FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 07, 2001
February 07, 2001
Magda Lynn Seymour
Diane S. Witiak
(202) 639-6419
Diane S. Witiak
(202) 639-6419
AFGE Urges Pay Raise for Minimum and Low Wage Workers
“Many federal employees would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. The hourly pay rate of many federal employees—including food service employees, janitors, nursing assistants and file clerks—is connected to the minimum wage both directly and indirectly.
“Congress needs to change the minimum wage and raise the pay of the lowest paid federal employees. Many of these employees have not seen any real increases in their paychecks for years because their pay is tied to the local prevailing wages. Even though the hourly rate for these employees exceeds the current minimum, the pay of these federal employees will improve because their counterparts in the private sector would see an increase in their pay. For low-wage workers in the federal government, raising the minimum wage means they might be able to afford the increases in health care premiums for federal employees.”
The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, is the largest union for government employees, representing 600,000 federal workers in the United States and overseas, as well as employees of the District of Columbia. Go to www.afge.org and learn more about AFGE.
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