At the GAO, a Union First

"We definitely learned some lessons," he said, "from our pay-for-performance implementation."

Divvying Up Raises

Speaking of pay, a favorite topic for Federal Diary readers, the Federal Salary Council yesterday recommended that a 3.9 percent federal pay raise, approved by Congress, be split for General Schedule employees, with 2.9 percent paid across the board and funds for the additional percentage point divided up by locality.

The council, consisting of union officials and pay experts, recommended, as it has in the past, that all GS employees in the contiguous 48 states get at least part of the locality payout, with higher raises going to employees in metropolitan areas where federal pay is the farthest behind the private sector's. According to the latest "pay gap" figures released at the council's meeting, employees in the Washington-Baltimore area would stand to receive the second-highest increase, trailing only employees in the San Francisco area.

The recommendations now go to a higher-level body called the President's Pay Agent, which in turn will report to Bush later this year.

The council also recommended no changes in the locality pay boundary lines, despite hearing requests to move several areas into higher rate metropolitan zones. The council sent that issue to a working group, along with the question of what to do about anomalies that can skew pay gap figures, such as large incentive payments made by some private companies.

Diary associate Eric Yoder contributed to this report. Contact Joe Davidson atfederaldiary@washpost.com.