Join the Club

The 100K club, that is. Wouldn't you like to? Of course, if you work in the public sector (I do) then apparently it's everyone's business if you make more than 100K a year. (Before taxes, and including benefits, don't forget.) I have no worries about being on this list. What I do is not worth 100K a year. Don't get me wrong, I work hard (um, when I'm not on mat leave, that is) but I happily leave at the end of the day and spend time with my family, and forget about work until the next day. Yes, there are probably other people who could do what I do.

But for the higher ups at the Region and other local government who ARE on the list, I would argue that there are very FEW people who could do what they do. Managing people is not easy. Managing the entire Region, with all its unions and the public scrutiny, is a big job. Higher ups are definitely putting in more than 35-40 hours a week, and there's the whole "walk a mile in their shoes" thing. Plus, they're not in the stratosphere - the highest local government earners are in the high 100K-low 200K range, which I actually find to be quite reasonable. My director made the list, and so did my manager (barely). These guys are both professional engineers. They have training and knowledge that a lot of people don't. I will never move up into their jobs, I'm not qualified. They work hard and deserve their salaries.

What is completely UN-reasonable is the fact that there are people on this list making over a million dollars a year. Even over TWO million dollars a year! The hell??? My reaction is not because of the downturn in the economy. I get pissed about this every time this list comes out. There is NO WAY that the CEO of Ontario Power Generation is worth that much. What in the heck is he doing, casting fantasic spells that are keeping dragons from frying the province to a crisp?? Maybe "CEO of OPG" is just his mild-mannered ego, and his office is really located on the Hellmouth, and he spends his nights saving the world from demons and vampires while the rest of us sleep in blissful oblivion. (No Buffy fans out there? Just me then? Okay.) His trusty sidekick, "CEO of OMERS" started off a little geeky, but really came into his own in Season 4 when he started the whole practicing witchcraft thing.... (Seriously? Only me, huh?)

Nope. Nuh-uh. You cannot convince me that people are worth this much money. MAYBE if you work in the private sector and are responsible for making this kind of money for your investors, you deserve a piece of the pie. Maybe. (And don't even get me started on AIG executives. I'm just not going to go there with companies receiving handouts.) I am happy with how my OMERS pension fund is performing, but I just can't find 2 million dollars worth of happiness in my heart. Sour grapes? I'm pretty sure not.

I agree with Dwight Duncan that the number of 100K employees is not such a big deal, especially given inflation. What percentage of those people are in the lower range? Looks like a lot, from what I can see. Where we need to take a good look is at those in the 1M club. Maybe even the 500K club. But 100K? Not so much.

(Season 4 Buffy! Those of you who have finished reading The Grapes of Wrath, go watch! The rest of you, back to the book.)