3
President’s Message
In the next few months, before the
legislature meets, the employees of the
'rs tate^s^pl<fi^^m §t\that their local
legislative representatives are advised
bf our ^'o^ram and the reasons back
of our rgqffigH. I will endeavor to
list the most important parts of our
program and give a few of the rea-I
sons why we think they should Je~
ceive favor|role I
^9
legislators.
Probably the most - important item'
at this time is
that the present wage scale is too low
in comparison to wages paid in pri
vate industry and due tp>££e rise in the
cost (i f living, wages pa idJg^^m.aibrity'
of state employees are too low^tp meet
current living costs. This condition^
has resulted in an abnormallyigarg^
increase in the .number of employees
leaving state service for better J | | | |
ihg i o l^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ta tjm ^ E h e replacement
of employees with employees who, in
most cases, can not meet the mini
mum requirement for the positions as
set up by the Civil ServiceI Commis
sion. Prospective employees having
the p rjM fffilq u alifii^ iK B ^ ^ ^ iilj^ ^ ^
industry^of in competing government
al agencies. This condition is result
ing in less efficient operation andl^S
creased cost I of ^opetatiormn the var
ious state I departments.
I We are asking
paid to
sta,te empl^^WW3e kentSB^ffifijaerrm^
elsewhere to en
a b le the H O » to maintain a iW mlra O
of efficiency which is possible under
present civil service standards.
Our next most important program
has to do with changes in The retire
ment law. First, it must be pointed
out that the retirement law was
passed several years ago when aver
age earnings and cost of living index
were" about half their' pf f i l S t value.
When<tlie law was passed the: amount
paid for, past service was .set at $2.50
a month and . credit'.allowed foi^maxi-
mum of twenty years I servicf?? This
makes it necessary for those employ
ees facing immediate retirement to
retire . on v & £ mS imum of $50.00 a
month or less. Under ^pFesfent., condi
tions the small arhqunt paid employ-
'‘eeOlwho Pirate"* retired since the ef-
fe^ l||| date of the law is not enough
to sustain lijfe
many,m w i
is less' than th J could; gf | | « 8 under
B ^ e ^ ^ W re. We arev, asking that- the
payment for each. year of prior ??ser-
vice be increased from $2.50 a month
to $4.00 a month and that the limit
o f,
be eliminated and
ffie&fjjpfor full time be allowed.
The next change w O f e requesting
involves the amount of the employer’s
H H H H H and the amount bf the em-
plljSjee’s salary on which an employee
can pay retirement. Under the present
law thetemployee can pay. retirement
and the Stat^w ill match his payments
only on the first $3,000 of his salary.
Thr s Q ets^the maximum amount at
which an employee can retire after
t.hirfe^^ ^ ^ ^)f service at $125 a year.
When the retirement law
this was considered an adequat||pen-.
H on .but under present econoHpgiph-
d S n s ' that amount is not sufficient
^br minimum living requirements.
The law was drawn up with the un-
H B H B B B B a Persong^ w g g tyith
thirty years service at the age bf sixty-,
five could retire at fifty per cent of his
averag jjg lllary during the last five
employment.^ It was the in
tent of. the law that this retirement
would be sufficient to allow the em
ployee to retire on a respectable retire-