Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-06
EMPLOYEES TO TAKE
FIGHT TO SENATE
Head of Federation Confident
Denial of Pay Increases
Will Meet Defeat.
CONTINUED From First Page.)

Continued From First Page.)
established by such acts as amended
for the departmental service in the Dis
trict OF Columbia"
Representative La Guardia made the
point of order that, Its provisions are
applicable not only to the appropria-
tons contained in the bill now before
the committee, which provide appro-
priations for the Post Office Department
and the Treasury Department, but is
applicable to all appropriations avail
able during the fiscal year 1882 and
limits the salaries in every department
of the Government in bills which are yet
to come before the House. Clearly no
such power is given to the Committee
on Appropriations, and the language
goes way beyond the scope of the most
extreme ruling on the amendments
seeking to place a limitation on appro-
prtations."
Mccormack Makes Appeal.
Representative John w. Mccormack
of Massachusetts, made a spirited ap-
peal in behalf of the Government
workers, censuring the proposal. He
said:
cit is unfair. It Is wrong. It is i'm
proper. It is directly contrary to the
recommendation made by the Presi-
dent himself. The President recon-
mended affirmative relief, but in addi-
ton to failing to recognize or adopt
the recommendations of the President
the committee goes further and puts
a negative provision in the bill, which
prohibits consideration by any depart
ment head of any increase In salary
during the coming fiscal year.
Il certainly trust, that the member
ship of the committee viii adopt the
amendment and send this bill TO the
other branch without this prohibition
being included therein. also hope
that when the bill reaches the other
body that distinguished body viii see ut
to accept the recommendation made
by the President, which ] consider to
be constructive, helpful, and made in
justice to the many thousands of Fed
eral employees, who are receiving lower
salaries than the Congress of the United
States intended when they passed salary
acts in bygone Congresses"
LehIbach Explains Act.
Chairman Lehlbach of the House Civil
Service Committee explained the clas-
siflcation act and declared that he does
not know Of time in the history of
the Government, or in the history of
IL,
where the administration was so d.
vested Of discretion in dealing with per-
sonnet problems" He said, in part:
About 1920 the question Of the in
equalities Of compensation for like work
in the various departments and in the
various offices in the same department
was so forcibly brought to the attention
Of Congress that joint commission
was appointed, which in that year made
a report. After three years of agitation
the classification act Of 1928 became a
law, which divided the civil services
of the United States into broad
services, like the clerical, the scientific,
the administrative, the custodial
and so forth, and erected in each
broad service a number of grades in
accordance with the difficulty and i'm
portance Of the work in each grade
and fixed a certain range of salary
rates for such grade. For example, a
clerical grade might spread over $1,000,
S1,260, 81, 800, 81 $3.50 and possibly up to
81 .440. The act provided that new
entrants, when allocated to a position
within a grade, should start in at the
lowest salary and that with meritoriols
work and satisfactory ratings they
should from time to time, in the dis
erection Of the head Of the department,
step from one salary rate to the other,
until, If they remained long enough
and their work was satisfactory enough,
they would receive the highest rate in
that grade. In the Postal Service we
have these steps automatically annually.
In the civil service generally it is at
the discretion Of the head of the de-
partment
About three years ago there was a
demand, and in response thereto Con-
gress passed the WEIGH act, increasing
the salary or pay in the grades of
these services, and the increases were
generally applicable IN the clerical and
subprofessional and in some instances
in the professional services. They did
not touch the field. The field has
never been actually classified BY the
field mean every employe of the
Government who is not working physi-
caliy and actually in the District OF
Coluulbie.
Couldn't Pass Average.
1.-The Committee on Appropriations
since the classification act had gone
into effect has placed rider upon APP
preparation bills, and there was no OBJ
lection to that. that the average salary
in a unit should not exceed the aver
age of the various salary rates within
tAlG kIddC. III JULIET WOA0oy n bIAC SttA-
aries range from $1,000 to 81 400, the
average salary of the aggregate of the
clerks within that grade could not ex-
coed 81 1900. Some would be at the
average and as many must be below as
above
1.-The administration found that in
very many of the bureaus and divisions
and services Of the departments the
average salary under the classification
act was away below the average of the
rates that had been fixed for those
grades in which the employees were
allocated; and in order to carry out the
intent of Congress when 1t passed the
classification act in 1923 and when 1t
amended It under the Welsh act In 1927
and the Brookhart act Of 1880, estimates
were submitted, approved by the
budget. and with the approval of the
President submitted here. They did
not meet with the approval Of the
Committee on Appropriations, and that
committee eliminated the estimate and
inserted section 4, which was un-
precedented."
In support of his amendment. Chair
man Wood argued, as follows:
This amendment win not reduce the
salary Of q single employe Of the Gov
eminent anywhere, SO that all this talk