how not to keep quality workers - Bush uses "war on terror" to justify slashing statutory federal wage increase

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 09:49:39 -0800 (PST)

Bush slashes federal raises, blames terror

Workers' group criticizes move



CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) --Federal civilian workers won't see the full pay
raise they were promised with President Bush's decision to cut the planned
salary hikes because of the war on terrorism.

The workers were to have received an average increase of 18.6 percent, but
will now get a 3.1 percent raise.

"Full statutory civilian pay increases in 2003 would interfere with our
nation's ability to pursue the war on terrorism," Bush said in a letter
released Friday to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and President of the
Senate, Vice President Dick Cheney.

"Such cost increases would threaten our efforts against terrorism or force
deep cuts in discretionary spending or federal employment to stay within the
budget," Bush wrote. "Neither outcome is acceptable."

A two-part pay increase was set to go into effect in January, giving
civilian federal employees a 3.1 percent across-the-board pay raise and then
a locality pay increase based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' salary
surveys.

For those employees covered by the locality pay system, Bush's letter said,
"the overall average pay increase would be about 18.6 percent."

The president said he would limit the pay increases to the 3.1 percent
raise.

Bush explained that he was authorized to do so because of Title 5, United
States Code, which allows him to implement an alternative pay plan if he
believes that bigger raises would be "inappropriate due to 'national
emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.' "

The president said he didn't think his action would affect the government's
ability to attract and retain a quality federal workforce.

"Should the need arise, the government has many compensation tools, such as
recruitment bonuses, retention allowances and special salary rates, to
maintain the high-quality workforce that serves our nation so very well,"
Bush said in his letter.

But advocates for federal workers disagreed.

"This is just another slap at federal employees," Bobby L. Harnage Sr.,
president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which
represents 600,000 federal workers, told the Associated Press. The Bush
administration says "they want to recruit the best and the brightest, but
they can't even keep the best and the brightest in those jobs now."

Earlier this month, the administration announced it wants to let private
companies compete for up to half of the 1.8 million federal jobs. Also, Bush
sought and won broad powers to hire, fire and move civil service-protected
workers in 22 agencies being merged into the new Homeland Security
Department.

"It's been a tough year for federal employees," Paul Light, senior fellow at
the Brookings Institution and an expert on the federal work force, told the
Associated Press. "I don't think any one of them will be surprised. It's one
of several lumps of coal in the stocking this year." 

 
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/30/bush.raises/index.html

 

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