8. Congress calls for higher federal pay raise By Brian Friel Federal workers should get a 4.6 percent average pay raise next year rather than President Bush's proposed 3.6 percent raise, lawmakers said late Thursday night. House and Senate negotiators released a fiscal 2002 budget resolution that includes language calling for the higher raise. The language in the budget resolution is not binding, so the President or Congress will have to take additional action to put the higher increase in federal workers' hands next January. "Members of the uniformed services and civilian employees of the United States make significant contributions to the general welfare of the nation," the resolution said. "Increases in the pay of members of the uniformed services and of civilian employees of the United States have not kept pace with increases in the overall pay levels of workers in the private sector, so that there now exists a 32 percent gap between compensation levels of federal civilian employees and compensation levels of private sector workers; and an estimated 10 percent gap between compensation levels of members of the uniformed services and compensation levels of private sector workers." Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0501/050401b1.htm
