Public Union “Excesses” Cost RI $888M a Year, Says Center for Freedom and Prosperity in New Report
Thursday, May 02, 2019
A new report released Wednesday by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity claims that public union "excesses" cost Rhode Islanders $888 million a year.
The Center further states that Rhode Island property taxes would be 25% lower were it not for those excess costs imposed on families and businesses for collectively bargained government services that the center says amount to a 27% total compensation premium for government workers as compared with their private sector counterparts.
"Our state cannot survive morally or economically with this unfair imbalance. At $888 for each Rhode Islander, a family of four is paying over $3500 annually for these overly-generous compensation deals," emphasized the Center's CEO, Mike Stenhouse. "We must find a more equitable balance between how much union members are paid and how much taxpayers can afford."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe 48-page report was researched and co-authored by Dennis P. Sheehan, Professor Emeritus at the Penn State University Smeal College of Business, and who taught Finance at Penn State, Purdue University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Rochester. The report, which utilized regression analysis calculations that controlled for experience and educational levels, was co-authored by the Center's research director, Justin Katz.
Cost-Driving Factors
According to the report released by the Center, among what they say are the primary drivers of excessive compensation for unionized public sector workers include the following:
The 9th most favorable pro-union laws in the nation
A 4-6% base "wage premium"
Overly generous pension and healthcare benefits
Systematic overtime abuse
Numerous collectively-bargained cash-back schemes
"Treating the 10% of unionized government employees more like the 90% of the rest of us are treated ... is not only more fair but also builds trust that government is looking-out after everyone the same," concluded Stenhouse.
The full report also includes tables with town-by-town estimates of the excessive total compensation costs of government workers at the municipal level, in school districts, and in independent fire districts.
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