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My buddy Lorne was a paramedic firefighter in Clayton County, Georgia. S. side of Atlanta. Retired in 2005, at age 55, he put in 30 years.
Firefighters in Clayton county went union thirty years ago, largely to get a sweetheart pension.

What they worked out was, the firefighter gets 100 PERCENT of his pay for the pension. This is bad enough, as in private industry, a person would be lucky to get 33 percent.
But, the pension was 100 percent of the average pay, of the last 3 years the guy worked. This is the big scam that the unions pulled.
So, when Lorne had 27 years in, he lived up in N. Georgia near the N. Carolina line. He had a 2 hour commute to work, not too bad because he only worked every 3rd day.
But, at that time, he bought a house in Clayton County.
So, he would drive down and work his regular shift. Then, a guy called in sick, he would volunteer for the overtime shift, knowing that every overtime he worked, he would continue to be paid for the rest of his life.
So, he would work a 48, then lay around his new house for a day, then work a 24, then go home to N. Georgia for 2 days.
Also was renting out his spare bedroom to another firefighter who was working the same scam.

So, in his last year of work Lorne was getting about $51K in pay which was pretty good for Georgia at that time. But, he piled in $14K a year, in those last 3 years, so that his pension is $65K a year for life. In the real world, private industry, he would have had to have had some executive job making $200K to get a pension like that, IF he was lucky because most executive jobs have gone over to 401K.
And he got very good medical for his wife and himself, $70 a month for the rest of his life. His wife was 58 and already had had back surgery, making her virtually uninsurable on the open market. I mean she could have gotten a policy but it would have cost $1100/month.

When Lorne retired, he simply sold the Clayton Co. house.

So, we have this guy living the life of a millionaire, he bought a new big Ford pickup and a nice Airstream, drives out to Idaho and spends the winter out there skiing. Has to lay awake at night to think of ways to spend his money.
This is the unholy alliance between government employees and unions. These massive pensions are probably going to drive Clayton County broke.

it's a labor market where ever and for whom ever we work: for others such as individuals, companies, gov't or for ourselves.

we are free to choose for whom we wish to sell our services. to the highest bidder say i.

gov't can fugg things up. but, we don't have to work for them. higher pay in the private sector almost always.

in rural georgia, at least for a while when the farm economy was on the skids, state gov't built prisons in rural areas, hiring farmers and sweeping up inner-city youth to populate the new prisons. worked like a charm.

as has been stated, gov't overhires as a employer of last resort, offers low pay, and pensions. for those who opt to stay long-term, the pensions can pay off.