REVISION OF MAJOR FEDERAL STATUTORY SALARY SYSTEMS THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1962 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 a.m., in room 215, House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Hon. James C. Davis (acting chairman) presiding. Mr. DAVIS. The committee will come to order, please. Today we will resume hearings on legislation pending before this committee to provide pay increases for postal and other Federal employees. This morning the witness on the calendar is the able and wellinformed vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Mr. Jerome J. Keating. Mr. Keating, we will be glad to hear you at this time. STATEMENT OF JEROME J. KEATING, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS; ACCOMPANIED BY JAMES H. RADEMACHER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER; GEORGE A. BANG, DIRECTOR, LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT; AND JAMES P. DEELY, DIRECTOR, HEALTH BENEFITS DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS Mr. ADDABBO. Mr. Chairman, I wish to make a motion at this time that the committee adjourn at 10:20 and reconvene at 10:45 due to the fact that there is a cornerstone laying ceremony of the Sam Rayburn House Office Building this morning at 10:30. Mr. DAVIS. Is there any objection? Mr. GROSS. Is this a motion? Mr. DAVIS. Yes. Mr. GROSS. How are we going to conclude these hearings if we are going to adjourn? Won't this cornerstone be laid without the attendance of this committee or the members of the committee? I wonder how many want to go to this cornerstone laying. Mr. CORBETT. Mr. Chairman, I will have to second the gentleman's motion. In the group that was meeting heretofore all of them apparently expressed a desire to be down there. Mr. DAVIS. Your motion, I believe, Mr. Addabbo, is to adjourn at 10:20 and return at 10:45? Mr. ADDABBO. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Mr. GROSS. I won't object to it, Mr. Chairman, in the interests of harmony. Mr. DAVIS. If there is no objection we will accede to your motion. Proceed, Mr. Keating. Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Jerome J. Keating; I am vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, and chairman of the legislative committee of the Government Employees' Council, AFL-CIO. The National Association of Letter Carriers has 153,000 members in more than 5,000 branches located in the 50 States of the Union and in Puerto Rico. I am accompanied today by assistant secretary-treasurer James H. Rademacher. Also by the director of our life insurance department, George A. Bang, and the director of our health benefits, Mr. James P. Deely. They will assist us in the presentation of our testimony. President Doherty is out of the city attending a meeting of the post office advisory committee in California. We are pleased to have an opportunity to appear here today in support of H.R. 9531, the fine bill introduced by the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana, James H. Morrison, and the companion bills introduced by the following members of this committee: Kathryn E. Granahan, of Pennsylvania; Thaddeus J. Dulski, of New York; Arnold Olsen, of Montana; Joseph P. Addabbo, of New York; Dominick V. Daniels, of New Jersey; and Joel T. Broyhill, of Virginia, as well as by many other Members of the House. Congressman James C. Davis has introduced a bill, H.R. 10908, providing for periodical procedures in determining the need for pay adjustments; Mrs. St. George has sponsored a bill establishing the escalation provision; Mr. Barry has a bill providing for area wages; and Chairman Murray has introduced H.R. 10480, the administration bill. Eleven members of the committee have introduced legislation on pay. This fact alone is conclusive evidence that action on pay legislation is necessary. We are deeply appreciative of the interest taken in the urgent situation confronting postal employees and Federal employees by the able members of this committee. We believe that the best solution for postal employees will be found in H.R. 9531 and related bills. On February 19, 1962, President John F. Kennedy sent a special message to Congress on the subject of pay reform. In this message, he made the following statements, which we enthusiastically applaud: We properly establish high standards for our public servants. We investigate their character and associations before considering them for employment. We hire them only after they have passed difficult examinations. We require them to abide by rigorous standards of conduct and ethics. We demand consistently high performance from them on the job. Accordingly, the salaries for the services they perform should be fixed under well-understood and objective standards, high enough to attract and retain competent personnel, sufficiently flexible to motivate initiative and industry, and comparable with the salaries received by their counterparts in private life. To pay more than this is to be unfair to the taxpayers-to pay less is to degrade the public service and endanger our national security. Externally, except for employees paid under wage board systems, Federal salaries generally do not compare favorably and cannot compete successfully with private industry. Every objective survey has demonstrated that salaried Government employees at almost every work level receive less compensation, on a national average basis, than private employees performing similar work— and the greater the level of difficulty and responsibility, the greater the gap between Federal and private pay. A Federal employee beginning a professional or administrative career can look forward to a maximum salary increase of no more than 44 times his entrance salary, whereas his counterpart in private industry can look forward to an increase of six or seven times his begining salary. Moreover, the Federal employee's top salary, if he stays to reach it, will be less than half that of his private enterprise counterpart. It is unusual for a President to advocate pay increases, and the National Association of Letter Carriers is grateful to President Kennedy for the stand he has taken. Along with his message, the President sent a proposed bill (now H.R. 10480) to the Congress. Under the administration's proposal, there are three postal field service schedules. The first one would become effective on January 1, 1963; the second on January 1, 1964; and the third on January 1, 1965. The present employees would be placed in the same numerical step they are in at the present time. Those in step 1 would be placed in step 1 in the new schedule; those in step 2 would be placed in step 2 in the new schedule, and so forth. Longevity increases would be abolished and those in step 7A would be placed in step 8; 7B in step 9; and 70 in step 10. There would be 13 pay steps under the new schedule. Promotion from step 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4 would come after 1 year of service in each step; promotion from step 4 to 5, 5 to 6, and 6 to 7 would come after 2 years of service in each step; promotion to steps 8 and above would come after 3 years of service in the previous step. It would require 27 years to reach step 13. Employees would retain their present anniversary date for purposes of pay increases. Longevity pay increases would be discontinued entirely. An employee who is about to receive a longevity pay increase would not receive that longevity increase unless it became effective prior to the effective date of the pay act. OBJECTIONS TO ADMINISTRATION PROPOSAL The administration proposal is inadequate and unsatisfactory for many, many reasons. First, the effective date should not be January 1, 1963. The pay increase is needed immediately. Elmer B. Staats, Deputy Director of the Bureau of the Budget, stated, in testifying before the Senate committee on February 6: The first annual survey [referring to one made by BLS] revealed some defects, particularly in the definitions of some of the jobs for which data was collected, and corrections were made in time for the second annual survey. The second annual Bureau of Labor Statistics report was made late in calendar year 1961. The results this time were exceptionally cleancut, with the occupational definitions fulfilling their aim. It is the data from this 1961 report which forms the basis for the salary levels which will be included in the President's proposal. BLS surveys deal with what has happened, rather than with what will happen. The survey was made in 1961, based on what had happened prior to the survey. Full comparability of pay with outside industry will not be reached until 1965 under the administration proposal. This will be 1961 full comparability. National salary levels increase from 2% to 3% percent per year. Full comparability in 1965 should in all probability be increased by an additional 12 percent by 1965. The present proposal would legalize substandard pay. Secondly, the amount of pay increase is entirely too small. A letter carrier in present step would receive an immediate increase of $120; 84357 0-62-pt. 1-25 those in step 1 would receive $180; and each succeeding step would receive $10 less until the $120 is reached. In the present longevity steps, the increase for those would be $170 in 7A; $220 in 7B; and $270 in 7C. (The document referred to is as follows:) Comparison of salaries projected into the future of present level 4 postal pay and the administration pay proposals Admin pro Present istra- Pay Present istra- Pay Present istra- Pay system tion gain system tion gain system tion gain Admin Admin pro posal pro |