[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E467-E468]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            BLUE COLLAR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES DESERVE BETTER

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                         HON. CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 28, 2001

  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the 225,000 blue-
collar employees who work for the federal government. These trade, 
craft, and labor employees are essential to our federal government's 
daily operation, yet we are not treating them with respect and dignity 
by paying them fairly under the Federal Wage System. Today I am 
introducing legislation, the Federal Wage Worker Pay Fairness Act of 
2001, which addresses the fundamental problems with our federal wage 
system.
  Blue-collar federal employees, a majority of whom work for the 
Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs 
(VA), are key to the security and defense of our nation. They perform a 
range of duties critical to the success of military missions and the 
safety of our soldiers. They maintain our tanks and fighter planes, 
they repair ships and they handle munitions. It is by their sweat and 
hard work that we show our commitment to and support of our armed 
forces.
  Wage grade employees in the VA are the men and women who work to 
fulfill America's promise to our veterans. Many of these workers are 
veterans themselves. They are the food service employees who prepare 
and deliver the nourishment veterans need to heal and recover from 
illness. They are the housekeepers who do the dirty and often hazardous 
work of maintaining a safe and clean hospital. They are the carpenters, 
mechanics, and electricians who keep the VA hospitals operating 24 
hours-a-day, seven days a week.
  The pay for wage grade employees is supposed to be set according to 
local prevailing rates--rates which compare to the same types of jobs 
performed by their non-federal counterparts. But for too long, federal 
employees have not been compensated at prevailing rates. They are not 
making a living wage. Many of the wage grade workers at the lower 
grades cannot afford the premiums on their federal health insurance 
plans. Some are even eligible for food stamps and hover just above the 
poverty level.
  The Federal Wage System for these dedicated and hardworking employees 
is a failure. It is time to do the right thing for these workers.

[[Page E468]]

  The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, the largest 
federal employee union, has been vigilant in urging Congress to provide 
the needed redress to the injustices in the Federal Wage System. My 
legislation, the Federal Wage Worker Pay Fairness Act of 2001, does so 
and is supported by AFGE.
  First, the bill would guarantee wage grade workers an annual pay 
raise.
  Unlike their white-collar co-workers, wage grade employees are not 
guaranteed any annual pay raise. The nationwide General Schedule (GS) 
and locality pay raise we in Congress approve every year are not given 
to federal employees in blue-collar occupations.
  It is unfair for the federal government to single out one segment of 
its workforce for impoverishment. A basic across the board pay 
adjustment each year is necessary to offset increases in their federal 
health care premiums as well as general increases in the cost of 
living. No employee of the U.S. government should see steady decreases 
in purchasing power from persistent wage stagnation.
  Wage grade workers have seen their paychecks purchase less and less. 
For example, from 1984 to 1999, the pay of a General Schedule-11, step 
4, employee at Warner Robins Air Force Base, in Georgia, kept pace with 
inflation. The pay of a Wage Grade-10, step 2, employee fell by about 
half. In other words, the wage grade employee's wage increases only 
made up for half of the increase in prices measured by the Consumer 
Price Index. And this loss of purchasing power doesn't even reflect the 
skyrocketing costs of federal health care premiums, which rose by 30 
percent in the past few years.
  Providing all federal blue collar workers with a minimum annual wage 
adjustment equal to General Schedule increases is budget neutral 
because of the federal government's budget assumes that wage grade 
workers would be awarded the GS pay raise.
  Second, the legislation would lift the caps on blue-collar pay 
increases.
  On top of not being guaranteed an annual GS pay raise, any raise blue 
collar workers can receive is capped at the average nationwide GS pay 
raise. This is unfair and wrong. If federal agencies are to remain 
competitive we must stop imposing an artificial and arbitrary cap on 
blue-collar pay raises.
  Third, my legislation would end the discriminatory practice of paying 
Department of Defense wage grade employees less than their counterparts 
in VA by restoring Monroney requirements to DoD.
  The ``Monroney amendment'' to the Federal Wage Schedule requires the 
government to look outside the relevant wage survey area if there is an 
insufficient number of analogous private sector jobs to calculate blue-
collar pay. This requirement is logically necessary to ensure that the 
prevailing wages are based on comparable work.
  In 1985, the law was amended to exclude DoD from the Monroney 
amendment's requirement. As a result, in San Antonio, a Wage Grade-11, 
step 5 blue-collar worker in the VA or other federal departments earn 
$18.26 an hour but his or her counterpart in DoD earns $.69 less an 
hour, or $17.57. On overtime, that 69 cent differential becomes $1.04 
an hour in lost pay. While 69 cents an hour or $1.04 an hour more may 
not seem much, it adds up for individual employees who are trying to 
support their families.
  Fourth, the legislation would simplify the data collection and 
administration of the Federal Wage Schedule.
  The bill would consolidate the areas surveyed for wage rates from the 
current 133 localities in the Federal Wage Schedule to the 32 
localities drawn by the federal salary council used to set the pay for 
virtually every other federal employee under the Federal Employees Pay 
Comparability Act (FEPCA). These 32 regions are a more modern and 
accurate reflection of contemporary labor markets and commuting 
patterns. Simplifying the areas of data collection used to calculate 
wage schedules from 32 localities rather than 133 would yield 
considerable savings.
  The legislation would also transfer responsibility for data 
collection from the lead agency, the Department of Defense, to the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics. This federal agency collects data used for 
other federal pay systems, most notably the GS white collar system. It 
already conducts data collection in the relevant localities, matching 
federal and non-federal jobs. While this change would impose new costs 
on the BLS, the consolidation of localities means that the cost of data 
collection to the government will go down overall.
  Mr. Speaker, the single most important measure of a pay-setting 
system--for either white or blue-collar workers--is whether it allows 
workers to earn sufficient income to support a family in a decent 
fashion. Does it produce at least a stable standard of living? Does it 
hold out the hope that in good economic times, improvements in the 
standard of living are possible? Our current system does not.
  The Federal Wage Worker Pay Fairness Act of 2001 would correct the 
fundamental errors in the current pay-setting system for federal blue-
collar workers to ensure that they have a chance at a decent and stable 
standard of living. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation on 
behalf of our nation's federal workforce.

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