The Washington times., 1923-10-19
EQlJALLZ|NG
Of PAY IS
CRUX
Long Awaited Conflict Over
Practical Working Out Of
Classification Act Begun.

:
The long-awaited fight to
break down the salient features
Of the Sterling-Lehlbach reclassi-
fication law is on.
The old conflict between the
Smoot- Woods plan of reclassify-
ing the Federal employees, and the
Sterling Lehlbach plan, which
Congress adopted with certain
notifications, has broken out
again in the practical admins
tration of the Personnel Classi-
ncation Board, as has been re-
peatedly forecasted in The Wash
ington Times.
The Issue Is Simple.
The issue is simple one.
Stripped OF technicalities. 1t IL this:H
The Sterling.Le act pro-
vides for certain rtgid, fixed class
specifications. Of Job definitions.
Il q government worker does the
work described in the definition, he
e. to receive the salary assigned to
that type Of job. no matter how
much more or less he has been
receiving. There are. Of course,
maximum and minimum salaries
fixed by statute for the Federal
employees in the District for q given
class OF work. based upon ind.
vidual efficiency.
Las t. n1A
and is not disputed. It now ap.
pears, however, that the task OF
loveling or equalizing salaries Is
causing disgruntlement among
those who find that other employees
are going to receive salaries equal
to their own, instead of the con.
siderably lower salaries that they
have received in the past. The
only possible reason why these sal
airy advances can be granted to
the latter is because under the
application Of the Sterling
Redistribution principle they are
entitled to them.
How 1t Works Out.
Let 1t be assumed that A, a Gov
eminent worker, is receiving a
salary OF $4,000 a year, and under
the new ALLEGATION fails to receive
an increase, because. no matter how
high his individual efficiency, he IL
receiving the maximum that the
law gives him unless he be placed
In higher grade. But B, c and D,
1t is found by the personnel experts,
all Of them receiving considerably
less than A. hereafter are to receive
salaries equal to that OF A because
the application of the Sterling
nhfHo oh wHvfnNfFA1A ~ Ol0 Haiffan tim
entities them to such increases.
Naturally A thinks he has been
done a great injustice, because he
has failed to receive a correspond
Ing advance In salary. Under q
flexible or elastic system OF classi.
fication, A could be moved upward
without any embarrassing investiga-
ton Of the kind Of work he Is doing
and what the law, calling for exact
and rigid descriptions of the work
and fixing salaries to correspond,
saws he should receive.
The Sterling Leialbach reciassifica-
ton act, it has been asserted by Of
ficials Of the Federation OF Federal
Employees, and others in touch with
the Government personnel, has the
support Of a vast majority Of the
Government workers. The law is
not. however, all that the Federal
employees have asked for. There
are germs Of future controversy and
deadlock in 1t. and 1t Is evident that
certain interests already are start
ing a campaign to try to amend or
enasculate it.
Fight In Congress.
That the coming Congress Is go.
ing to be q hotbed of reclassifica-
ton disputation seems certain. Dis.
satisfaction over the classification
OF the field service, tentatively COM
pleted by the Personnel Classifica.
ton Board, is causing Senators and
Congressman to be deluged with
appeals and protests which naturally
are having their effect The tenta.
tive pay schedules for the field serv.
ice have been criticised after conpari.
sons with the pay schedules for
the District employees have been
made, and a. result the whole
issue Of classification is going to
be aired IN Congress.
That the entire work of the Per.
sonnet Classification Board may go
for nanght, that the new alIoca.
tions win not be accepted by the
Appropriations Committees Of Con.
gress, il possibility The internal
troubles of the board itself will be
reflected on q large scale in the
debates OF Congress, and the scrfn.
IT, 49, -