The vidette. (Iuka, Tishomingo County, Miss.) 1912-1967, 1922-07-06
By EDWARD @. LOWRY
XIV. val
VIEW OF THE EMPLOYEE
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\ VIEW OF THE EMPLOYEE
The obvioiis solutohi'cf tie govern
ment's employment problem Il tho
Standardization and REIMBURSEMENT OF
salaries. 10 be scientific, such re-. q
adjustment must rest upon a. careful
Redistribution OF the. service. Con- :
dItidns are very different now, both -
in regard to the funftions lpf Offices. %
and the cost OF; living, from what they.
were when positions in the govern
ment service we're first classified and
salaries assigned to those positions.
\ 1t struck me that an Interested party
| in this inquiry Into rhow the govern .
\ ment conducts its business, was the
\ employee himself. He ought to know
/ from actual daily experience some-r r
thing about the mechanism of the
| national business and the relations be- g
tween the working force and, employer. o
| 1t was clearly impossible to talk to
the more than 500,0 900 men and women
| who work for the government but /,
| learned that between $4,000 and co.
! 600 of them are banded together In an
association called the National Fedora
I tlon of Federal Employees. 1t is a
regular labor union, and is affiliated
/ with the American Federation OF !!
Labor. 1T includes all classes Of gov
eminent workers, technical and
scientific men, as well as clerks and
unskilled workers. -f~t5 $50 g. eear
T l asked the president of this EN- :
ployees' union, Luther c. Steward II
he and his associates were authorized
TO speak for all Its membership. He
Il assured me that they We're.
IL /. So / asked him to tell me about the
4 conditions OF government employment =
4 and how the business was carried on.R
iI# l am glad ] did. for what he told
\ Inc disclOses not only facts, but
Il State of, mind existing among the en-
/ noyees which necessarily must be
Il taken. into account in any consider
\ tion of the efficiency and management
i of our common business. Here, thr
Is what the employees, who speak
through Mr.. Steward have to say, and,
\ the constructive program they present
for the improvement of the service; -.
The civil service on Its human side
consists of about 100000 men and
women engaged In the operation Of an
antiquated patOhed-up maclihe. Be-
cause Of the durability Of Its, vital
parts and the faith and ability of the
mass of the operatives the machine
still functions. But the parts are
| ill-tiffpd ann many nf than. GRO
fective. The managers and superin-
tendents of the establishment being
i te0Hpftep chosen for, political reasons,
4 areafrequently inexpert, and the operat-
Ing system Is clumsy and disjolnted. -
The. employees are recruited under .
a.. law which provides, a test of q,
qualifications, and probably nine-tenths
of the rank and filelhave satisfactorily :
passed the entrance test, But the
better positions, say from $1,000 up
ward, are usually occupied by p5litfcaf
appointees. Another considerable
group of employees get their appoint
ments by executive order waiving
icivil7service tests of fitness.
The newcomer In the service, there .
fore, finds himself up againstfa mimi
mum of opportunity g1for promotion,
with the disheartening knowledge that
the advancement which Is earned by
competence Is all too likely to be given
to the friend or political supporter of
some congressman cor executive, who
wishes to pay political debt. And
the employee is subject to dismissal
at the will Of the executive Of his de-'
partment. unless he can bring sufficient
political influence to bear
In other words, the civil-service law
is not backed up by enforcing power ia
the Civil Service commission. att
merely recruits the applicants for en-
trance, Thereafter the employees
fate Is largely matter of his own
luck and negative passive merit There
is no system by which be: may ,bs.
fitted to the job, and no protection
against dismissal, unless the employees
himself can show that the reason is
political or relgious. "For the good
OF the service" as the law reads.
covers every other charge which the
executive official may bring. There is
no court of appeal. ~-' n9-
Such Is the oppressive, incentiveless. y
vitiating atmosphere of the govern
ment service. 1t stiles Initiative.
illustrates ambitions and reduces the
mass Of employees to a more or less
passive state, which is permeated by
a sense of fear. 4g III ~
In such an atmospheric naturally 81
enouglssthe physical conditions of en- 4.
ployment are far from what they y
should be, and the government loses
efficiency, as does any other employer
where the wage scale. Is inadequate
and unstandardized, where sanitary
conditions are bad and hours of work
too long and irregular.
The wage scale is so low that the
Civil Service commission has difficulty "a
In securing Apfonexiy qualified applt u
cnnts, and throughdntsih the service the
turnover is high. Employees doing
the same kind Of work often recetvs.a
widely different rates. f pay;
perienced workers oftRItdgreceive less
than beginners, and Mutually ever{ II
kind ofSineaualIty aIi injustice existl
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