Some workers still waiting for IT pay raise

Many federal computer specialists are still waiting to get a special pay raise intended to keep information technology employees working for the government. More than a year has passed since the Office of Personnel Management announced the governmentwide pay raise for information technology workers. The raise is supposed to help agencies fill entry-level positions at lower grades and applies only to certain positions at grades GS-5 through GS-12 in the following occupational series: computer specialists (GS-334), computer engineers (GS-854) and computer scientists (GS-1550). The pay raise was supposed to go into effect in January 2001. According to OPM, not enough data existed to justify giving the raise to other IT-related occupational series, such as GS-301, GS-391 and GS-511. "In addition, not all jobs in these occupational series involve IT-related work," OPM said. During the past year, the IT pay raise has proved to be a contentious issue for some federal employees. For example:

• The FAA declined to raise its IT workers' pay, taking the position that its unions must negotiate the pay raise for their bargaining unit employees. FAA spokeswoman Tammy Jones said the union must negotiate all pay changes because the FAA isn't bound by OPM's pay rules. In 1996, Congress authorized the FAA to establish its own pay system that is separate from the government's General Schedule.

  The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) union, which represents more than 11,000 FAA and Defense Department employees, filed a grievance against the FAA in January 2001 seeking to get the IT raise implemented. Months later, an arbitrator ruled that the PASS members should get the raise. The FAA appealed that decision and the matter remains unresolved.

• About 300 computer specialists at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Orlando, Fla., had their job titles reclassified last year, making them eligible for the pay raise. The move came after American Federation of Government Employees Local 2113 raised concerns about the effect the pay raise would have on union members who were not in the covered occupational series, but who performed essentially the same work as employees who did qualify for the raise.
• Systems administrators at more than 142 Social Security Administration hearing offices have been trying for two years to get their current GS-335 computer assistant classification upgraded and reclassified so that they can qualify for higher salaries, including the IT pay raise. Larry Long, a hearing office systems administrator based in Seattle, initiated a grievance in February on behalf of all the SSA systems administrators, contending they have gotten no response to their request for a fair hearing on the issue. Another SSA systems administrator is considering whether to file an appeal directly with OPM. According to an SSA spokesman, the department's personnel office did a classification review and determined that the employees were classified in the proper job series.