Evening star., 1951-05-16
Rumspeck Presents
Proposal to Senate
Civil Service Unit
BY Joseph YOUNG

EIeSlQtuI Truman To-Day asked
Congress to give the Govern
ment's classified employees pay
raise ranging from $165 to $500 a
year.
The White House also asked for
pay boosts of $100 to 1910 a year
for the Governments custodial,
crafts and protective workers.
The administrations position
was presented to the Senate Civil
Service Committee by Chairman
Robert Ramspeck Of the Civil
Service Commission.
The administrations proposal
calls for a rs per cent pay in
crease on the entrance grade of
each grade from GS-1 to Is. The
amount of the increase in the
entrance grade would carry
through for all the within grade
steps of the particular grade. For
example, the $4,000 entrance
grade of GS-l would be increased
by $165 and this amount would
be added to each within step of
the grade. For employees in grades
GS-16 to 18 a fiat $500 Increase
would be given. The average pay
boost for all employees would come
to 6.97 per cent.
Explains Bracket Differences,
In presenting the administra-
tion's proposals, Mr.. Ramspeck |
anticipated the committees criti- |
cism of the larger pay boosts for
the middle and upper bracket |
employees by declaring these en-
ployes have received dispropor-
tionately smaller increases than
other Federal workers since 1945.
Mr.. Ramspeck indicated the ad-
ministration would not object if
Congress boosted the proposed pay
increases, but he added:
Whatever rate of increase
might be appropriate, we favor an
across-the-board percentage in
crease. rather than a uniform dol
lar increase or a sliding scale
which results in disproportionately
lower increases in the middle and
higher brackets.
The commission chief added
that the Government pays liberal
salaries IN the lower brackets COM
pared to private industry, but that
rates are much lower in the higher
brackets.
Cites Turnover Factor.
I'm matters of this sort, the
need of the Government to recruit /
and retain qualified executives and
professional and scientific special |
lists in the upper brackets should
be considered, as well as the needs
of others to sustain themselves in
the face of rising prices of goods
and commodities, Mr.. Ramspeck
declared.
The commission official said
Government workers would need a
greater pay boost than 71a per
cent to maintain the purchasing
power they had in 1899, but he
added:
"On the grounds of national
policy, there is no question in our
minds that any Federal pay in
crease should be we'll within the
general limitation established by
the Economic Sterilization Agency
in the endeavor to control the
inf1ationary movement of wages
and prices"
Opposes 10 Per Cent Endorsement.
Although the ESA has set a
10 per cent maximum pay raise
figure for private industry, Mr..
RamSpeck said it would not be
wise for the Government to grant
such boost to its own employees,
since it would be interpreted as
giving the Governments indorSe-
ment for a 10 per cent increase
for all workers in private in
duStry.
Figures presented to the COM
mittee showed that Federal en-
ployes' salaries have increased an
average of 839 per cent since
1899, compared to an 87.1 per
cent boost in the cost-of- living
since that time.
The 839 per cent average pay
increase figure, however, does not
apply to many employees, since
promotions, within-grade salary
boosts and redistributing of jobs
are included in the figure. The
actual average pay increases given
to Federal employees as a result
OF the four pay boosts given
them since 1945 is 54.6 per cent,
the committee was told.
The proposed pay increase
would affect nearly l million Fed
eral classified employees, includ-
ing more than $50, 1000 Federal and
District Government employees inI
the Washington area.
Senator Pastore, Democrat, of
Rhode Island, chairman of the