A Fair Pay Raise for Feds in 2021
One of FMA’s primary objectives each year is to provide a fair pay raise for federal employees that reflects their selfless contributions to their fellow Americans. In February, before the disruptions of Covid-19 set in, President Trump proposed a 1 percent pay raise for federal employees in 2021. While better than a pay freeze, a 1 percent raise fails to keep up with inflation and is inadequate. Regrettably, Congress has thus far chosen to remain silent on the pay raise issue in the appropriations process, effectively acceding to the president’s proposal. Most recently, on Thursday, July 30, the House of Representatives approved a major spending package without language to provide a reasonable pay raise for federal employees in 2021.
This is unacceptable and poses serious challenges to the federal workforce. Further concerning is the fact that President Trump is not obligated to maintain even the 1 percent raise proposal. As his administration has argued for a pay freeze for all feds in every previous budget proposal, FMA is extremely concerned the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will be used as a justification for a pay freeze in 2021 as well.
Traditionally, Congress maintains pay parity between the uniformed military and civilian federal personnel. Both the House and Senate versions of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provide for a 3 percent pay raise for uniformed military. FMA applauds this raise – our uniformed military personnel undoubtedly deserve it, and it is important that their contributions to the United States be recognized. However, it is equally critical to recognize the sacrifices being made by the civilian federal employees who help make the operations of our uniformed military possible. This is even more important during this pandemic than ever before, because the sacrifices asked of civilian feds are greater than at any point in decades. The submariner on patrol deserves, at the very least, a 3 percent raise. Why, then, does the crew of shipyard workers risking exposure to Covid-19 inside the same nuclear submarine while performing critical maintenance in dry dock deserve any less?
Civilian feds are performing critical work necessary to keep the country running, to conduct business as usual, and to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only that, but they are doing so at great personal risk to themselves and their families. As of July 27, more than 4,000 federal employees had contracted Covid-19 at work. Of these, 60 had died. Tragically, both of these numbers will go up, with the case number expected to be over 6,000 within weeks.[1] Sixty deaths (so far) is not a small number. It is not just a statistic, or the cost of doing business. Federal employees are making real sacrifices so that they can continue to staff VA hospitals, protect the nation’s food supply, research tests and vaccines for Covid-19, and support the military at airbases and shipyards, among the vast other duties they ably perform daily. A 1 percent pay raise is not only insufficient; it is an insult to feds, and to the critical work they do.
Even leaving aside the manifest unfairness of a 1 percent raise, limiting the purchasing power of feds makes absolutely no sense in the current economic climate. There can be no doubt that Covid-19 has been the economic equivalent of a gut punch, with Q2 GDP declining at an annualized rate of 32.9 percent. Choosing to make sure that over 2.1 million Americans have less in their paychecks to go towards necessary expenses, and to support other sectors of the economy, is taking a baseball bat to the knees of the American economy for no conceivable reason. FMA urges Congress to do the right thing, not only for feds but for the country as a whole, by maintaining pay parity with the uniformed military and providing a 3 percent raise for federal employees.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/about-4000-federal-employees-say-they-contracted-the-coronavirus-at-work--and-60-have-died/2020/07/26/87ea9b36-cdd9-11ea-b0e3-d55bda07d66a_story.html
The views reflected in this column are those of FMA and do not necessarily represent the views of FEDmanager. To learn more about the Federal Managers Association (FMA), visit their website: FedManagers.org.