TFA says "Most of this was the government's contribution to pensions". But also consider that decent health insurance for a family is getting up near $10K a year, and federal employees get pretty generous vacation time, which is probably worth several thousand as well.
So to take an example look at vacation time. If the average person is making $39 an hour (based on the USA Today numbers) and they accrue 8 hours per pay period + 4 hours sick leave per pay period that alone is 39 days of time off per year. Add the 10 vacation days and you're up to 49 days a year or $15,288.
Then look at Health Care. Supposedly a U.S. citizen spends an average of $7,290 per year on health care. Assume even one child and maybe a spouse (which are all covered under the employee's health care plan) and you get into some serious money.