BlueBloggin

It’s stunning that the US Congress can continue to give themselves pay raises every years and then claim that federal employees are overpaid. Case in point, on May 26, 2010 on the floor of the US Senate  Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn made the following statement:

“We need to expect more, and we need to pay less.”

Coming from a guy who’s attendance/voting record is not so great. Coburn who has missed over 100 votes in Congress over the past several years, managed to give himself a pay raise. So what was Sen. Coburn doing while Congress was in session? Surely you don’t think he was returning his 100 plus days of pay to the tax payers. And, I really don’t see more work coming out of congress for less pay.  Hypocrites!

Here’s another stunning comment made by Mass Republican Sen. Scott Brown on Jan 31, 2010, ABC ThisWeek

“We need to put a freeze on federal hires and federal pay raises because as you know, federal employees are making twice as much as their private counterparts.”

What a load of crap! Maybe Brown’s staff is making twice as much but not the federal civilian employee.

In a letter to every senator, NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said there is no need to freeze the pay of frontline federal workers—many of whom are suffering in difficult economic circumstances with spouses or other family members unemployed. At the same time, she warned that a freeze on the number of employees would “likely dramatically increase the number of contractors,” at considerable expense to taxpayers.

• “Capping the number of federal employees is an ideological response that will end up costing the government more money for less quality,” Kelley said.

• She expressed the union’s strong opposition to a proposed amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to H.R. 4213, the tax extenders legislation, as well as to similar language contained in a proposed substitute amendment to the bill expected to be offered by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).

• President Kelley noted, first, that the White House has proposed only a modest 1.4 percent pay raise in 2011 for federal civilian employees, and, second, that this raise is based on the Employment Cost Index, which measures wage increases in the private sector.

• The proposed amendments would impact a wide range of civil servants, Kelley said, including many who work side-by-side with members of the military on behalf of the country. “Its effect would reach Customs and Border Protection Officers, who protect our ports of entry; employees who monitor food safety at the Food and Drug Administration; claims and appeals representatives who deal with the elderly and disabled at the Social Security Administration; Environmental Protection Agency scientists who help protect our environment; and many others,” she wrote.

• Separately, the NTEU leader also pointed out that surveys conducted by the respected Bureau of Labor Statistics put the present public-private sector pay gap at 22 percent, on average, in favor of private sector workers.

• “The pay gap in favor of the private sector is real,” Kelley said, “and is a significant factor in federal agency efforts to recruit and retain the high-quality workers they need to perform their vital and increasingly-complex duties on behalf of the public. We should not be taking any steps that make that effort any more difficult than it already is.”

I smell outsourcing of government agencies again. Man those republicans love to send federal jobs to their private sector buddies.  And what about that foreign funding wrapped in 5013C non-profit corporations they enthusiastically, use but deny?

Before we look at what Federal employees, make let’s take a look at what Congress takes home. And, don’t forget they rarely vote against their yearly pay increase, it’s automatic.

Rank-and-File Members:
The current salary (2010) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year.

Congress: Leadership Members’ Salary (2010)
Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.

Senate Leadership
Majority Party Leader – $193,400
Minority Party Leader – $193,400

House Leadership
Speaker of the House – $223,500
Majority Leader – $193,400
Minority Leader – $193,400

Unlike Congress, Federal employees and Military personnel can not give themselves pay raises yearly. In the Federal GS system, a Federal employee’s promotion to the next grade or next step is not automatic,  because it’s tied to their performance.  A concept Congress should adopt before they get a pay raise. And, it  takes far longer to increase their pay than members of the US Congress.

Here are the pay scales and how the pay increases work for federal employees from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Federal Employee 2010 GS Pay Scale . Most clerks, secretaries and administrative support staff fall under GS 1 Step 1: $17,803.00 through GS 4 Step 10: $31,871.00. I  hardly think they are making twice as much as their private sector counterparts.

General Schedule System
The General Schedule (GS) System is a pay system used to set pay for employees who work in positions classified in the administrative, clerical, professional and technical occupational categories. The pay plan designator is “GS”. The GS system is comprised of 15 grade levels – GS-1 through GS-15 and each grade level has a salary range of ten steps. Employees can advance to a higher step within the grade if they meet time and performance requirements.

GS Steps

Under the GS system, the average step increase is roughly equivalent to 3 percent of your basic salary. If your performance is rated as “meets expectations”, you will be granted within-grade step increases at specific intervals. Following are the waiting periods for GS full time employees:

• For advancement to steps 2, 3 and 4 – 52 calendar weeks
• For advancement to steps 5, 6 and 7 – 104 calendar weeks
• For advancement to steps 8, 9 and 10 – 156 calendar weeks

Employees who are on a part-time schedule or who have periods of non-pay status that exceeds allowable amounts will have their waiting periods extended.

For many Federal Agencies the bulk of their work force in not permanent which means most federal emplyees are furloughed for several months during the year. These employees fall under; Temporary, Seasonal, and Intermittent Employees. In a June 30, 2010 statement made by  Angela Bailey Deputy Associate Director for Recruitment and Diversity  U.S. Office of Personnel Management to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Ms. Bailey defines each class and their duration of employment.

And so it goes Congress and their buddies prosper and the federal employees are left to suffer.

The National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU) which represents 30  30 federal agencies and departments.

Posted by nytexan October 10th, 2010 | Tags: Colleen M. Kelley, Federal pay freeze, NTEU, Sen. Scott Brown, Sen. Tom Coburn | Category: Congress, Hypocracy, Politics, Republican | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL