The Connecticut labor press., 1920-03-13
FEDERAL WORKERS UNION REVIEWS ITS
 WAGE RAISE FIGHT
Tricked by House Steering Com
 mittee, Now Goes Before Senate.
BONUS IS CUT OFF
Republican Leader Twice Broke Pledge, 161 Locals
 Are Told.

Washington, March 2.-Renewing in the Senate the campaign for better sal aries for government employees, the Ma tiona Federation of Federal Employees is today sending to it's 161 local unions throughout the country an outline of its immediate plans and a statement putting squarely up to the steering com nittee of the House the responsibility for the general reduction of salaries resulting from the elimination of the $40 bonus, so-called, in the legislative bill assit passed the House.
 The statement names as responsible for the salary cut Floor Leader Frank w. Monde1l of Wyoming, chairman of the steering committee, and it's other members, namely Martin B. Madden of Illinois, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, Samuel E. Winslow of Massachusetts, Thomas H. Dunn of New York and George P. Darrow of Pennsylvania. This committee, 1t Is asserted, arbitrarily decided to prevent vote on the ques- ton by the full membership of the House, and instructed Representative William R. Wood of Indiana, chairman of the committee in charge of the legis- lative bfff, not to ask for rule making the so-cal1ed bonus provision of the bill in order, as had been done in previous Congress.
 The Federation emphasizes the fact that the so-ca1led bonus. which was first granted by Congress upon the request of the Federation, has always been re- garded by the organization as tenn porary measure Of relief from the high cost of living, pending an equitable re- classification of salaries in the entire civil service all over the country. The joint congressional commission on re- classification of salaries for the District of Columbia will report this week, and the Federation states that if the re- classified schedule is found to be, from the employees viewpoint, an equitable one, the organization will welcome 1t as permanent legislation in lieu of the temporary and miscalled bonus.
 A hearing for representatives of the Federation will be sought before the Senate committee on appropriations, propriation bill this week, and the com mittee will be asked to recommend the same increases i'll the so-cal1ed bonus that were asked i'll the House, namely, $480 for the lowest paid group fnelud- ing those receiving up to and including &,500 per year, $360 to those receiving between $500 and $3, 800, and $240 to those receiving between $500 and $4 500; these increases, however, to ap- ply only to the field services i'll case the reclassihcation commissions report pro- vides an equitable readjustnent for the employees working within the District of Columbia
 Interviews with practically every member of the House, by members of committee from Washington of the National Federation of Federal Elm ployes, showed a very general sentiment for increasing the so-ca1led bonus, but these members of Congress were given no chance to express themselves be- cause Chairman Wood, at the behest of the steering committee, broke the pledge, twice given to the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, and failed to ask for rule protecting tins section of the bill against point of order-proteetion which was given III previous congress to the cor responding provision.