Raises are

le.
non-negotiab

$486/resident
A small price
to pay for my
pension.

ce?
e a l t h insuran 365
H r me!
Free fo paid sick days
seems fair.

New York’s
Double Standard
How public employee pay and benefits have outpaced the
private sector—and unique state laws are widening the gap
A report from Unshackle Upstate
 Higher salaries than the private sector 4

Across Upstate New York, salaries for state and local

government employees are 10 percent higher than
$57,711 the private-sector average. Unlike the BLS data cited
$40,675
$37,226 $39,692 earlier, this chart
Public Sector compares only
$35,977 full-time employees.
$44,939 $53,445
$39,078 $40,288
$57,711 $36,113
$38,404 $39,574 $39,574 $50,311 $31,582 $30,863 $37,943
$37,226 $39,692 Private Sector Public Sector $35,977
$44,939 $53,445
$39,078 $40,288
$36,113
$39,370 $38,404 $39,574 $39,574 $50,311 $31,582 $30,863 $37,943
Private Sector
$47,035 $44,939
$42,798 $39,370 New York
Western $3

strict Central New York Finger Lakes Long Island Mid-Hudson Mohawk Valley North Country Southern Tier (+13%)
Western New Y
%) (+2%) (+2%) (+46%) (+6%) (+18%) (+29%) (-5%)
Capital District Central New York Finger Lakes Long Island Mid-Hudson Mohawk Valley North Country Southern Tier (+13%)
(+14%) (+2%) (+2%) (+46%) (+6%) Benefits by the numbers
(+18%) (+29%) (-5%) $47,035 $44,939
$42,798 All Upstate $39,370 Capital District $38,404

Higher salaries, richer benefits, plus a (+10%) (+14%)

legal guarantee to keep both going up. 408 days

Potential paid time off for police $47,035 $44,939
officers in Harrison, New York (up All Upstate $39,078 Capital District $40,288
$42,798 $39,370 $38,404 $39,574 $
to 365 sick days in one year, plus (+10%) (+14%)
In New York, “good enough for government work” equals
vacation and holidays)

a formula that is financially unsustainable. $47,035 $44,939

$39,078 $40,288

$486
$42,798 All Upstate $39,370 Capital District $38,404 Central New York $39,574 Finger Lakes $39,5

For much of the 20th century, public No contract? No problem! (+10%) (+14%) (+2%) (+2%)
employees and the taxpayers who provide Cost per every state resident of
In New York, however, public employees public employee pensions in 2007—
their salaries had a general understanding. have less incentive to face economic reality. highest in the nation
Government jobs paid a little less than those Two laws unique to our state—the Taylor Law All Upstate $57,711
Capital District Central New York Finger Lakes
in the private sector. But, recognizing the and the Triborough Amendment—guarantee (+10%) (+14%) (+2%) (+2%)
$47,035 $44,939 $53,4
importance of public employees’ work—as public employees that their pay and benefits
$42,798 $38,404
$39,078 $40,288
$50,311
$39,370 $39,574 $39,574
teachers, police officers, firefighters and
providers of other services—their fringe
will increase without interruption, even if
their contracts have expired. Since there’s $12,500
benefits would be a little better. no cost to employees for working without a Annual contribution to health insurance $57,711
for teachers in Buffalo, a district like
contract—except the chance at a better deal— $47,035 many in$44,939
New York that pays 100 percent
$39,078 $40,288 $53,445
In the 21st century, that rule of thumb no there’s little incentive to negotiate.
$42,798 All Upstate $39,370
of familyDistrict
Capital coverage.
$38,404 Central New York
$39,574 Finger Lakes $39,574 Long Island $50,311 Mid-Hudson $31
longer applies, to the advantage of public (+10%) (+14%) (+2%) (+2%) (+46%) (+6%)
employees. In addition, they are protected by an unwritten
• Nationally, state and local employees on law of state politics. The issue of public employee
73%
$57,711
average make 133 percent of the pay of compensation is a third rail, deadly to elected
$44,939 All Upstate Capital District Central New York Finger Lakes Long Island $37,226 Mid-Hudson $39,69
$47,035
officials who dare touch it. That remains true
private-sector workers. 1 $39,078 $40,288 $53,445
$42,798 $39,370
even though (+10%)
$38,404
the state is facing a financial crisis, (+14%)
$39,574 Portion of(+2%)
$39,574 the Yonkers (+2%)
$50,311 (+46%)
$31,582 (+6%)
$30,863
•  Fringe benefits remain far more city services budget
generous for state and local workers, and employee compensation represents well used to pay employee
salaries and benefits
at 168 percent of the private sector over two-thirds of all government spending. $57,711

