Return to Article: Pay parity supporters push for 3.4 percent civilian raise
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83156
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.
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83000
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.
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82180
"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.
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82051
Obama is becomong more like Bush everyday. He now wants to help balance the budget on the backs of the federal employees,to make himself look good to the public. But he will not talk about the so called trillions "bail out" policy of the banks and their friends on wallstreet, started by the corrupt Bush regime and continued by the Obama administration.
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82029
Hey, Obama is pretty shrewd. Most want Pay Parity at 3.4%, but Obama wants to give the Civilian Employees only 2.0%. Well, here's an easy solution he will just love: 1. Put ALL Civilians in the #@!&## NSPS. 2. They'll get screwed with only 60% of the full Cost of Living. 3. Well, 60% x 3.4% = 2.04%; Close Enough! Problem solved through the "New Math" of the ObamaNation.
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81929
I'm not going to advocate that federal employees receive a raise this year. It has nothing to do with how I feel this is "doing my part" and more with recognition that my advocacy is irrelevant.
Congress and the President have ignored FECPA since its inception. It hardly serves either the public or the federal employees to have a law on the books which they then ignore, simply because it's politically expedient to do so. Here, then is what I propose to the Congress and the President: Follow the law or take it off the books. Have the intestinal fortitude and honesty to stand up for whichever course of action you choose to follow, but quit pretending that you're going to do something when it's manifestly obvious that your intent is to do otherwise.
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81837
I am a Fed and I want more money! After all I gotta help pay my neighbors' mortgages now, not to mention keeping Citibank and GM in Business and probably have health care reform on my back too. How about some free cheese and peanuts while you're at it.....
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81806
All I'd like to say is that I think we should all go without for one month. Maybe there would be enough money to get a raise after that.
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81707
I am thankful I have a job and I have served both in the Military, Civil Service and Foreign Service. I support the largest pay raise they will give us. We are committed to serving the American People but I wouldn't be in the FS if it wasn't for the pay and opportunity to travel. Last year they told us that Fed Governmemt workers on the average made 20% less than those of equal position in the business community. I haven't heard what it is this year. We provide a great service to the American citizens and should be justly compensated.
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81601
Very interesting. I have read all the postings regarding the pay raise for civilians employed by the federal government. What most of the posters don't realize, or, if they do, is that the money for our raises comes out of OUR pockets one way or the other. Don't most, or, all of you pay taxes? People, this is where all the money for just about everything comes from in the government. I write to my congressional delegation and let thm know how unhappy I am when they receive a raise much higher than I receive. And, I also let them know I don't think it's fair at all to receive that high raise after their retirement. They receive every penny they vote for themselves while federal GS employees don't receive nearly as much. The sad part - even if they only serve one term - you got it! - it's whole shebang! Where's the justice in that? Just because they control the government and it's (our) money. So, people - wake up and complain to Congress and let them know how you feel about how they spend your money. I do and it works.
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81589
"Please, Get Over It!" Times are hard and many peiple are unemployed or under-employed. Let's be grateful regardless of an increase or not! Why? We still have a job and we are well compensated for what we do. If you became a civil servant to get rich, you joined the wrong team. We make a diffference in people's lives in a number of ways, so let's be happy about that! By the way, I know some of those people without a job and they would love to work for the government. Think about it and learn to be THANKFUL!
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81585
To the fellow "Veteran turned CivilSVCworker" who is too afraid to use his own name:
Speaking as a vet myself, cease your self-congratulatory comments such as "we (being the civil servants) still stay on course with serving our country no matter how well the economy was doing.... we the civil servants are being punished for our commitment to our country."
You are working for the gov't for one reason and one reason only: The MONEY! If you were not being paid you'd be out the door in a nanosecond and you know it. Just cut out the self-agrandizing nonsense.
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81556
I think we need to rethink or re-group our thoughts and see what are really trying to accomplish here. When times were good in the private sector, we (being the civil servants) still stay on course with serving our country no matter how well the economy was doing. Now that times have changed, we the civil servants are being punished for our commitment to our country. Is this fair?
