TOPICS
TOPICS
Pay parity supporters push for 3.4 percent civilian raise
Advocates of pay parity are asking the House Appropriations Committee to give civilian federal workers the 3.4 percent annual pay raise a separate panel approved for the military as part of the fiscal 2010 Defense authorization bill.
That figure is 0.5 percentage points higher than the 2.9 percent 2010 pay hike President Obama requested for the military in his February budget outline, and 1.4 percentage points more than his recommended civilian pay boost. Obama said at the time that the smaller civilian raise would bring "federal pay and benefit practices more in line with the private sector," which is suffering from the economic downturn.
"Federal employees work side by side with military personnel both here and abroad and deserve to be recognized for their extraordinary efforts," House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., and Federal Workforce Subcommittee Chairman Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., wrote to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., on June 22. "Civilian employees serving at [Defense], FBI, State, [Homeland Security], and at many other agencies support the men and women of the armed forces and work tirelessly to ensure the security of our nation."
Freshman Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., called for pay parity in March, but did not name a figure. Lynch earlier this year said he would ask for as much as a 3.9 percent pay raise for both military and civilian employees.
Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said on Wednesday that pay parity was an important principle that Congress should continue to uphold.
"Whatever the number, NTEU fully supports pay parity between civilian and military employees," she said.
COMMENTS
- Ms. Farr, if by "Civilians" you mean us GS, WG, and NSPS then you're talking aproximately 21% of the total government population. Only 6% are retired. These are the latest figures available to us Indians from The Fact Book and as of 2006. Some hold that DoD has a higher percentage and some say significantly so. I DO figure that number has risen since the Mil-to-Civ conversion. So, yes, I do believe many here have some slight familiarity with military service; including this one. And I DEFINITELY agree with your closing statement. Tip off Posted July 21, 2009 4:50 PM
- Which one of you Civilians is willing to give up your life for your country. Give the military their 3.4 raise; and Congress zip. Don't work for the Government if you expect to be treated fairly; the Government civilians are always the first to get a pay cut or freeze to save money. Mary Farr Posted July 20, 2009 12:41 PM
- “Obama is becoming more like Bush every day.” Perhaps you’re right. Could it be that the position carries with it knowledge that limits actions? While I never voted for him, initially I liked Shrub. I even felt sympathy for 9/11 occurring on his watch. It was only after seeing his (and Congress’s) responses that I got REALLY concerned. I can’t see the new Chief pushing such draconian and unconstitutional laws through; and, fortunately, it is a time for cooler heads in Congress. But, the similarities I see spring from this budget situation. Both POTUS took actions I suppose they thought were justified by their situations; and even if the current fiscal situation and budgetary indebtedness is still almost solely Shrub’s doing, we’ve yet to see significant beneficial changes in the economy from OB’s continuing of them and his own initiatives. (Check out "For U.S., a Sea of Perilous Red Ink, Years in the Making," in the New York Times.) My background and training both acknowledge the very real timelines of macroeconomics, i.e. action versus response being years in the offing; unfortunately we all live in the micro – here and now and many others are not so cognizant. Recent days’ revelations of a possible second stimulus plan concerns me; knowing all too well the swinging pendulum strikes harder with more momentum. I fear our representatives may be fearful of a voter backlash and, hence, may be bent on proving they were right before the seeds already planted take root. Simply put, that could be disastrous for the US; even if gleeful for Limburger, Speck, and the rest of the Canis Vulpes network. While I contributed to our country’s defense and have great respect and appreciation for our uniformed services (green, blue, or brown); I must admit that, other than deployments, garrison assignments carry similar duties and responsibilities for civilians and military alike. The relatively few additional military duties are more than compensated by their generous time off. So saying, I firmly believe in base pay increase parity; and yet acknowledge that combat, overseas, and geographically bachelor compensations are inadequate. And yet still understand giving at least a little “for the cause”… At least the current POTUS started pulling in the pay purse strings of his own select few first. Tip off Posted July 9, 2009 1:13 PM
