6
O.S.E.A. LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM
(Continued from page 5 )
of accounts and the returning of con
tributions for temporary employees who
are on the payroll only a short time.
This would decrease the work and the
costs, which are charged to each mem
ber of the system, employer and em
ployee, and which redûce the pension
fund earnings.
5. Effective Date of Retirement Act
To sponsor an amendment to the Act
clarifying the effective date at which
retirements shall commence, by elimin
ating reference to "the end of the war”
and retaining only the reference to July
1, 1947, in Sections 18-( 1) and 18-(2)
of the Act. Retirements would then
begin as of July Ï, 1947. "Termina
tion of the present war” was included
because of war conditions at the time
of passage. The war is over • although
complete official declaration has not
been given. Meanwhile, the orderly re
tirement of over age employees should
begin soon. There is no real reason to
postpone the effectiveness of the Act.
6. Time for Tests for Conditional Employees
To sponsor an amendment to the
Civil Service Act, Section 19-(4 ), sub
stituting the date "July 1, 194?$' for
the term "one year after the termina
tion of World W ar II.” This refers to
the time for beginning tests for con
ditional employees (hired after Septem
ber 15, 1940). Veterans are now thor
oughly protected in their rights by the
Act and this change would make the
effective date definite without for
feiture of those rights.. '
7. Hour and W ages
(a) To sponsor an amendment to
the present 4 8-hour law removing state
employees from its coverage and to
sponsor a new section establishing a
5-day, 40-hour basic work week with
overtime pay at a time and one-half
rate for state employees, (b) To spon
sor a bill to make thé Civil Service pay
plan effective January 1, 1947. (c) To
urge the legislature to set up an . emer
gency "salary fund” for the next bi
ennium to cover any salary increases
which might be justified due to rising
costs of living or other emergencies.
(a) Justification of a 5-day, 40-hour
week is found in its national recogni
tion and its adoption by industries,
stores, offices, state and city govern
ments, etc.,. all over the U nited States
as well as in .many countries abroad.
Further discussion of this working
schedule is printed elsewhere in this
I issued
(b) To make the new pay rates ef
fective January 1, 1947 is not an ex
cessive request. The State has been slow
in raising salaries and has given small
increases at infrequent intervals with
some protest. All know the State does
not yet pay parity wages w ith other
employers and realize that a continua
tion of the present policy will eventu
ally lower the standards of the state
government services to citizens of Ore
gon. Some protest is now heard that the
new Civil Service rates will cost the
State a lot of money. Actually, any
seemingly increased cost ism o re indi
cative of the amount the State has been
saving in the past by not paying more
equitable salaries. The sooner Oregon
begins to pay a better scale of wages,
the more certain it will be, of maintain
ing a public service of which the State
may justly be proud. Self-sustaining de
partments have been able to pay in
creased salaries for a long time. Budget
controlled departments can pay in
creased salaries retroactive to January
1, 1947 tinder deficiency appropriations
when necessary.
.(c) The creation of an emergency
fund in the State budget with which to
meet unforeseeable but just demands
for increases in salaries during the bi
ennium will do away w ith the old cry,
"We would like to do something for
you but haven’t the money!” This fund
would be used only for salary increases
justified by unusual economic circum
stances. It would help those depart
ments whose proper functioning relies
(Continued on page 2 J)