美国国家公共电台 NPR Federal Employees Face Cuts To Retirement Benefits And Pay Freezes

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Federal employees can be forgiven for feeling whiplashed by the Trump 1 administration. The president has proclaimed this to be Public Service Recognition Week, acknowledging the nation's civil servants for, quote, "their hard work and willingness to serve their fellow citizens." Yet at the same time, the administration wants to cut federal retirement 3 benefits and freeze salaries next year. The White House is also considering a broader overhaul 4 of civil service laws which has employee unions nervous, as NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE 5: At a breakfast this week, the Partnership 6 for Public Service recognized a group of outstanding public employees. Among the honorees was Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, who has spent 37 years at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. She is now working on autism research. She says she's had a rewarding career working for the government.

MARSHALYN YEARGIN-ALLSOPP: I love CDC. I love public health. I love the fact that I think we make a difference. Even today, as we had the breakfast, several people came up to me and said that they have children on the spectrum 7, and they appreciate so much the work that we have done. That means a lot to me.

NAYLOR: While Yeargin-Allsopp is rewarded by her work, the Trump administration is considering changes that might make federal work less rewarding, including a $144 billion cut in federal retirement benefits that would affect current and future retirees. Office of Personnel Management Director Jeff Pon speaking at a town hall on civil service today said he wants working for the government to be more like the private sector 8 - more flexible, less permanent.

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JEFF PON: And that's a key component 9 for updating the workforce 10. I don't believe that we should look at a federal job for 30 years and then retire and then have a, you know, lifetime retirement anymore.

NAYLOR: The federal government needs younger workers, says Tom Ross, president of The Volcker Alliance, a nonprofit group working to overhaul the civil service system.

TOM ROSS: We're not doing a great job of attracting young people to government. And we need to do that because the workforce is aging. Forty-one percent of the federal workforce is eligible 11 to retire in five years. So we're going to have a crisis.

NAYLOR: But coming to work for the federal government can be a difficult sale to make these days. President Trump implemented 12 a temporary hiring freeze last year and is proposing a pay freeze for next year. Plus there's all that rhetoric 13 about draining the swamp and the evils of the administrative 14 state. Jessica Klement is vice 2 president of the National Active and Retired 15 Federal Employees Association.

JESSICA KLEMENT: A 22-year-old about to graduate college - I turn on the news, and I'm hearing about how federal employees don't take care of their veterans. My member of Congress are talking about lazy bureaucrats 16 in Washington and draining the swamp. Is this a workforce I'm stepping into - maybe, maybe not.

NAYLOR: Klement agrees there are changes needed in the rules now 40 years old that govern federal employees' pay and job classifications. It was designed in an era when clerks and clerical workers dominated the government. But Klement says the administration could make other changes if it really wants to operate more like the private sector.

KLEMENT: If we're going to turn to the private sector, then I think it's far past time for the federal government to offer things like paid parental 17 leave, which they currently do not, which is commonplace in large private sector companies.

NAYLOR: While there is agreement that change is needed, it's not clear how much will take place this year when Congress has other things on its mind, like the midterm elections. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.