Freeze out the rich bureaucrats

February 2009

 

Re: Christina Blizzard’s “Freeze out rich bureaucrats” (Feb 1), one of the things that really stuck out for me was the paragraph….”government compares public sector salaries with the private sector to arrive at a reasonable level of compensation”. As a (low level) public servant for the past 22 years, I think this line of thinking is completely wrong and unnecessary. One of the things that attracted me to government work was the (relatively good) job security, and as I grew older, I also realized the benefit of a good pension plan. My public service started with the Navy Reserve, where unlike some of my university chums, I was always guaranteed a job in the summer; lower paying but guaranteed work.

I know that I could make more (probably LOTS more) money working in the private sector, where I did spend some time working (and was even “let go” with severance from one job), but how long would the good times, and good money last? I always remembered my Dad, a retired 33-year veteran of the Ontario Public Service (and 50 years in the Army Reserve), telling me about private sector friends of his who worked for 3 or 4 companies over their careers due to layoffs, closures and other financial reasons; some even completely changing professions as a result. I decided a long time ago that I wanted something better.

I certainly don’t take my job security for granted, especially given the current economic climate, but this is the trade-off for the money I could be earning. I sleep better at night knowing that I will have a paycheque every 2 weeks and how much it will be.

Top level public servants, like the heads of Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation, shouldn’t have to be paid comparable salaries to their private sector counterparts (although they should be reasonable). Their (main) compensation should be the job security and other benefits. Either that or they can try their luck in the private sector. I’m sure the government will find someone else to take their jobs.