By Letter to the Editor on August 21, 2019.
In recent weeks Gillian Slade has written two editorials regarding public and private sector workers concentrating on, and subsequently attacking, public sector wages and benefits.
In her Aug. 2 editorial she states “This includes paying staff reasonable salaries and pensions in line with the private sector.” Ms. Slade needs to back up this statement, which assumes that wages and pensions in the public sector are out of line, with facts. In an earlier editorial she does provide us with some insight into the highest salary levels of public servants, but does not consider the salaries and benefits of equivalent private sector jobs.
I know that not all jobs are created equally. We can consider, however, some parameters that could point to interesting conclusions. We can take into account how many years or training and investment a person is required to have to be allowed to meet industry standards for their job and would, therefore, be compensated accordingly. We could consider the importance or value a job has to society. Are teachers more important to us than police officers or are engineers more important than doctors? Or we could compare how difficult different jobs are. It is probably wise to ignore these parameters as I doubt if we could reach a consensus.
What are we left with? Ms. Slade is right when she writes that it is salary and benefits. The following is taken from the 2017 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey conducted by R.A. Malatest and Associates LTD. on behalf of the Alberta Government. The information was collected from employers. The information is available online at “Alberta alis.” Let us start with senior management.
In construction, transportation, products and utilities: $180,688
In financial, communications, business services $166,586
In health, education, social and community services: $133,265
Engineering managers: $146,586
Careers that require one university degree (individuals in this category may have more than one)
Registered nurse: $80,129
Teachers: $78,971
Investment brokers: $85,409
Mining engineer: $116,579
Mechanical engineer: $107,815
Social, mental health workers (this is shameful): $65,593
Careers requiring technical certificate or diploma
Medical lab tech: $77,398
Pharmacy tech: $35,922
Nurse aid: $34,578
Gas fitters: $77,470
Geological tech: $91,026
Instructor of persons with disabilities: $34,076
Industrial mechanics: $84,744
Early child educators: $29,245
Tech in museums and art galleries: $28,249
Other
Dentists: $154,564
Lawyers: $137,072
Police officer: $101,059
Publishing manager: $110,077
Welders: $75,289
Journalists: $72,527
I could go on some more. These statistics are for salaries only (all are averages) and do not include pensions and benefits. Does Ms. Slade want us to believe that private service employees do not have benefits (even Tim Hortons and Sobeys have plans), severance packages and pension plans (check out Walmart)? I would like to characterize one of her arguments differently: The private sector exists for profit (many of the shareholders don’t even live in Alberta) and the public sector exists for service. Both are needed for a healthy, vibrant and equitable society. In closing I think teachers, doctors, and nurses should be compensated as much as engineers.
Jim Schmid
Medicine Hat