Federal Union Leader Says Senate Budget Plan Cuts Wages for Working People
Federal employees would see 5.5% pay cut under proposal, AFGE President Says
WASHINGTON, March 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Federal employees would be on the hook for billions of dollars in cuts to their take-home pay and benefits under a budget plan issued today by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. said.
"Senate leaders have doubled down on the vicious budget cuts proposed a day earlier by their House colleagues," President Cox said. "Their vision for the future means more financial pain and sacrifice for millions of hard-working Americans who serve the public day in and day out."
Both the Senate and House budgets for fiscal 2016 would require federal employees to contribute substantially more of their wages toward their retirement without getting any additional benefits in return. This would result in a 5.5 percent cut in salary for most current employees.
That 5.5% pay cut would mean a $1,757 per year loss for a nursing assistant caring for veterans at the Sheridan VA Medical Center in Sen. Enzi's home state of Wyoming.
"If Chairman Enzi wants to talk about helping working class people with a straight face, he needs to explain how someone caring for our nation's wounded warriors is supposed to support his or her family when their senator is so focused on cutting their pay," Cox said.
"Federal employees already have seen their wages and benefits slashed by nearly $160 billion under the guise of fiscal austerity," Cox added. "When is enough going to be enough?"
"Slashing the wages and benefits of government employees who have devoted their lives to serving the public isn't a plan for growing the economy. On the contrary, it's a sure-fire way to lower the living standards for working class people who have already paid a steep price during the economic recession," Cox said.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 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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