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81536
Hmmmm .. Let's see .. 38 plus years where Federal Employees should have been getting a 10% (+/-) COLA and received a 2-4% COLA instead. Give or take that's a 6% slide conservativly each year over those years .. Seems like a considerable amount of $$ when you think about it.
Ignoring the spirit and/or intent of the law for almost 40 years is something for the courts to address and we all know that will never happen. If it were it may actually hold someone "accountable" and we all know how that goes.
It doesn't however make any one of our esteemed law makers (over the last 40 years) any less complicit in the crime but then they're the ones that appoint the judges and approve the Supreme Court Justices so it's pretty much a moot point don't you think?
It's all an example of the "Golden Rule" folks, them's with the gold makes the rules !!
I'm going to take whatever I'm given and then I'm going to work like hell because that's what I've always done. It's what's right, it's why I continue to enjoy my job, it's my way of contributing to the solution (not the problems) and in the end I'm pretty sure that every one of you are going to do the same damn thing so quit your belly aching and get back to work !!
Do you want to know the secret of success, the secret to making money? It's called YCMMSOYA .. "You Can't Make Money Sitting On Your Asset's" ...
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81534
While I understand the rationale of providing federal employees a lower cost of living increase based on the current status of the ecomony, I do not understand why it is deemed that the military employees deserve a higher increase than civilian employees.
I know about the difficuly task the military employees face with the state of our nation military struggles in various parts of the world. How some risk their lives to ensure our country is safe. There are government tasks that must be handled here in the United States, and the civilian employee is taking those tasks head on.
I am reminded daily of the difficult challenges our people face when I walk into my office and tirelessly service the public in anyway I can to ensure the federal government is doing its part to help.
I do not wear a uniform when I work, but I am working just as hard as any military or civilian employee. I feel that any cost of living increase should be the same for military and civilian employees.
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81468
Yea, and I'll bet that CAE also is a double dipper, meaning he was handed a civilian position on the propverbial Monday morning post his retirement from active duty. And this so-called 'conversion' was most likely into into the very same desk and very saem literal chair that he occupied on the preceeding Friday afternoon. But, of course, before all of this was done, his DOD 'superiors' first concocted a sham surmised external to DOD recruitment at US taxpayer expesne that was solely intended for his personal 100% self-financial gain driven benefit. As they say, when the shoe fits.......
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81430
I vote Sean for Congress. Well said.
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81412
I'll work for the same pay and take my 3.4% as paid time off. That would be about 9 days.
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81405
3.4 % is a good place to start for ALL federal employees. Think of it this way. The federal government is trying to stimulate spending and kick start the economy. Federal workers are a great avenue to distribute spending potential throughout and try to offset the private sector slump. So, 3.4% is a good place to start. Higher would be better in this case.
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81376
Yes, I agree with 3.4% pay increase, whether it passes...who knows. For years pay increases and COLA for the civil service has been held in abeyance setting the example for others. As to the comments relative to Civil Servants not being out there in the line of fire with the military...obviously those who make these comments have never deployed. I've deployed ten times and have on many occasions convoyed and/or flown to isolated areas in order to render assistance to unit personnel encountering problems with their equipment. So to those naysayers I say if you've no idea what you're talking about, then say nothing at all. To those who feel the Private Sector is better...the grass is not always greener on the other side and with the economy in a downward spiral, it's even worse. Whether or not we get the 3.4% pay raise, I'll continue to do my job by providing support to the military with a smile on my face and taking pride in my accomplishments knowing I'm making a difference.
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81351
Personally, I do not care what the pay raise ends up being this year. However, this maddening exercise every year concerning parity needs to end. Whatever raise is deemed appropriate should be implemented across the board for every single federal employee. It is insane that there are different raises for civil service, judges, congress, the military, etc. If 3.4% is good for a single federal employee, it is good enough for them all.
