Public-Sector Pay Judged Competitive : Compensation: Only at highest levels do O.C. government jobs lag private industry, study finds.

Wages and benefits of public-sector employees in Orange County are comparable to those in private industry for lower- and mid-level jobs, according a new report, but there is a significant disparity in the executive suites.

The compensation of government managers and chief executive officers lags by thousands of dollars what their private-sector counterparts are paid, according to a study prepared for the League of California Cities, Orange County division by the Newport Beach office of independent consulting firm Ralph Andersen & Associates in Sacramento.

The study, based on a survey of 52 local employers, Orange County’s 31 cities and its county government, is likely to be used to evaluate whether more public services could be done by private companies.

“The reality of the situation is that there are only so many dollars to go around,” said Duane K. Munson, personnel director for the city of Newport Beach. The study “is going to be a powerful method of determining how our resources are being used.”

Munson, one of several local officials who helped prepare the survey, said the information will almost certainly be used at future negotiating sessions with employee groups to show that public-sector wages are competitive.

“This is the type of information that can be used at the bargaining table to show everybody what’s going on,” Munson said. Unions “need to temper their expectations in negotiations with management to protect the jobs they have.”

Local union officials said they were not aware of the report but were immediately suspicious of its conclusions.

“There goes job security and bargaining rights, right out the door,” said Robert Wilberg, secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union Local 787. The union represents 550 county custodians, landfill workers, mechanics, heavy-equipment operators and public-works employees. “It seems to be another attempt at privatizing the work force.”

Sharon Ericson, president of the 750-member Anaheim Municipal Employees Assn., said: “What concerns me is that management people are doing this study. We don’t make crap. All of our employee classifications are at bottom levels.”

But officials who participated in the study said government workers’ pay compares favorably in most areas except for management and top-level executives.

Unions, which are pervasive in government and less visible in the private sector, are credited in the report with keeping entry-level salaries somewhat higher for clerical, trade and technical positions in government. However, that beginning advantage does not keep pace with the typical private-industry pay structure providing for continued advancement in salary, the study found.

Typically, government agencies provide only 20% salary growth for employees during their careers, while the figure stands at nearly 50% for private industry. For a public-sector executive, the report said, that can mean earning as much as $4,000 a month less than a person holding a similar position in private industry.