Public sector labor leaders in California would rather that the public remain relatively ignorant about how well their members are compensated. But they are fighting a losing battle.

Because of California’s massive unfunded pension liability and other scandals, the public is demanding answers. Interests diverse as taxpayer groups, business organizations, the media and some elected officials have moved aggressively, not only to address these problems, but also to ensure that there is much greater transparency about public sector compensation than we have seen in the past.

For example, attorneys at Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association won several Public Records Act lawsuits against government interests – mostly at the local level – who were attempting to shield their compensation data from the public. And Pension Tsunami is a website which for years has been a clearinghouse for articles on pension abuses. But it is not just conservative interests who are shining the light. Left of center newspapers like the Sacramento Bee and San Jose Mercury News, have fought very hard to expose the truth on employee compensation. Self-styled progressive John Chiang developed a powerful data base open to the public about state worker pay when he was California’s Controller. He is now the State Treasurer and we hope he continues his efforts.

Please click here to read the entire column http://www.hjta.org/california-commentary/public-sector-pay-transparency-and-perspective/

This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2015 at 1:52 am and is filed under Blog Posts.