Is the Federal Pay Freeze Obama’s PATCO?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6711/is_pay_freeze_obamas_patco/

Tuesday Nov 30, 2010 4:23 pm

By Mike Elk

For unionists, pay freeze reminiscent of Reagan's attack on federal workers

The Obama Administration, looking to bolster its deficit-cutting credentials and show its desire to take on what some label a "special interest"—organized labor—yesterday announced a two-year freeze on the wages of all federal workers. Tim Fernholz of The American Prospect points out that the pay freeze will reduce the deficit by .1% over the next ten years. Obama's pay freeze also reinforces the notion that public employees earn exuberant salaries despite a Bureau of Labor Statistic report showing that civil servants earn 24% less than their counterparts in the private sector.


AFGE for Obama? The union is not so enthusiastic after The White House froze the wages of federal employees on Monday. (Photo courtesy of the AFL-CIO)


"This proposal to freeze federal pay is a superficial, panicked reaction to the deficit commission report," stated AFGE National President John Gage, a union that represents over 600,000 federal government employees. "This pay freeze amounts to nothing more than political public relations. This is no time for scapegoating. The American people didn't vote to stick it to a VA nursing assistant making $28,000 a year or a border patrol agent earning $34,000 per year."

Attacking "greedy federal workers" allows Obama to claim he is taking on special interests when he is completely unwilling to take on the rich over the Employee Free Choice Act or the Bush tax cuts. But, as recent polling analysis released by the Center for American Progress indicates, labor is seen by many Americans as just another big institution too far removed from the public.

This pay freeze is in line with the president's earlier attacks on teachers unions and lack of leadership on the EFCA. The important question we should ask is, will scoring cheap political points by scapegoating workers lead to unintended consequences that could impede economic recovery?

FULL story at link.

[FLyellowdog]

1. I lived through the strike with my controller husband.

Trust me, this is nothing like that.

[madrchsod]

2. this is just a nicer version of reagan`s union busting

[TheWraith]

3. Not getting a 3% raise is the same as being fired?

That's a tough sell to someone who actually has lost their job.

[katandmoon]

4. If the intent was to divide and conquer the rank and file, it's certainly working.

[girl gone mad]

5. It speaks to either enormous economic ignorance or malfeasance on Obama's part.

With 20% real unemployment, the government should be expanding the deficit.

He's conceded the high ground to the deficit terrorists. Not smart politics or smart economics if the goal is actually full employment and a thriving economy.

[pnorman]

6. Not just being fired, but

being black-listed throughout the industry, as well as having the union destroyed by Presidential edict! The irony here, is that PATCO was one of the very few AFL-CIO unions to have publicly endorsed Reagan in 1980!

I have no personal recollections of that PATCO strike, other than canceling a flight to SF for a train ride (in support of PATCO). PATCO was then an affiliate of my own (maritime) union. Accordingly, I've kept a close eye on it from time onwards. NO, whatever may be said pro or con about that wage freeze, it was NOT "Obama's PATCO --- no more than the BP oil spill was "Obama's Katrina"! Get a grip, you guys!