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0 pointsyummyfajitas16y ago0 comments

Many public sector jobs have a market rate barely above minimum wage [1], but actually cost far more thanks to public sector unions.

I don't know about California, but I know that NYC MTA garbage collectors (job: taking garbage out of the subway) make about $50-60k and gets to retire after 20 years of work.

[1] Very few people, even highly unskilled workers, earn minimum wage. Market rate tends to be higher.

[edit: to clarify, by "taking garbage out of the subway", I mean taking the trash bags out of the garbage cans and bringing them to the dumpster, sweeping, picking up refuse, etc. In the private sector, this does not cost $50-60k. I'm not talking about track work.]

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2 comments · 1 top-level

ct4ul4u16y ago· 1 in thread

One point, garbage collection is a risky job and there is a substantial risk premium built into the salary.

patio1116y ago

Given the observed difference between the salary of a (unionized) school janitor and a (non-unionized) cleaning crew worker for a hotel, whose job duties are essentially identical, I can only assume that either a) unions kill more people than cancer or b) that there is another factor at play besides risk premiums.

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