There will always be those who insist the military deserves a higher raise than any other federal employee due to the nature of their work. As a veteran, I would argue that the base pay raise is an inappropriate venue. At any given time, the overwhelming majority of military members are not in harm's way. If you truly want to compensate those serving abroad in the GWOT, increase the existing hostile fire/imminent danger pay, family separation allowance, etc. Anything other than a base pay raise would suffice and would end this yearly standoff of military pay raise versus civil service pay raise.
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81326
Folks for real, with all the non-federal layoffs, salary cuts, and the budget deficits, don't you thinkg we federal employees could and really should forgo any raise this year?
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81303
The Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970 calls for Federal civilian service employees to receive pay comensurate with the private sector. Surveys suggest federal pay scales lag anywhere from 10-35% behind. Therefore, the POTUS and Congress violate at least the spirit of the law every year (if not the actual intent and exact wording of the law itself). They left themselves a nice loophole. From an OPM website: "The new Act provided that the President could, for reasons of national emergency or economic conditions affecting the general welfare, set the annual adjustment of pay rates at a rate lower than the surveys suggested.
From then on, every President every year, with only a few exceptions, set the salary adjustment below the levels indicated by the annual surveys, and usually gave as the reason economic conditions affecting the general welfare."
And so it continues. Very sad. Most of the Federal employees I know are hard working and deserve a 3.4% increase, at a minimum. Money is not the issue (Uncle Sam just borrows more and prints more to bail out banks and corporations...so a little more for CS employees shouldn't be a problem).
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81291
I think an 8% pay raise would be a good thing. Congress has always given themselves huge raises far more then the folks actually doing the grunt work. Their raises over compenstate for their needs. No matter the raise given to the remaining civil servants, health insurance, taxes, the cost of food, gas prices, general household expenses/maintenance, and the cost of prescriptions always brings you back to square one so those who think Government employees, out in the field, benefit from the raises are mistaken. We have nothing left over and don't get to see what being over compensated feels like.
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81289
Dear Pete: You couldn't be more uninformed most of the contract workers you rave about doing good work are retired gov't workers double dipping...another well researched thought...are you a high ranking GOP member???...
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81288
It would be nice for change if they actually added money to the appropriation bills to cover the civilian raise. Usually they approve the raise but add no money so Agencies have to cut staff to make it happen. Show me the money!
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81285
Hey, Bobby, I and most others fully favor reasonable incremental pay increases for the troops. But how about laying off that too often parroted canard that all of our Nation's all volunteer military are, as you put it, "in harms way....and are putting their lives on the line for the rest of us." Without question there are indeed many Army soldiers and US Marines and Navy SEALs and others who are truly, genuinely, literally doing just that in Iraq and Afganistan. But are you trying to say that that guy or gal who opted to join the military to avoid the minimum wage, and got a nice big enlistment bonus, and earns a nice salary, and is handed a very generous circa $1,500 monthly tax freee housing allowance who cooks french friesor cuts hair or drives around a flag officer each day at a safe and secure US military base in sunny and beautiful Hawaii or Florida or Italy is the same as the combat solider or Marine? Come on, get off it. And STOP trying to dilute the real sacrifices of our Nation;'s young men who volunteer to serve as combatants and face real bullets and real knives and real IEDs.
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81282
response to ray, I dont know what agency you work for but I work very very hard at my federal agency and I deserve an equal pay raise. where else do you put up with a lot of things that the private sector would not and do not have to deal with. You see our work results on a daily basis. we keep this country running ! you need to get out of your cubicle a little bit more !!
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81281
As far as I'm concerned as much money as this Administration is throwing around what's another 3.4% cost of living increase?
You have no problem forcing banks to take money they don't want. No problem bailing out corporate america from themselves. No problem giving yourselves, most of who are ALREADY multi-millionaires an 8% increase.
Why oh why when it comes to your own govt workers can't you kick some of that our way.
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81278
In response to Ray's post about going and getting higher paying private sectior job. When I worked private sector I had to negotiate for pay raises. No difference here. This is how government workers negotiate for pay raises.
