Would it surprise you to learn that the average Galveston policeman, all by himself, makes more than twice the average household income in Galveston?
It’s true, and it’s very relevant.
I wrote an editorial recently that criticized the Galveston policemen’s union. Police pitched a hissy fit, and supporters have been moaning about it ever since.
Here’s what I think after some reflection (you probably ought to think about it, too, since it’s your money):
Unions are neither good nor bad, they are simply engines of self-interest. Also, public-employee unions are very different from unions in the private sector.
What happens in union negotiations is that a union guy sits across the table from a management guy. In the middle of the table is a big pile of money, and each side tries to leave the room with as much of the money as possible. Simple, right?
In private enterprise, maybe it is simple, but the situation becomes muddled when one side is a public-employee union and the other side isn’t some corporate fat cat — it’s us, you and me, taxpayers.
Public employees can and do influence elections in Galveston, and thus they help elect the people empowered to hire and fire the city manager. The city manager must negotiate with unions who play a role in electing his bosses. The bottom line is that the city manager is negotiating on your behalf and collective bargaining puts him at a big disadvantage.
One correspondent wrote: “The city has a right not to agree with anything it feels will hurt the city.” That’s right in theory, but it’s not right in practice. Because of politics, the unions have too much power in Galveston.
“Unions had nothing to do with Galveston’s failure to make needed investments in its infrastructure,” someone wrote. That’s just untrue.
The city has a finite amount of money to spend on all Galveston’s needs. So, every dime paid to the police and other employees affects what it can spend to fix potholes, improve drainage and repair broken traffic lights.
Another correspondent wrote: “I don’t see any firemen or policemen getting rich.”
Maybe they aren’t “rich” in the sense that Donald Trump is rich, but they are far richer than most in Galveston.
According to figures for the year ending Sept. 30, 2008, the city’s 153 policemen had average annual total income, including benefits, of $71,092. That average excludes overtime pay for Hurricane Ike, which would drive the figure up. It also does not include any estimate of off-duty income, which most policemen also earn, putting total income for many at far more than $100,000 annually.
And, just to be clear, the average above includes no management or administrative salaries.
Galveston was a poor city before Hurricane Ike, and it’s poorer now. Median household income in Galveston (that’s for the whole household, not its individual wage earners) is just $34,153.
Galveston’s police will take a 3 percent pay cut Feb. 1, but that just puts them back to the 2008 levels. After the pay cut, they still will make on average more than twice the household income in Galveston.
Galveston traditionally reveres unions and collective bargaining, even among public employees. That’s something the city may choose to continue in spite of the financial misery caused by Hurricane Ike.
If that’s the choice, though, ask yourself this question: How much are you personally willing to pay to ensure that the police make more than you do?
Dolph Tillotson is president and publisher of The Daily News.
