[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 106 (Thursday, August 3, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8804-S8805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED:
  S. 3784. A bill to provide wage parity for certain prevailing rate 
employees in Rhode Island; to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Rhode Island 
Federal Worker Fairness Act of 2006. This bill will merge the 
Narragansett Bay wage area with the Boston, MA, wage area to provide 
Rhode Island Federal blue-collar workers with pay equity in the region. 
These workers include janitors, mechanics, machine tool operators, 
munitions and explosive operators, electricians, and engineers.
  Federal employees within the Narragansett Bay wage area are paid 
under one of the lowest Federal wage system, FWS, pay scales while 
residing in an area with one of the highest costs of living. 
Significant disparities between Narragansett Bay wages and those in 
proximate wage areas raise serious questions about the fairness and 
equity of the Federal wage pay scales. The average wage grade worker in 
Rhode Island earns $18.01 per hour compared to the same worker in 
Boston who earns $20.25 per hour or an employee in Hartford who earns 
$20.05 per hour. As a result, Rhode Island may be losing experienced 
Federal employees to the same jobs, at the same grade levels, just 
miles away because of better pay. Enacting this legislation would help 
the approximately 500 wage rate workers in Rhode Island better provide 
for their families, and it will ensure that Rhode Island keeps 
qualified and trained Federal workers.
  Roughly 80 percent of all FWS employees in the United States work 
either in the Department of Defense or the Department of Veteran 
Affairs. Indeed, Naval Station Newport employs the most FWS workers in 
the Narragansett Bay area. These employees perform work that is 
important to our national security, and competitive compensation is the 
best way to ensure that these workers are qualified and effective. 
Merging these two wage areas would reduce the disparity between the 
salaries of these Federal workers and keep Federal workers in Rhode 
Island from abandoning their Government jobs for higher paying 
positions in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

[[Page S8805]]

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3784

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Rhode Island Federal Worker 
     Fairness Act of 2006''.

     SEC. 2. WAGE PARITY FOR CERTAIN PREVAILING RATE EMPLOYEES IN 
                   RHODE ISLAND.

       The wage schedules and rates applicable to prevailing rate 
     employees (as defined in section 5342 of title 5, United 
     States Code) in the Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, wage area 
     shall be the same as the wage schedules and rates applicable 
     to prevailing rate employees in the Boston, Massachusetts, 
     wage area.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       Section 2 shall take effect beginning with the first pay 
     period beginning on or after the date of enactment of this 
     Act.
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