Robert Reich: Public workers don't have it as good as you think

Public-sector workers now earn 11 percent less than comparable workers in the private sector....

A matter of public concern: It's easy to natter about public workers, but the criticism isn't always fair

By Robert B. Reich
StarTribune
Last update: January 29, 2011

Public servants are convenient scapegoats.

Republicans would rather deflect attention from corporate executive pay that continues to rise as corporate profits soar, even as corporations refuse to hire more workers.

They don't want stories about Wall Street bonuses, now higher than before taxpayers bailed out the Street.

And they'd like to avoid a spotlight on the billions raked in by hedge-fund and private-equity managers.

It's far more convenient to go after people who are doing the public's work -- sanitation workers, police officers, firefighters, teachers, social workers, federal employees -- to call them "faceless bureaucrats" and portray them as hooligans who are making off with your money and crippling budgets

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