We asked: Congressional Republicans voted Wednesday on a bill that would freeze federal employee and congressional pay for an additional year. It’s at least the third time Republicans have made such a proposal in recent months. What do you make of the proposal? How would it affect you?
From our e-mail: federalwork@washpost.com
I think it is interesting how our congressional members wish to attempt to “save” money on one hand through a pay freeze for federal workers while continuing to FAIL to pass a balanced budget. It is their fault and no one else’s that we are in the situation we are in.
They continue to pass the buck and try to make symbolic moves. At the moment, it is Republicans, but over the past several years it has been both parties.
The real issue with Congress is that they have lost sight of the real American worker. We are hardworking, average people who are just trying to pay the mortgage, pay the doctors and send our kids to college. We don’t have book deals or “inside” information (or access to large sums of money to actually make large amounts through stock market purchases). We go to work every day and do the best we can to provide for our families, while EVERY expense we have continues to rise. . . .
I guess the average American worker is just not large enough for a federal bailout. But we don’t want a bailout! We want Congress to do its job.
Stewart Pearlman
Internal Revenue Service
It’s affecting my high 3 for retirement. I am eligible to retire in 24 months, and I have 30 years of federal service as of today. It’s hard enough to make the decision to retire in this economy, but now, I might have to stay working.
I have devoted over half my life to working for the government, and this is thanks for my hard work and dedication.
Tami Auger
Internal Revenue Service
I am a federal employee, working at the National Security Agency.
I can’t say that I’m very happy about federal pay freezes, past or future. I don’t complain very loudly outside of the office because so many people are out of work and there is the very common perception that federal employees are paid so much more than private sector employees.
One thing that seems to escape notice in the debates, and sometimes attacks, on federal employee wages is that the much vaunted (by the GOP and their pundit lackeys) private sector workers are often paid much more than federal employees. I am referring to the civilian contractors working for the government. If you compare the salary of a contractor with that of a federal employee doing the same job, you’ll find that in this instance, the civilian contractor makes a lot more than the federal employee.
The same is true for contractors performing traditionally military functions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Sadly, both sides of the aisle in Congress, as well as the executive branch, have decided that federal employees are a harmless punching bag and will not hesitate to cut our wages and, possibly, our retirements.
John Gary Pullen
National Security Agency
Eldersburg
From washingtonpost.com
As a high-performing employee within the the Defense Department with post-master’s level education in the relatively new higher education field of IT, I am seeing only reasons to leave federal service, and very few reasons to keep serving.
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