Wages between state and private-sector jobs are not equal

Should the health-care premiums of state employees equal those of the private sector [“State can’t afford deluxe worker benefits,” Opinion, Aug. 29]? As a community corrections officer (probation/parole officer) for the state of Washington, it is clear to me that the wages between state and private jobs are not equal.

So why should health-care premiums be equal? Lets put this into perspective. Last week, I found a Level 3 sex offender in the maternity ward of a local hospital. In my opinion, when your job duties include such scenarios, your job is an important part of our community.

On the compensation side, my job pay is low enough that my family of four receives state welfare. My decision to keep my low-paying job, and not seek employment in the private sector, is that I only have to pay $3,400 out of my own pocket each year for my family of four to receive health care.

The increase of health-care premiums would financially destroy my family and cause me to seek private-sector employment for the long term, and an increase in my welfare benefits for the short term.

— Charles Dorendorf, Pasco

Everyone is entitled to their opinion

I can’t tell you what to think. But I can tell you that whoever wrote The Seattle Times piece, “Washington state can’t afford deluxe worker benefits,” doesn’t have enough of a clue to deserve an opinion on this subject.

I joined state service 25 years ago because I preferred decent benefits and job security over a higher salary. The governor, Legislature and the state’s health-care authority have been whittling away at our salaries and benefits long before this recession, thanks largely to lobbying from the private sector.

So don’t tell me I need a give a little — like it’s a new idea — when you obviously have no clue how much I’ve already lost.

— Dan Hagglund, Lake Stevens

Government in great need of cost control

The Sunday editorial is right on. We cannot continue to offer total compensation packages to state employees, including salaries and benefits, that are not in line with the private sector.

Because most governmental functions have no competition from the private sector, there are no market pressures to control costs. Cost control, such as it is, exists principally from the business acumen of bureau heads appointed by elected officials; and since these appointments are political, business experience is often lacking. The resulting mismatch of experience between governmental managers and professional union negotiators has resulted in the deluxe worker benefits that exist today for many governmental workers.

A thorough study by a panel of established business persons should be conducted and union contracts appropriately amended as directed by the governor and the Legislature. Such a process will go a long way toward balancing the state budget.

— Ed Wittmann, Seattle

Dear politicians: please lead by example

I completely agree with the editorial title “State can’t afford deluxe worker benefits.”

Let’s start with the state workers who have the deluxe salaries and the deluxe benefits, the chosen ones whom we elect, or are appointed by the elected, to look after the best interest of “we, the people.”

So let’s start from the top. Let our leaders show us the way. Cut their own salaries, their health care, their retirement, their vacations. Let them go on unpaid furloughs. Let them lead by doing what they expect of their constituency.

So do it, Gov. Chris Gregoire. Do it, state legislators. Lead by example before you expect us to willingly follow.

And by the way, how’s this for an idea: We need more tax revenue, let’s put a tax on campaign contributions.

— Richard Peter, Issaquah

The percentage an employer pays is only one facet of health-care costs

The Seattle Times editorial page has been beating the drum constantly about the percentage of health care that the state pays for each employee, comparing it to the percentages in the private sector.

However, there is more to the health-care costs than just the percentage. How does the amount the state pays compare to the private sector? How do the benefits compare? I am a state employee. I can tell you that the amount I pay per month, and the co-pays and deductibles, have gone up quite a bit over the past 5 to 10 years. So I would really like to see a complete comparison, rather than the concentration on only one facet of the total cost of the state employee health care.

Let me give you a hypothetical example. Say the state currently pays $160 per month per employee and the employee pays $40 (i.e. 20 percent of the cost). A private employer could also pay $160 per month per employee and call that only 60 percent of the cost, requiring the employee to pay $106 per month. This would probably result in a plan that would have lower deductibles and co-pays than the state plan and perhaps lower the total cost to the employee — especially the ones with high usage of health care.

However, as you can see, the employer costs are the same. So the percentage is only one portion of how much it costs for health care.

— Dr. Harry Edmon, Brier

Workers can’t help balance state budget if they can’t balance their own

I am writing in response to the editorial on state workers’ health-care benefits. I am a part-time employee at Seattle Central Community College. I earned just over $16,000 in taxable income in 2009, and will not make anymore in 2010.

According to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget director Marty Brown, the state has no money. Well what do you think will happen to state workers like me when we have to pay an additional $2,315 a year for health care — as estimated by our union — and we don’t make any more than we would before?

Can you see that applications for food stamp will increase? What about increased costs to the state to hire subs while paying me sick leave because I can’t afford to go to the doctor when I am sick, or can’t pay for the medicine he prescribes? What about when I don’t have the money for the co-pay because my check got cut by approximately $200 month for health-care premiums?

My husband and I don’t own a Porsche, we drive a 5-year-old car, and I take the bus to work to cut the cost of gas when I don’t have to race off to my second job. And you want me to do more to balance the state budget? I won’t be able to balance my own.

— Wanda Willits, Everett