Transit Benefits, Cutting Contractor Pay, Collective Bargaining and More

Federal worker compensation is facing a pair of Kings.

No, this is not referring to a poker game. After all, the Office of Government Ethics prohibits feds from gambling while on the job.

Instead, two lawmakers -- both named King -- have introduced measures that affect federal pay and benefits. Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., has unveiled the 2015 Commuter Benefit Parity Act, which would give federal employees -- and all commuters -- the same benefit cap as those who drive to work.

The 2009 stimulus package first raised the commuter transit benefit significantly, but renewing it has proven to be a nearly annual battle. The benefit actually dropped nearly in half in 2014 to a maximum of $130 per month, but Congress voted to retroactively bump the subsidy up to $250 per month in December.

Pete King’s measure would set the monthly maximum at $235.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has his own ideas for reforming federal compensation. The more conservative King has introduced a measure to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act, which sets the minimum wage for contractors on federal public works projects. The law, originally enacted in 1931, requires federal agencies to pay laborers and mechanics the “prevailing wage” -- or the pay and benefits of other employees conducting similar work -- of the area in which they are working.

King said the law results in the federal government having to pay its contractors union wages.

“Davis-Bacon artificially inflates the cost of federal contracts and restricts the ability of small businesses to compete for these contracts,” King said. “My Davis-Bacon Repeal Act eliminates the federally mandated union pay scale under federal, public works contracts. Every dollar that American taxpayers send to Washington must be used as efficiently as possible, and every business – small or large, union or non-union – should have the ability to compete freely for federal construction projects.”

Speaking of unions, a labor group representing more than 200,000 federal employees is about to begin negotiating its first collective bargaining agreement in four and a half years.

The American Postal Workers Union will launch talks with U.S. Postal Service management on Thursday, looking to -- of course -- boost pay and benefits, but also grow postal business into new areas. Of particular interest, APWU said, will be to force USPS to begin postal banking.

Recently retired Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe resisted the increasingly popular idea during his tenure, saying the Postal Service should stick to what it knows.  Donahoe will not head up the negotiations for the Postal Service, however. That responsibility falls to his successor, current PMG Megan Brennan.

APWU will also push for USPS to keep postal facilities open longer. Translation? More hours for their members. The union says issues such as new business opportunities and postal hours have never before been on the negotiating table. Local APWU chapters will launch “contract action teams” in the coming weeks to mobilize workers in the fight for a better agreement.

While APWU is fighting for increased pay, another federal employee union is worried about no pay at all.

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley has written a letter to members of Congress asking them to fund the Homeland Security Department, so its workforce does not have to risk missing paychecks.

“Employees who continue to work during a shutdown will be working without pay even though their family’s financial obligations continue,” Kelley wrote. “And employees who are furloughed may ultimately lose pay they need and are counting on.”

DHS funding is set to expire Feb. 27. If Congress does not act before then, the agency will be forced to shut down, though most of its employees would still have to report to work.

“This will be the second shutdown for DHS employees in less than two years and we know from the prior shutdown that working without pay places an extreme burden on DHS employees and their families,” Kelley added.