average nationally. $44,939 $37,226 $39,692

$47,035 $53,445
This report examines the disparities and Central New $39,078 $40,288
$42,798 All Upstate $39,370 Capital District $38,404 York $39,574 Finger Lakes $39,574 Long Island $50,311 Mid-Hudson $31,582 Mohawk Valley $30,863 North Country
Recently, public employees in many states— suggests simple changes
(+10%) (+14%)that would reduce the(+2%) (+2%) (+46%) (+6%) (+18%) (+29%)
including Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, double standard—by fixing the Taylor Law to
Nevada, Ohio and Oregon —have accepted
2
bring New York in line with other states, and

$47,035
pay or benefit reductions, helping taxpayers to providing retirement benefits to new employees
cope with the worst economic downturn
$44,939 All Upstate in $39,078that moreCapital
closelyDistrict
match$40,288
the private sector.
Central New York
$57,711

Finger Lakes
Number of
$53,445
states
1
that pay
Long Island
higher
$37,226
Mid-Hudson
$39,692
Mohawk Valley
$36,113
Public Sector
North Country
$42,798 80 years. These unionized workers,
$39,370 $38,404 like many
(+10%) $39,574
(+14%) $39,574
(+2%) $50,311
(+2%) $31,582
government wages and salaries (+46%) $30,863
(+6%) (+18%)
$37,943 (+29%)Private Sector
of their counterparts in private industry, have If we fail to make these changes, the guarantee per capita. New York is 44 percent
negotiated to support the financial survival of higher than the average of the
of rising compensation for public employees other 49 states, and is second
their employers in challenging times. becomes a guarantee that New Yorkers—who only to Alaska. 3

$57,711 $40,675
already pay the highest state and local taxes in
All Upstate Capital District Central New York Finger Lakes Long Island Mid-Hudson Mohawk
$39,692 Valley North Country Public SectorSouthern Tier $35,977
the nation—will keep paying more.
0 (+18%)
$44,939 $53,445 $37,226
$39,078 $40,288
(+10%)$38,404 (+14%)
$39,574
(+2%)
$39,574 (+2%) $50,311 (+46%)$31,582 (+6%)$30,863 $36,113
$37,943
(+29%) (-5%)
Private Sector
1 “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation” News Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 12, 2009 Number of states besides New York
2 News clips available on www.unshackleupstate.org that legally require public employers
3 “Government Efficiency: The Case for Local Control,” Association of Towns of the State of New York, May 2008. to continue paying wage and benefit
4 Data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (private sector) and American Community Survey (public sector). increases in the absence of a contract.
Analysis first completed by the Empire Center for New York State Policy in 2006. Updated by the Center for Governmental Research Western New York

pital District
with 2007 data.
Central New York Finger Lakes Long Island Mid-Hudson Mohawk Valley North Country Southern Tier (+13%)
Double-standard benefits The problem with pensions:
New York can’t afford them
The trouble with time off:
Higher payouts to more personnel

As workers in the private sector pay more for their health

In 2008, just 20 percent of all private-sector
workers had a traditional defined-benefit pension,
care and retirement, benefits for public employees keep where the employer guarantees retirement income.
getting richer. For the first time, the majority of Fortune 100
An average 10-year employee in the private
sector receives about 39 days of paid time
9
off per year—18 vacation days, 9 sick days,
9 holidays, and 3 personal days. Public 14

companies this year are offering new salaried employees receive more. The Monroe County
employees only one retirement option—a 401(k) analysis found that all 94 union contracts
or similar defined-contribution plan, where the exceeded these standards, with median time-off
The pay difference between private and public New York taxpayers are much more generous employee assumes the risk of investment. 10
allocations ranging 20 to 60 percent higher.
employees has been fairly constant for the in funding health care for public employees.
of gas
past seven years. The benefit gap has been Consider Monroe County—a microcosm of
a t a n k private-sector In New York, traditional pensions remain All employees need time off to maintain their
1/ 4
widening, as
+ health-care
employees shoulder Upstate which includes the city of Rochester, the norm for virtually all public employees. personal well-being and job satisfaction. For
a l l e t
ty w
more of their and retirement as well as suburban towns and rural villages.
an empFrom 2002–2008, state and local
Teachers and other public employees can retire employers, however, paid time off creates two
expenses. A review of the 94 union contracts covering as early as age 55, with a guaranteed income kinds of liability. From a workforce perspective,
employees have received $1.17 in new benefits local-government and school employees of at least 60 percent of their final average they need a larger staff to ensure coverage.
for every $1 an hour pay increase, compared to found the following: 8
salaries. Our state leads the nation in per capita Financially, in many cases, they must be prepared
58 cents for private-sector workers. 5
• School districts pay 92 percent of contributions to public employee retirement, to pay employees for the value of unused time off
employee health premiums on average. and was one of a handful of states to reduce when the employee leaves or retires.
Less-generous health benefits •  Local governments pay 91 percent on average, employee contributions in the past decade,
could save hundreds of millions with several towns paying 100 percent. when the stock market was performing well. 11

