letters
Continued from Page 2
Federal wage
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree
from Columbia University and am
returned after having worked for
many years for the Federal
Government's Social Security Ad
ministration and Health Care
Financing Administration. I very
strongly urge all college graduates
not to work for the United States
Government because:
Wages and salaries for Federal
workers are 22 percent on the
average (and in some cases as
much as 50 percent) below the pay
that workers in private enterprise
receive for essentially the same
jobs. The most pay that a Federal
employee can receive is $57,500 a
year, which is a trifle compared to
the yearly salaries of many private
company executives which are in
the hundreds of thousands of
dollars and which in some cases
exceed $1,000,000.
Federal employees have to pay a
high percentage of the premiums
for their health and life insurance,
whereas, many employers in
private enterprise pay all of such
premiums for their employees.
Federal employees have to pay
into Medicare's Hospital Trust
Fund, and effective with January 1,
1984 new Federal employees will
also have to pay into Social
Security’s other trust funds. This
is in addition to paying into the
Civil Service Retirement System. It
constitutes just a sneaky way by
which the Reagan Administration
and the Congress have taken
Federal employees' money to
shore up Medicare and Social
Security. Federal employees have
their own health insurance and
retirement systems and cannot
bear these additional taxes.
The Reagan Administration has
raised Federal employees' and
retirees' health insurance
premiums to exorbitant levels and
cut their health insurance
coverage drastically.
According to the Congressional
Budget Office federal employees
receive less vacation and holiday
than do many people in private
enterprise. For example, for many
years steel workers have been
given 13-week vacations every five
years (in addition to their regular
vacations duing the intervening
years) upon attaining a certain
seniority.
The Congressional Budget Of
fice also states that Federal
employees receive less sick time
than do many private enterprise
employees.
Federal employees work a
40-hour week while many private
enterprise workers have work
weeks of less hours. For example,
the electricians in New York City
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on topics of interest to the University community.
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the Emerald office. Suite 300 EMU.
obtained a 25-hour work week
many years ago.
For decades Federal employees
have paid 7 percent of their total
pay into their retirement fund.
They have had to pay into their
fund far more than people
covered by Social Security have
been required to pay into the
Social Security trust funds. The
vast majority of private enterprise
retirement plans are fully paid for
by the employers with no
employee contributions required
and private plans are protected by
a Federal law, the Pension Benefit
Guarantee statute.
Federal employees do not
receive Christmas or any other
bonuses, or have profit sharing
plans, stock option plans, etc.
Federal employees are forbid
den to engage in politics. This is a
complete violation of their Con
stitutional rights of free expres
sion and association.
Federal retirees who are under
age 62 are only going to receive
about one-half of the cost of living
increases that those 62 or older
will receive. This constitutes bla
tant, outrageous age
discrimination.
Federal retirees formerly receiv
ed 1 percent of their pensions ad
ded to the pensions at the time of
retirement and two cost of living
increase each year in order to at
least fractionally compensate
them for the low pay that they had
been given while working. Now
they do not get the 1 percent add
on, and they only receive one cost
of living increase per year.
Federal retirees have to pay in
come tax on every cent of their
pensions once they get back what
they paid into their pension fund.
The money that they paid into the
pension fund is not taxable,
because taxes were paid on it by
the retiree, when they were
working.
In the past college graduates
sought employment with the
Federal Government mainly
because of job security and retire
ment at a comparatively young
age on a good pension. Recent
legislation has cut down Federal
job security, job security has been
increased in the private sector by
law and recent court decisions,
and many private company pen
sion plans provide benefits
(including early retirement) that
are equal to or more generous
than those that are given by the
Federal Civil Service Retirement
System.
Therefore, college graduates are
much better off working in private
enterprise with the chance of
becoming one of the $1,000,000 a
year corporation presidents or a.
quarter of a million a year vice
president than working in the
Federal Civil Service for cheap
skate pay and second-rate fringe
benefits.
Frederick Stark
A
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