I am a Federal employee unhappy with the Federal government, and I am not alone.
Job satisfaction among federal government workers dropped to an all-time low in 2013, according to a new study out Wednesday ranking the best and worst places to work in the federal government.
The report, produced by the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte, marked the lowest score in employee satisfaction and commitment since the rankings were first published in 2003. On a scale of 100, the overall satisfaction score among those surveyed in 2013 was 57.8. The score continues the downward trend of employee satisfaction among federal workers, with 2013 marking the third straight year the score has dropped. …
“There is no doubt the three-year pay freeze, furloughs, budget cuts, ad hoc hiring freezes and continued uncertainty are taking their toll on federal workers,” Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service president and CEO, said in a news release. “What it really means is that agencies aren’t positioned to successfully meet the needs of the American people.”
Let’s boil this down to basics. In the current budget deal, one of the senators from my state is arguing vehemently that there should be no cut to military retirement pension cost of living increases. Now, let me explain this carefully. The new budget deal does NOT lower current existing pensions. It does make a change in how future increases to the pensions are calculated. No current military retiree will suffer any changes in their current income. But, this is objectionable to many hyper-conservative Republicans. Meantime, the current deal means that I will be contributing a chunk more as my retirement contribution. But, wait, I am a veteran who was drafted during the Viet Nam conflict. My only mistake appears to be that I did not serve a full 20 to 30 years in the military. Sadly, I chose to become a missionary for 10 years. I now work for the Federal government in a VA hospital. That is, I work serving military retirees and assuring that they receive the benefits they deserve for their service. But, that is not good enough.
According to all to many hyper-conservative Republicans, I do not deserve the same consideration. Apparently my failure to spend my entire working life in the military means that I deserve no consideration. Federal employees have received no cost of living adjustment for four years. Yet, somehow it is wrong to change how a cost of living adjustment is calculated for military retirees? It is all too obvious that hyper-conservative Republican attitudes toward government are that we are the enemy, unless we are military. So, my future retirement is affected by the simple, and only, reason that I do not wear an uniform? This is true in spite of the fact that I am serving Federal military retirees? I would suggest that there is a problem here.
I do, heartily, agree that we need to lower expenditures and increase income. But, I do not agree that one class of people—military retirees—should be prioritized ahead of all others. We all need to share the pain. I could accept the no-cost-of-living increase for four years if it had also been applied to the military. But, I deeply object to the unfairness of treating some Federal employees better than other Federal employees.
If you disagree, explain to me why your fellow Christian should be treated differently than your fellow Christian who happens to be in the military.
The same conditions are affecting state employees, too.
Of course, a great many federal employees (myself included) are veterans. But, as you note, if we didn’t actually retire from the military, the GOP discounts our service.
The GOP has been hammering on government employees for years, and they seem to be winning. No wonder these employees are demoralized and depressed when Congress has been insisting that government can’t do anything competently. Funny how deeply these politicians want to keep *their* government jobs, though. They will spend any amount of money and do anything at all to keep getting re-elected to their positions in a government that they claim is incompetent.
How do we fix this? How do we begin to turn around the idea that government is bad and corporations are good? Do we have to go completely bust before the hoi paloi finally get it that big business does not care about them? Don’t have answers, only questions.
I wish I knew how to fix it, Betty. Well-organized, fantastically wealthy groups and individuals have invested many hundreds of millions of dollars for decades to make it the way it is and to persuade Americans that they should despise their government. They’ve filled the government with representatives who are happy to accept money to disparage the very government to which they’re elected. Their effort to make American people completely forget that ours is a government of, by, and for the people has been wildly successful.