Tavares, FL - Apr. 11, 2011 - In Lake County, FL , I have been watching union negotiations for wages. I have been preaching for maybe two years that the Administration and Board of the Lake County School District (and the Board of the County Commissioners) should develop statistics like the chart referenced on the link below.
http://thathero.com/2011/04/11/oea-shared-sacrifice/
It is about Ohio wage patterns, and shows average wages of both union and private industry workers.
Such charts should be mandatory for use when any government agency starts setting wage and benefits for government workers.
Now, the chart is for Ohio, which is not a right to work State (Florida is), so the disparities between union and private wages are larger than you would find in Florida, but the idea is that no goverment elected officials should approve any wage and benefit increases without comparing trends like this, and for unemployment, benefits, pensions, etc.
Government employees need to be paid within reason, and not excessively.
vj