Evening star., 1951-05-20
The Federal Workers Case
Congress Debates Wages and Leove
After Industry Sets the Pottern
By {. Joseph Aronoff

fMr. Aronof came to Wash
fngton in 1911 as a Senator's
secretary. He entered the ciuil
serUice n, 1917 shortly after the
beginning OF World War and
has since filed many important
administrative and personnel
posts. He 1DaS on a committee of
three Which retDrote the Co..
ernnlent traDel regulations, and
another committee OF three
whose studies and recommended
tions furnished the material for
the leaue laW of 1885,
More than passing strange is
the frequent outspoken philosophy
of Congress regarding Government
employees. When everybody else
has received pay increases. the
question of giving Government
employees more is debated. When
commerce and industry expand the
social benefits their employees en-
Joy, Congress questions the amount
of leave granted to Government
employees.
Let us look into the question Of
salaries for minute or two. The
cost Of living index figures are
developed by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, branch of the Depart
ment of Labor highly respected by
the public, by industry and by
labor. The average costs over the
period 1936-1939 have been set up
as the index of 100. Since that
time the cost of living has risen
approximately IS per cent. In
commerce and industry we find
that salaries have more than kept
pace with the rise in the cost of
living. while wages have far ex-
ceeded it. This is all right.
But, what is the situation III
the Government? Employees whose
rates Of pay are fixed by wage
boards have followed the trend
In industry. So far, so good.
Salaried employees, however, whose
rates are set by Congress have
suffered.
First Raise in l945
The first increase since 1880
was made in the Federal Pay Act
Of 1945. Another increase was
voted in 1916. and a third was
granted in 1949. Added together,
these increases represent, across
all grades. approximately SO per
cent compared with the IS per
cent rise in the cost of living. At
just about the middle range of
jobs. the increase was slightly in
excess of AZ per cent. 1t gets
somewhat higher as you go down
the scale and lower as you go up.
There are approximately 200.-
900 Government employees in
Washington who are away from
home. family and friends, COM
pletely on their own in a city
notoriously high in the cost of
living. Even if the costs were no
higher than in cities like New
York, Chicago. Milwaukee, Sar
Francisco, Seattle and others, we
must remember that the income
Of Government employees in those
cities quite likely go to augment
the family income while the grea.
majority of those in Washington
are completely on their own.
There is much more that could
be said about the pay of Govern
ment employees but we can close
the subject this way: Up to and
including the grade which now
pays from $3,825 to $4.575, and it
takes six years to go from the
minimum to the maximum, en-
ployes in private employment in
large cities are just about as we'll
paid. The Government employe
who is making a career Of the
service is the loser. Jobs in pri-
vate industry comparable to those
paying $4,000 and more in the
Government service are better
paid. 1t is one of the reasons for
the high turnover in the Govern
ment.
Within the past three years
Congress went into the question
of pay for executive positions such
as heads and assistant heads of
departments and agencies. Their
liberality can be better understood
when we look at one position. the
pay of which was raised from
$4,000 to $4,000 year. That's
a so per cent increase, but that
Office had received no increase
since 1923. I use it as an illustra-
tion only because it represents the
executive in charge of a producing
plant of more than 1000 workers
turning out millions of dollars
worth of work a year, and because
men holding similar positions in
private industry are usually paid
q salary based on percentage OF
the gross value of production. In
very much smaller private estab-
lishments, salaries of $25,000 and
$4,000 a year are not uncommon
and, in addition, those private
plant executives, as stockholders
receive dividends on their holdings
which put their incomes into still
higher brackets.
The Leave Question
The next thing about which the
public mind should be disabusec
is the matter of leave granted the
Government employees. Let III
start out by admitting that We