Proof That States Can Save Money Without Attacking Unions: View

There is little question that generous pay and pensions for public employees contributed mightily to the economic straits that many states find themselves in.

State and local governments pay workers $40.10 an hour in wages and benefits versus $27.88 for private-sector employees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Studies that control for factors such as education and experience have found much smaller disparities.) But recent weeks have offered solid proof that limiting collective-bargaining rights for those workers’ unions is not the right approach to bringing the situation under control.