The Bully-Free Workplace: Stop Jerks, Weasels, and Snakes From Killing Your Organization

Privatization of the Public Sector

If you work for government at any level, there are austerity pressures to cut everything from supplies, services offered, and the labor force. U.S. federal civilian workers were slapped with a two-year pay freeze in December 2010. There is a common misperception that public employees enjoy undeservedly lavish compensation. It is a myth that is so widespread that private sector workers believe it about their counterparts. A 2010 report from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts³⁹ debunked the myth. High-wage workers in state and local government (in New England, where the survey was conducted) earn 13 percent less than their private sector counterparts when taking into account age and education. Middle-wage workers earn an average of 3 percent less. Government workers do have better sick leave and health insurance benefits, but most other benefits are equivalent to those in the private sector. In 2010, 37 percent of government workers were unionized.

Government jobs were once exclusively performed locally and only by workers on the payroll. Peter Drucker, management guru, coined the term privatization. Local services at the City of Lakewood, California, a city with population 70,000, has 177 employees on the payroll because most of their city services are contracted out. Other cities adopting the concept include Indianapolis, Phoenix, Akron, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, and Charlotte. ...