Why don't we freeze automatic government employee raises?

[momeNt]

Abolish minimum wages. In fact abolishes wages at all. Everyone that doesn't have a hand directly in money should be paid with grain and oats.

I like what you are saying. I too champion a return to free market currency and freedom from government enforced monopolies on currency.

 

[piasabird]

Why dont we freeze your raises?

Sound ok with you tightwad?

Maybe no government employee should make over $80,000 including congress.

 

[momeNt]

Why dont we squeze your raises.

Private company vs public agency - that's why.

 

[Nebor]

Why dont we freeze your raises?

Sound ok with you tightwad?

I'm a government employee. :\

 

[Ausm]

You're just being obtuse. There are obviously people out there whose wages you DO pay (other than the government) that do less work than you while making more money.

I don't call it obtuse I would call it being succinct.

 

[Throckmorton]

Best to line up another postition before quitting.

That's what I meant

 

[momeNt]

I'm a government employee. :\

Taking one for the team always comes off as more credible! Good on ya.

 

[Pulsar]

Why don't we freeze government wages? Well, because last time I heard a number, I think it was something like 1 in every 10 people in this country are paid either directly or indirectly by the government.

So, it's not too hard to understand why the two political parties won't enact pay cuts on 10% of the voting public. What % normally decides an election? 1%? 2%?

So, let's put this up there with all the other good ideas like:

Peg government salaries AND benefits to the median income of the same job performed in private industry. Done. Now you never need to pass another law regarding it.

Peg CEO salaries to a % of their lowest paid worker. Across the board. (Yes, I still lean to the right of center, but executive salaries in the this country are obscene).

MANDATE that every insurance company in the country has to offer a plan that emulates what the government pays for medicare / medicade prices. Index that to the rise in wages in this country. BAM. Health care is fixed. People who want more get more, and people who make less can get the same coverage at a REASONABLE price.

But, each one of these has a 'loser'. That will vote against them in the next election. So no, it's not going to happen. Ever.

 

[Darwin333]

see now thats just not true. there are slackers everywhere. when i was a DoD contractor, i saw plenty of civilians doing a shit load more work than i was and plenty of contractors that were worthless. Now that I am a DoD civilian, i still have plenty to do. So I've seen it from both sides of the fence and hard workers/slackers are in both areas. And its really not that hard to fire a civilian.

oh... and 10 paid holidays + 4 hours sick leave and 4 hours annual per pay period for where im at in my career. thats only 36 days.

jesus H christ! You can take over a month off every year and not only keep your job but they pay you for that month?

 

[Darwin333]

I'm a government employee. :\

Sure stopped that argument in a hurry.

 

[Balt]

Are you talking about step increases, grade increases, or both?

I'm not sure how capping grade increases would work, since higher grades often come with more duties/responsibility.

 

[bfdd]

I work for a local government and step increases have been frozen for years. Sounds great in theory, but for me it means I'm going to have to quit because I can't pay my bills.

we're complaining about federal employees for the most part since we're all from varying states. we would have to have a debate between specific states citizens to discuss local pay, which imo should still be tied to the local avg.

 

[Throckmorton]

Peg government salaries AND benefits to the median income of the same job performed in private industry. Done. Now you never need to pass another law regarding it.

Sounds good to me. I'd get a nice big raise.

 

[Nebor]

Are you talking about step increases, grade increases, or both?

I'm not sure how capping grade increases would work, since higher grades often come with more duties/responsibility.

I meant the stepping. Obviously promotions would still happen as needed. But our government just doesn't have the money to give public employees (relatively) big raises in exchange for years of service.

 

[Nebor]

Sounds good to me. I'd get a nice big raise.

That raises the question, why did you ever take the .gov job to begin with if private sector pay was so much better?

 

[Throckmorton]

That raises the question, why did you ever take the .gov job to begin with if private sector pay was so much better?

Because I wanted to be a public servant, and pay is enough once you get past the bottom of the scale. The problem is I didn't realize how low the bottom was for the local cost of living.

 

[Balt]

I meant the stepping. Obviously promotions would still happen as needed. But our government just doesn't have the money to give public employees (relatively) big raises in exchange for years of service.

I'd be surprised if the system isn't altered as part of the budget cuts/reforms in November (or whenever they actually finish the thing).

My guess is that feds will 1) Be contributing a greater % of their salary toward their pensions and/or health benefits, 2) Have their cost of living increases frozen (again) for another couple of years, and 3) Possibly have some form of step increase reform.

Of course since Congress can't really agree on anything and the clock is already ticking, who knows how much they'll be able to actually pass. Overall, I think it will result in a pretty substantial decrease to the take home pay of fed employees.

 

[Fenixgoon]

federal COLA has been frozen, IIRC.

promotions and performance-based increases still occur, i think?

 

[Sinsear]

Don't forget the military. Guess we'll have to freeze them too.

 

[Nebor]

Don't forget the military. Guess we'll have to freeze them too.

That's me. This thread was inspired by a mysterious increase in my LES. It took me a little while to realize that I just moved up a step due to time in service.

Seems like freezing those automatic raises for all .gov would free up a substantial amount of cash.

 

[mizzou]

I'm pretty sure most public sector employees have been doing this for a few years. The public employees near me have gone 4 years with no raises at all, and there will be no "super step" once the budget gets kinked out.

Teachers, etc. are getting like 1-2% raises instead of normal 3-5%

These are state/local public employees though. I've noticed that as of now, they are about 10-20% behind comparable private sector compensation at this point so the workforce willing to put up with it is dwindling down to people who can't find a new job or are trying to punch it out until retirement. It's pretty pathetic.

I'd personally like to see defense/security positions maintain some raises, you don't want to piss those people off because they are your only line of defense. Amazon is awesome, but they won't care to save your ass when the shtf

 

[mizzou]

federal COLA has been frozen, IIRC.

promotions and performance-based increases still occur, i think?

I think you are right

 

[Hacp]

Because the Unions are funding the democrat's campaigns.

 

[Matt1970]

My girlfriend works for the state of NY and her pay is frozen for the next 3 years. Also her Insurance just went up, but she still has her job.

 

[Fox5]

Cost of living increases are frozen pretty much indefinitely.
Fed employees may end up having to contribute up to 5% more of their pay into their retirement funds, effectively a pay decrease.
In some highly skilled job sectors, government employees make way less than their private counterparts, particularly engineering. (on the other hand, a GS-13 secretary is kind of ridiculous)
And congress is pretty much exempt from any and all pay cuts and still gets their regular increases.