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81271
Nothing short of Chutzpah to compare cs to the military. When you consider that CS make twice what the private sector makes a wage cut similar to the autoworkers is in order. the greed exhibited by out CS is just beyond the pale
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81264
OK, the military is getting 3.4% because they go into battle...sometimes. They propose a 2% for the Fed employees, and Congress is getting how much?
The Military do NOT have to pay for their insurance (health or life) nor their housing so they already are above the Fed employee there. The 2% 'might' cover what my insurance will increase this year. OK, yes they go overseas on occasion BUT when they go, they get paid over and above, so why the extra when they are stateside NOT being put in harms way? Not to mention how much time they take off with the excuse of "I'm on duty 24/7" but I don't see you putting in that much time while you're here on the installation. You're off on vacations to Cancun, I'm surprised I don't have to pay to spell it cause I sure can't afford to go there (even with 13 years of federal service).
If you want to hold me back on pay to make up for the shortages, then as long as you freeze insurance from going up more than 1%, and freeze Congress and the Senate from getting any more than a 2% we'll talk about it.
Don't whine how bad our military have it and how cushy the Fed employees have it. You sit next to them and have them looking down their noses at you while you are doing their work so they can go fight--the bugs in their yards.
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81260
I'm a vet and have worked in both the private and public sector (currently public). I don't agree with the pay parity issue between military and other public sector jobs. Today's military service personnel are being asked to pull repeated tours of duty that take them away from family and put them in harms way. I think they deserve to be paid well for putting their lives on the line for the rest of us. From my perspective, most public employees are paid as well as, if not better, than a lot of private sector employees. There will always be exceptions such as upper level management jobs. Another exception might be the big three U.S. auto industry but that is changing. I love my good government job and consider myself fortunate to have it.
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81259
No matter what the pay raise will or will not be for civil servants, it won't cover the raise in our health benefits costs. Now the president is considering taxing these benefits. We are already taxed to death between federal, state, county, city, sales, etc. NO MORE TAXES. Plus, we should get the same 8% raise that Congress just gave themselves for "expenses". This "news" should have been on the front pages of all the newspapers and on all the commentary TV shows. Instead, it was hidden in our paper on page 6 On Tuesday, June 23rd.
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81258
I see a lot of comments on how unfair it is that fed employee pay lags behind the private sector. To these I say: go out and get one of those great private sector jobs if you're so underrated!
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81254
Let's have some work/results parity first
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81253
Yes we need a raise, 3.4% is probably not enough compared to the private sector. A real travisty is the piddling COLA'S that have been given to the CSRS retiree's over the last 10 years or so. Some years it doesn't even cover the increased costs of health care. I wonder how long that would last if congress had the same system for a few years. By the way to Pete: WTF? how would you know that 80% of the civilian employees who support DoD are lazy, incompetent, and uncooperative. They would not survive in the contractor organizations that support them. the contractors I see in my workplace don't hold a candle to the craftsmen and women that work here.
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81250
I realize these are extraordinary times and the budget is concern for all but I do agree that the civilian feds do deserve a raise. Many agency budgets have been squeezed to the point that no new FTE's can be hired to pick up all the additional work. With this said, many feds are working their tails off to ensure operations continue despite the shortage of staff. If the government can pour billions to bail out the financial sector who was greedy they can surely appropriate funds to cover a decent pay raise for civilian feds.
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81244
Social Security recipients don't get a COLA next year; but Federal employees do? "Poor civil servants" with tenure don't get laid off either.
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81240
Federal employees DO NOT work side by side with military personnel both here and abroad! A few field operatives in the CIA put their lives on the line, but other than that... Where are all the folks from State when the military has to build infastructure in Iraq or Afghanistan? If their anywhere close, it's likely they'll be collecting per diem and ordering room service!
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81239
I would gladly forego the raise to help reduce our Nation's debt!
