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Federal Employees’ Representatives Push for a High Pay Raise

July 3, 2016

Federal employees‘ Representatives are asking for a higher pay raise for the federal workers. They want a higher raise than what President Obama proposed. They argue that the private sector employees are getting way better pay raises while the federal workers are underpaid. They want the pay raise to help boost the declining standard of living of the federal employees.

The Demands of Federal Employees’ Representatives

The higher pay raise is demanded by The Federal-Postal Coalition which is a collection of over 20 unions and associations. This Coalition represents employees across government. It sent a letter to the lawmakers a few days back wherein the lawmakers were implored to support a measure that would increase the pay of a federal employee 5.3 percent in 2017. It is pertinent to add here that President Obama proposed a 1.6 percent raise for the federal workers and it was the largest in six years.

The Delay

The measure was to get the votes on the House floor a few days back but a sit-in by Democrats caused it to be delayed. The Republicans have adjourned the chamber till the fourth of July, after which, it is being assumed that the bill will be debated. For people who aren’t aware why the democrats caused a sit-in, it should be mentioned that they were protesting against the lack of a vote on the gun safety bills.

The Act

The Federal-Postal Coalition is requesting the lawmakers to accept 2016 Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act. This act has a proposal to give federal workers a 5.3 percent raise. The Coalition has stated that the private sector salaries have jumped 11.3 percent over the past six years and the federal employee wages just grew 3.3 percent. They also added that the cost of living increased 9.2 percent over the past six years so several feds have been dealing with declining quality of life.

The Appeal

In the letter, the Coalition has appealed that every federal worker, be it a teacher or an engineer is underpaid. It should not be the case. The government needs to hire the best and brightest federal employees and for that offering a good pay is imperative. The letter also stated that the quality of life of feds and their families have declined. To stop that, they need a catch-up raise that reflects the market rates.