldwater Institute projects that a ban on collective bargaining and contracts could save Ocean State taxpayers $252 million per year in government worker compensation. These savings are more than double the estimated state budget shortfall currently facing Rhode Island.
The Goldwater study cites information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows, on average, state employee wages are 44% higher than private sector wages. Further, the study shows that unionized state employees nationwide earn 42% more than state employees that don't belong to a union.
Following the Virginia model, the first state to ban collective bargaining and collectively bargained contracts for government workers, savings for taxpayers nationwide could reach over $49 billion annually, and $252 million in Rhode Island alone.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"The ever-increasing total cost of employment for unionized government workers - annual compensation plus benefits - is a cost item we simply we may not be able to afford. The recent state pension reform crisis, along with our municipal pension disasters, make it clear that Ocean State taxpayers have been squeezed dry by public-sector unions", said Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a conservative think tank. “It is disturbing that the very money taken from the pockets of working Rhode Islanders is used to reinforce the political power of many unions, which gives them added influence so that they can fleece even more money from taxpayers. If policymakers look to address the long-term structural deficits in our budget, this is one area that must be considered before we cut into social services.
"The citizens of Rhode Island have always expressed a strong desire to help the least-fortunate among us; but do government workers fall in that category" Stenhouse asked. "We're at the point where we cannot continue our current spending levels; as a state, we're going to have to prioritize."
More than money is at stake, according to Nick Dranius from the Goldwater Institute, who went on to say that "collective bargaining for public unions is particularly problematic because government sector unions help elect their employers, and their employers often return the favor by raising taxes to pay for the benefits the unions then demand.”
“To solve this problem, more than a ban on collective bargaining and collectively bargained contracts is needed,” Dranius went on to say. “Statesmen must restore and enforce the ideal that the American form of government is a public trust.”
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