Fed Worker Unions Welcome Proposed Pay Raise

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Saying that “Federal employees have been taking it on the chin while the one percent gets richer and richer,” AFSCME Council 26 Executive Director Carl Goldman welcomed last week’s move by Sens. Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Ben Cardin of Maryland to provide federal employees with a 3.3 percent pay raise in 2015. The Obama administration has proposed a 1 percent pay raise, but American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. dismissed it as “a pitiful increase in light of how much federal employees have sacrificed these past few years.” The Senate legislation is a companion to a House bill introduced in March by Reps. Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran of Virginia. “Federal employees have seen their standard of living deteriorate in recent years due to a three-year pay freeze, unpaid furloughs, and higher retirement contributions for newer workers,” Cox said. “This legislation by Sens. Schatz and Cardin would help federal employees recoup some of that lost income and ensure the government is able to recruit and retain the high caliber workers that taxpayers expect.” photo: Cox at a Capitol Hill rally during the 2013 government shutdown; photo by Chris Garlock