Overly healthy benefits

For example, the average 2008 contribution • Every school district and all towns but one If health insurance contributions
by private employers toward health insurance Pensions place a crushing burden on taxpayers,
(Sweden) exceeds the national average for especially as investment income drops. for public employees matched
premiums nationally was between 71 percent employer health contributions. national averages, Monroe County
(toward a family plan) and 81 percent (toward Contributions by every level of government alone would save more than $40
individual coverage). The employer contribution
6 Monroe County taxpayers would save more have increased tenfold in the past decade, from million annually.
is a little lower in Upstate New York. A recent than $40 million annually if schools and $991 million in 2000 to $10.1 billion in 2009. 12

Potential Savings:
survey of Rochester-area employers reported local governments matched the national A July 2009 analysis from the state comptroller 27.41 Million 13.53 Million
Potential Savings:

average health-plan contributions of 67 percent
(family) and 75 percent (individual).
average of employer contributions. Across predicted that local governments outside
100
7 the 57 counties of Upstate New York, the New York City will be forced to triple their
projected savings would be measured in the contributions to public pensions over the next 92 91
hundreds of millions of dollars each year. six years. 13

80 81

U.S. Average (Single)

Monroe County Local Governments

Rich pens
Per capita conio ns = poor ta 71

tr xpayers
retirement syst ibutions to public employee 60
ems for 2006-
1. New York $4 07. 15

Monroe County Schools

2. Alaska $467 86
Blue flu turns green:

U.S. Average (Family)

3. Rhode Isla
4. Nevada $4nd $416
Police in Greece get 365 sick days
40
Greece, New York, 10
well over a year for not working. In the job, and 365 days 5. California $3
e publ ic emp loyee s rece ive so much time off that they can be paidpaid sick leave from their first day on 81
Som agers are eligible for 183 days of 10 times the average for
for example, police officers and man creates a time-off bank more than
five year s. Com bine d with 18 vacation days and 13 holidays, this
after 20
private-sector employees.
Vacation Days Personal Days
Sick Days Holidays
0
Greece Police Health Insurance Contributions
350 400
Private Sector Average 200 250 300 (percentage paid by employer)
100 150
50
0
9 “Program Perspectives on Retirement Benefits,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 2009, http://www.bls.gov
10 Watson Wyatt survey quoted in “Company pensions are out on a limb,” USA Today, May 22, 2009
5 “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation” News Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 12, 2009 11 U.S. Census data reported in “Weight of public pensions growing,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jan. 25, 2009
6 “Employer Benefits in the United States,” March 2008, Bureau of Labor Statistics 12 “The pension bomb goes boom,” Empire Center for State Policy, July 8, 2009
7 Health Benefits Survey, Rochester Business Alliance, 2008, www.rochesterbusinessalliance.com 13 State comptroller’s analysis reported in “Pension costs for local governments may triple,” The New York Times, July 8, 2009
8 “Public vs. Private Sector Employee Benefits: A Summary Analysis of School and Local Government Union Contracts in Monroe County,” 14 “Employers’ Time-off and Disability Programs,” 2004 Survey Report, Marsh Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Center for Governmental Research, May 2009, www.unshackleupstate.org or www.cgr.org 15 U.S. Census data reported in “Weight of public pensions growing,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jan. 25, 2009

