Bill to Freeze Federal Pay, Slash Workforce, Gets Soundly Defeated as Federal Unions Press Senate
Friday, December 2, 2011(National Federation of Federal Employees)
Wednesday evening, a flurry of activity
in the federal labor community began as reports
emerged that Republicans in the U.S. Senate
would introduce a bill to pay for the extension
of the payroll tax cut by freezing federal pay
and reducing the workforce. The following
morning, that proposal, formally introduced as
S. 1931, came sharply into
focus.
The
bill, introduced by freshman Republican Senator
Dean Heller of Nevada, proposed funding the
popular payroll tax cut extension with an
additional three-year freeze on federal
salaries and a 200,000 worker downsizing of the
federal workforce. This prompted a rapid and
organized response from federal worker unions
demanding that the draconian measure be
defeated. NFFE was one of the first to release
a statement opposing the bill, followed by
letters and statements from coalition groups
like the Federal Workers Alliance and National
Postal Coalition – both of which NFFE is a
member.
“The
federal labor community mobilized immediately
to defeat this unreasonable legislation and I
believe that was the determining factor in the
overwhelming defeat of the bill,” said NFFE
National President William R. Dougan.
In an
uncharacteristically swift legislative
maneuver, the bill was brought up for a vote by
the full Senate Thursday evening. Late into the
evening, the vote came back 20-78 against the
bill, representing a huge victory for federal
employees after what had been two days of
intense legislative and political
action.
“Federal employees didn’t just dodge a bullet on this one; they got active and made their voice heard on this issue,” said Dougan. “This is just one example of how powerful federal employees are when they get together and stand up for themselves.”
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