It’s not what
you thought

Public-sector jobs
often pay better than
private positions

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

Illustrations by
David Swann, Star-Bulletin

So much for the conventional wisdom. It may be way off base.

People have long heard that Hawaii's state and county workers deserved rich fringe benefits because their pay easily lagged behind private-sector levels.

But one recent survey comparing public- and private-sector salaries for comparable jobs shows state and county pay in most cases was better.

Federal data also belies the conventional thinking.

It shows the mean weekly earnings of employees represented by public-sector unions topping private sector totals by about one third.

In the annual survey conducted by the Hawaii Employers Council, a management-backed group, state and county workers earned higher average pay in 15 of 22 jobs checked.

And in six of the remaining positions, the government workers averaged lower minimum pay but a higher maximum, according to the September 1997 study. In one position, Hawaii government workers averaged a higher minimum but a lower maximum.

The survey, however, focused mostly on lower- and mid-range nonprofessional positions.

If professional posts, such as engineers and computer programmers, had been included, the overall picture probably would have been much different, government and pay experts say, with the government having as many lower salaries as higher ones.

Union officials also say the study is skewed because the council surveyed private employers of all sizes. But the state, with more than 40,000 workers, should only be compared with large employers, union officials say.

Russell Okata, head of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, said state workers typically earn 15 percent to 20 percent less than their government counterparts in comparable West Coast markets.

A union survey comparing Honolulu with eight West Coast cities showed in many positions Hawaii had the lowest or near the lowest entry-level salaries. But at the top grades of those positions, local workers fared much better, according to the survey, which used 1995-96 data.

Entry-level state accountants, for example, were paid $25,728 annually, the lowest on the list, while their counterparts in San Jose, Calif., enjoyed the top entry-level salary of $41,933, the survey showed. At the highest grade, though, local accountants topped the scales at $68,420, the best of the eight cities.

Okata said certain local industries pay workers -- especially professionals -- much more than the government and are luring away top talent from the state.

"It appears the best and the brightest are leaving government for the private sector," he said.

It's not just the private sector attracting government workers.

Because of the gaps between here and the mainland, both in salary and cost of living, the city has been losing police officers to mainland law enforcement agencies, especially in the Northwest.

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Star-Bulletin reporter Christine Donnelly contributed to this report.