1) As to user fees. Most public infrastructure in the US is dramatically underfunded. Public transport, road, and water systems are a major cause of the multi-trillion infrastructure spending backlog we have (according to the American Society of Civil Engineers). We pay far too little for services like water, which precludes municipal water utilities from upgrading infrastructure. Governments often privatize when that situation becomes untenable, because they don't want to be the one that raised water rates on grandma.
2) As to wages, I'm supportive of income equality. But unionized public sector jobs are a misallocation of resources. If we want to subsidize a particular kind of job at the public expense, why not start with the lowest income folks first, instead of relatively well off public sector workers?
Public services in the US are a disaster, and most of it is not privatized. It's not privatization that drove Chicago to the brink of bankruptcy. It's not privatization that left the DC Metro in shambles. It's not privatization that left Atlanta with ancient sewers that dump raw sewage into the Chattahoochee river. And ironically, it's the poor that suffer. Rich people can send their kids to private school - bypassing the failing inner city systems that often spend far more money than neighboring suburban ones. Rich people can take Ubers everyday and avoid subways that are delayed and shut down due to years of diverting money from maintenance to pensions and benefits.