AFGE Statement on Federal Employee Retirement Hearing

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage today issued the following statement in response to the congressional hearing on federal employees' retirement security before the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on the federal workforce, U.S. Postal Service and labor policy:

"Congress created the Federal Employees Retirement System in the mid-1980s to mirror leading private sector practices. The vast majority of a federal employee's retirement income comes from personal investments in the government's 401(k) plan and mandatory payments into Social Security. Federal employees also receive a very modest pension that provides an average of $939 a month when they retire. As NARFE Director of Retirement Benefit Services David Snell so eloquently stated in his testimony before the subcommittee, 'federal employees are not retiring rich.'

"Despite what Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Ross would lead one to believe, the FERS retirement system is fully funded and poses no additional tax burden on the American public. Yet the congressman and others want to cut federal employees' wages so more of their take-home pay goes into this fully funded system. That's not only unnecessary, it's downright unfair.

"Congressman Ross is right about one thing – the American public is outraged. They're outraged by lawmakers who are more worried about protecting their millionaire and billionaire campaign donors than creating jobs for the millions of unemployed workers."

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

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SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees

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