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81235
These are extraordinary times and I believe we are in one of the few circumstances where arguing for parity for the civilian workforce for this extra 1.4% is not the smart thing to do. I hope I am wrong, but this time it could prove to be very counterproductive for the federal civilian workforce. Just look what is happening to everyone else (including those receiving social security COLAs) and think about whether we want to be having this particular discussion this year. The same can be said for the timing of some of the other civil service retirement reforms being pushed in Congress. Though actually long overdue and in a perfect world "the right thing to do," I fear they will likely open up serious discussions about other changes to offset the increased spending they will entail. High five and mandatory minimum retirement age of 62 (already discussed) could be only the beginning. It may not happen this year, but pushing for extra benefits at this time may be sowing the seeds for serious pension system offsets in the next sessions of Congress if fiscal situation does not improve dramatically.
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81225
I think everybody should be treated like we have since the Bush administration screwed us over you don't get a cola in your base you get a on time lumpsum check each year then all future cost to the gov't with respect to retirement would stop going up and all neocon idiots would be happy and oh don't forget to have a straight 401k retirement system...coming to a gov't service near you...one last thing management exempted themselves from the great cola payout, they somehow think their families deserve better...but then that is the new republican way...
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81221
Now that it is Obama's budget it will be interesting how the unions react if the full pay parity is NOT included this year. I assume the Union will bend over for their favorite liberal Dem. With this economy all FED should NOT receive ANY COLA this upcoming FY.
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81220
Civilian federal workers should get the same raise as the United Auto Workers. After all, they are forced to bear a burden and are defacto federal employees to boot. A bit of equity in pain sharing would not hurt. But perhaps Congress is too busy buying votes to care about that?
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81217
Let me get this straight...ALL Federal employees benefit from the pay raise, but this administration only appears concerned about paid parental leave and "partner benefits", which only benefit a small number of Federal employees. If we can't afford a decent pay raise, maybe these costly new initatives need to be reviewed!
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81215
Where did the thought come from that Federal employees are on equal footing? Last article I saw on the subject said that Federal IT workers are still like 30% behind their counterparts in the private sector. You can't uae the recession to make everything go away. There was a law passed in the early 90's giving IT workers raises to closed this gap, but the budget situation was always the excuse for not closing the gap. I just wish this administration would get the facts straight before pontificating......
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81206
I am glad to see that Congress stands by the civil service who make government tick. But when is it going to address the GS-15 pay ceiling issue. Long serving GS15-10's are paid GS15-9 salaries. If the 3.4% increase is approved the these GS15-10's will receive GS15-8 salaries. Why not provide equal raise increase and change the GS scale ceiling? That is only fair and will retain long term, hard working senior civil servants.
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81205
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.
That's all well and good, but where were the fat pay raises and bonuses the private sector paid their employees earlier? That's right - we didn't get them. Instead, while our pay lagged considerably (by some estimates as much as 20%), we have received Scrooge-like raises that averaged 2.5% over the last ten years. Every year feds have lost ground to general inflation and skyrocketing healthcare costs. Add in the other liberties we have to give up as feds and this is simply a slap in the face.
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81197
80% of the civilian employees who support DoD are lazy, incompetent, and uncooperative. They would not survive in the contractor organizations that support them. The remaining 20% are the best there is. Give them pay parity with those who shed their blood in Iraq and Afganistan
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81192
That 3.4% is nothing when compared with the 50% raise the Citi employees just received.
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81179
Pres. Obama is going to make examples of us poor civil servants. We will get farther and farther behind on pay as we have been for all years. Quality of staff is diluted because more money can be made outside of government. Shame on continuing to make paupers of GS employees just to prove a point.
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81176
Nothing against you Ms. Rosenberg as I always love your articles. Some times I wish there wasn't a comment section to these articles as they bring countless negative comments!
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81168
Why is it that when the private sector is doing really well, the president finds a way to keep Federal pay increases as low as possible?
And, why is it that when the private sector is doing not doing so well, the president finds a way to keep Federal increases as low as possible?
WTF!!! Enough with the political BS...
The Fed already has laws regarding private/civilian pay parity, Why not follow them, or come up with a new method that can be followed, maybe something similar to calculating the pay increases for retired folks.
If the economy does well, the well performing employees should do well, right?
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