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$450,000 to be an L.A. port pilot? Why go to medical school?

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To the editor: The article on the six-figure earnings of Los Angeles port pilots highlights the problem with public employee union contracts: The taxpayers, the ones writing the checks, never have a seat at the table. Plus, it appears that no one, including elected officials, cares about this. (“How overtime has made L.A.’s port pilots the city’s best paid employees, averaging $450,000 a year,” July 25)

When I was growing up, public employees were usually paid less than those in comparable private-sector jobs, but their jobs and modest retirement incomes were very secure. Now, some public employees are being paid exceptionally well and take for granted generous pensions that most private-sector workers have accepted as a thing of the past.

Oh, and isn’t it amazing that the ports that have privatized this function are easily controlling their cost exposure in this?

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I am all for compensating our public servants appropriately, but things have gotten out of hand. And it’s appalling that it’s rarely an issue come election time.

Kathy Erickson, Playa del Rey

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To the editor: One of the highest paid port pilots working in Los Angeles’ harbor made $602,000 in the last fiscal year.

Clearly, I wasted my time attending medical school and residency, since I make only a fraction of that amount as a neurologist. It appears I could have had a much higher standard of living if I had chosen to be a port pilot instead.

Susan Skinner, Newport Beach

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