American Federation of Government Employees Local 704
Working to Protect America's Environment and Labor's Environment in Government!
Please write your Congressional Representative and ask her/him to oppose Amendment #4 to H.R. 152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act authored by Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC).
How do I contact my Congressional Representative?
Here is a sample letter you can use. Continue reading “Please Write Your Representative!”
The pay gap between government employees and private-sector workers grew by about 8 percent this year in favor of private-sector workers, the Federal Salary Council announced Friday.
FSC, which assesses the locality pay program annually, concluded federal employees earn 34.6 percent less pay on average than their private sector counterparts. In 2011, that number was 26.3 percent.
The council attributes the growing gap to the continued federal pay freeze as well as a new formula the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to track employment and salary figures. Continue reading “Federal pay losing ground compared to private sector, report finds”
President Obama began his term pledging to make government work “cool again.” His administration has worked to improve hiring practices and job benefits. Continue reading “Obama and Romney on the issues: Federal workforce”
SEQUESTRATION FACT SHEET #1
By Jeff Bratko, Steward AFGE Local 704
You’ve probably heard the word “sequestration” used by the news media during the last few months. Some people refer to it as being part of the “fiscal cliff” that may occur in January 2013. There is a lot we do not know about how sequestration will be implemented. Unfortunately, management is handling sequestration the way it handled the furlough threat a couple of years ago. It does not appear that specific plans for dealing with the sequestration are being shared with employees. That means that you are on your own in terms of planning for the sequestration. Waiting to make plans for the sequestration until management provides us with some facts may be a costly mistake. However, in order to make plans you need some basic facts and that is what this fact sheet provides.
What is sequestration? Continue reading “SEQUESTRATION FACT SHEET #1”
It’s safe to say the two-year federal pay freeze has not been popular with government workers. Even those who support the freeze acknowledge its limitations: the savings it has generated (estimates are between $60 billion and $70 billion) is a drop in the deficit-reduction bucket, and it’s not exactly a morale booster. The GOP policy platform, which calls for overhauling the federal pay system to bring it in line with the private sector’s, and Obama’s decision to postpone a 0.5 percent pay boost 2013 until Congress passes a budget, has put the issue in the crosshairs once again.
But there could be an upside to the pay freeze for feds. It puts a slight chink in the argument that federal employees are way overpaid compared to private sector workers — a debate that rages on both sides and probably will never be settled definitively. The libertarian Cato Institute, the Washington think tank that has argued federal employees are too generously compensated compared to their private sector counterparts, acknowledged in a recent blog post that the “federal pay advantage” has narrowed, partly as a result of the two-year pay freeze. Continue reading “An Upside to the Pay Freeze”
American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 