Why negotiate?
New York laws maintain pay and benefit increases for
public employees, with or without a contract.
New York governments have the right to
negotiate pay and benefits as part of union
contracts. But two unique laws give the
unions little motivation to compromise.
• The Taylor Law, first enacted in 1967, makes
the entire compensation package—including
fringe benefits—“mandatorily negotiable,”
which means that benefits are not subject to
change unless both sides agree.
• T he Triborough Amendment, adopted in
1982, preserves all terms and conditions after
a contract expires—including all benefits and
annual step increases to salaries—even if the
employees refuse to negotiate.
Most public employees receive step pay
increases based on seniority, along with
cost-of-living adjustments. Teacher salary
schedules typically include 20 to 30 pay
steps on each of at least four “lanes” for
teachers with bachelor’s degrees, master’s
degrees, master’s plus 30 graduate course
credits, and master’s plus 60 credits.16 In
theory, a beginning teacher could have
a 30-year career, enjoying annual pay
increases, without ever having an
approved contract.
The intent of Taylor and Triborough was
to ensure that members of public employee
unions—who aren’t allowed to go on
strike—are protected against unfair
employer leverage in negotiations. In
practice, they insulate New York
employees from the market forces
affecting private-sector compensation,
as well as public-sector employees in
other states. Here public employees have a
legal guarantee—it makes the status quo a
floor for collective bargaining, with nowhere
for pay and benefits to go but up.

16 “Taylor Made: The Cost and Consequences of New York’s Public-Sector Labor Laws Part 2,” Empire Center for New York State
Policy, Oct. 17, 2007, www.empirecenter.org.
Public employees deserve the
fairest compensation we can afford
Two changes could eliminate the double
standard and help to save state finances.

1. Fix the Taylor Law and Triborough
Amendment by freezing salary and benefit
levels to the last in-contract year for public
employees. This is standard practice in other
states and other union contracts. It holds
employers (taxpayers) harmless from cost
Public employees teach our children, protect increases outside of newly negotiated contracts,
us from crime or fire and provide dozens of while maintaining benefits in the original
essential government services. Most work hard, spirit of the Tribororough Amendment.
many in dangerous jobs. They deserve to be
fairly compensated for that work. 2. Create a new Tier 5 in the retirement
W h a t t he
b system for newly hired employees, shifting
Raises a uttons don’t sa
n d b e ne y: The problem illustrated in this report is that from a defined-benefit pension to a defined-
fi
ommon in ts are intact
It’s not unc “fairness,” as defined decades ago by the Taylor contribution approach. This would match the
to see scho New York S Law and Triborough Amendment, creates a national shift in retirement planning, while
olt ta
or even yea eachers work for mo te double standard. maintaining the public’s commitment to
rs w it hout nths
contract. M ratify ing a workers under the current system.
o ne
assume tha st people are li kely to w In the real world, economic forces have changed
t their pay
frozen unti and benefi
l ts the level of benefits that employees expect to Legally, these changes are relatively simple.
w it h schoo they sett le on new te are receive. Pensions have largely been replaced by Politically, they are difficult. State leaders
l administr rms
Thanks to ators.
th defined-contribution plans to help businesses will have to take on the powerful public-
Taylor Law e unique protections o compete. Employers pay a lower percentage of employee unions who benefit most from the
an f
however, te d Triborough Amend the health insurance premiums, or sponsor different current system.
achers and ment,
employees other publi plans, to cope with rising costs. Pay increases may
m c
w it hout a c a ke out just fine w it h be deferred during an economic downturn. Financially, they are essential. The state faces
ontract. In or
on Long Is ty
land, teach pica l district
16
annual budget deficits of many billions of dollars
deg ree ear ers with a m These real-world changes affect managers each year. Virtually every Upstate community is
n a
on the job. $72,491 in their 10th ster’s and workers, union and non-union. They also hurting financially. Since labor costs account
In the 11th ye a r
$75,171—a 3 y
.7 percent in ear, their pay is affect public employees in other states. for roughly 75 percent of government spending,
they fail to crease—eve the choice becomes clear.
ra n
health insu tify a contract. Increa if But in New York State alone, the law essentially
rance cover ses in
time off als age, pensio guarantees that pay and benefits will only go up. Change the double standard that protects
o ns
terms of th continue indefinitely and In hard economic times, public employees can public-employee benefits we can no longer
e prev ious under
gives schoo c
l administr ontract, which simply not negotiate and keep the increases of afford. Or consign our state and local
in negotiati ators little le their current contracts in place. governments to economic collapse.
ons. verage
New York’s Double Standard:
Time to End It!
State lawmakers won’t change the double standard
until New Yorkers demand it, in numbers that make
them pay attention. For a quick and easy way to make
your voice heard, go to UnshackleUpstate.com
and click on Send a Message to Albany.

About Unshackle Upstate

Unshackle Upstate is a bipartisan coalition of over
70 business and trade organizations representing
upwards of 45,000 companies and employing more
than 1 million people. We hail from across Upstate
New York with one goal: To achieve reforms in Albany
that make Upstate a stronger place to do business.

Unshackle Upstate
150 State St. Rochester, NY 14614
585.256.4606 | UnshackleUpstate.com