A private company has every right to offer pensions. The government does not have this right, as the money they are offering is tax money, thus it's not their right in providing such ridiculous compensations.
A 401k in a private company is not an entitlement, it's just a company incentive/benefit.
A 401k that is offered on behalf of the government, is an entitlement to some degree, but can also be viewed as a form of reasonable, additional salary. Typically 401ks are capped out in regards to what they will match from the employees deposits, so it's not as bad as it could be, were these caps non-existent. Over-all I do not agree with government-employee 401k's, but I'm not entirely opposed to them if their salary is low to begin with. Salaries are of course discretionary though.
A government pension is not comparable to that of a 401k, because the equivalent salary from a pension program would equate to absolutely absurd salaries, if you were to eliminate government-pensions, and factor that pension into the salaries the workers earned throughout their career. An 80k government job, would all the sudden be more like a 150K+ government job. Some government employees receive 150% pensions, which if they are retired for longer than they work, it basically 2.5X's their salary. That's the government and their employees lining their pockets for ya... all through bogus entitlement programs.
Everyone deserves a time to have a lunch break and possibly vacation. It really depends on what the requirements of the job are regarding vacations. Vacation time is can either be viewed a unpaid work, or just a incentive in regards to being "payed more for less". I just view it as an incentive, but not that of ridiculous, over-compensation, such as pensions.
