A 'Living Wage' in New York

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/05/a-living-wage-in-new-york

Public sector pay more generous than private sector pay has been a regular topic around here. The New York Times got a piece of the story over the weekend with an article about the pension piece of public sector compensation, reporting that "about 3,700 retired public workers in New York are now getting pensions of more than $100,000 a year, exempt from state and local taxes" and that "Roughly one of every 250 retired public workers in New York is collecting a six-figure pension, and that group is expected to grow rapidly in coming years, based on the number of highly paid people in the pipeline."

Now Mayor Bloomberg is holding the line against a plan to require projects that receive more than $100,000 in city subsidies to pay workers at least $10 an hour in wages, or $11.50 with benefits factored in. The Daily News reports that Mr. Bloomberg reacted to the idea of extending above-market-rate pay to workers who are only tangentially connected to the government by saying, "It's a nice idea but is poorly thought out and will not work...The economics don't work if you have to pay more."

by Editor  |  May 25, 2010 at 8:42 am Related Topics:  Compensation, New York receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list