A congressman from Utah is setting his sight firmly on federal employees’ retirement. Speaking to reporters on January 9, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he wants to do away with the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuity and keep only the 401K-style benefit, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), for new and recent hires.
This means federal employees will lose an important element of their compensation. They would no longer be eligible for any defined benefit annuity at all. The pension that Chaffetz would eliminate produces modest but important benefits for federal retirees.
Current FERS retirees receive an average of under $20,000 per year from this benefit. Chaffetz seems to take joy from hurting government workers, including those in his district. Do you think he remembers that nearly a third of federal employees are also veterans?
If he carries out his promises, he will take away employees' ability to retire with dignity and provide for their families.
He’s also telling a new generation of Americans to take their talents elsewhere. As our government is fighting a cyberwarfare, struggling to take care of veterans returning from wars, and finding cures for deadly diseases, we need talented people to join the government now more than ever.
It’s clear the Chaffetz proposal, not VA nurses or CDC scientists, is what’s wrong with the government.
In a huge victory for federal government workers, economists, researchers, analysts, and other employees at the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) on May 9 voted overwhelmingly to join AFGE, the largest union representing D.C. government and federal employees nationwide.
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Democratic representatives on the House Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske expressing concerns over Pekoske’s refusal to say for certain during a recent congressional hearing whether he would negotiate a new contract with TSA officers. The current collective bargaining agreement between AFGE and TSA expires in December.
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Whether it’s the workers at the VA who care for our veterans, the correctional officers who keep our communities safe from dangerous criminals, the inspectors who make sure our food is safe, the TSA officers who maintain the security of traveling Americans, the EPA employees who protect our environment and human health, the workers who make sure our seniors’ Social Security benefits arrive on time, or the many other public servants who work every day on behalf of the American public – these workers provide vital services to us all.
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