Federal Employees

Current and retired federal employees who have been on the offense against the Defense of Marriage Act can't taste victory yet, but its scent is growing stronger now that the Supreme Court has decided to review the law. Federal workers and retirees have been on the vanguard against DOMA. Yet, though the court did not choose one of their cases, the one picked this month certainly will have implications for the federal workforce. DOMA defines marriage for federal purposes as a union between a man and a woman.

WASHINGTON -- Federal employees will receive an e-mail today alerting them that furloughs are possible if Congress fails to reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff, union officials said Thursday. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human relations arm of the federal government, informed labor leaders of the e-mail in a conference call Wednesday night. Officials stressed that no employment action would likely take place immediately. Maryland is home to about 300,000 federal workers -- roughly 10 percent of the state's civilian workforce -- and several economists have said that the failure to reach an agreement could have a disproportionate effect in the state.

As the fiscal cliff looms, two of Maryland's most influential congressmen have a message for those looking to the federal workforce for more savings: Look somewhere else. "Federal workers have already been asked to sacrifice as part of the budget cuts that have already taken place," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House budget committee, told reporters last week. "Now is the time to ask others to help share responsibility for reducing our deficit. " Van Hollen spoke days after Rep. Steny Hoyer wrote an op-ed urging negotiators: "Don't Throw Feds Over 'Cliff.'" "Over the past two years, federal employees have repeatedly faced threats of a government shutdown that would stop their paychecks with virtually no notice," Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, wrote in Federal Times.

Jim Rogers ("Government workers deserve no sympathy," Dec. 11) denies sympathy to federal employees who complain about attacks on their pay and benefits. Truth is, federal employees have it good, like private-sector employees in those European "socialist" countries that our politicians denigrate. But over there, at least for northern industrial countries like Germany and France, private and public employee compensation is about the same (European Central Bank, Working Paper 1406) - public employees are ahead in southern Europe.

Your Thursday article concerning Social Security workers complaining about pay raises ("Facing the fiscal cliff," Dec. 6) shows how these employees feel entitled because they are federal employees. They fail to realize the private sector is also encountering pay freezes, increases in health insurance and layoffs. Private sector employees do not enjoy the lucrative benefits provided to federal employees. What they do is get a second job to send their kids to college. So stop the whining and get another job if you want more money.

As a taxpayer and a private-sector employee all my life, why should I feel sorry for the federal employees who, on average, make more money than me, have a better pension than I do, have more vacation time to be with their families, and work fewer hours ("Federal workers rally, underscore their sacrifices," Dec. 6)? The Wall Street Journal just published the results of the American Time Use Survey, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics administers to a large and representative sample of American households each year.

A Defense Department funding bill has made bedfellows of two groups more likely to be found in opposite corners: federal labor and federal contractors. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the Professional Services Council (PSC) object to Section 341 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2013. The Senate approved it last week. They are not alone in opposing the measure, which would require the Pentagon to cut more than $5 billion in planned spending for its civilian and contractor workforces through fiscal 2017.

Federal employees in Maryland and elsewhere stepped up pressure on Congress Wednesday to avert the looming fiscal crisis without making significant cuts to government pay and benefits. In rallies across the country and in a new ad campaign running in Washington, federal employee unions noted concessions that members have made toward deficit reduction and sought to counter a growing sense of inevitability that they will nevertheless be asked to do more. The latest public relations blitz by federal employees - who make up about 10 percent of Maryland's civilian workforce - came as the Obama administration and Republicans in the House of Representatives continued to talk past one another over how to avoid the year-end combination of tax increases and deep, automatic spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff.

After a 36-year career with the Postal Service, Yverne "Pat" Moore says she's living the life she started planning two decades ago, filled with church and community service, grandchildren and a trip to the other side of the world. The recently retired Ellicott City woman is part of a wave of workers who are leaving federal employment as baby boomers age out of the workforce and managers offer buyouts to help reduce spending. Those who have waited for the economy to stabilize are also now exiting.

Federal officials shut the government down as Hurricane Sandy crashed ashore late last month, but NOAA employee Holly Bamford remained hard at work. While heavy rain and wind lashed her Silver Spring office, the National Ocean Service manager oversaw a massive real-time operation to monitor storm damage in coastal waterways - from debris in the Port of New York to shifting beaches on the Delmarva Peninsula - from the comfort and safety of her Montgomery County home. The government's efforts to promote telecommuting - intended to trim costs, ease traffic congestion and improve worker satisfaction - are also boosting productivity during major storms.