Conflicting studies compare salaries of Montana public, private workers

Montana legislators soon will be debating whether to approve the proposed pay raises for state employees negotiated by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and public employee unions.

They likely will be comparing statistics about state employees’ pay with those of other public and private workers, and perhaps their fringe benefits.

In part because of recent pay freezes, the base pay for Montana state government workers lags further behind the prevailing midpoint of salaries for similar jobs done in the public and private sector in the five-state region, according to a salary survey done for the state.

By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Missoulian State Bureau

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/news/local/studies-compare-salaries-of-montana-s-public-and-private-employees/article_33356bb6-41c3-11e2-9768-0019bb2963f4.html