RETIREMENT BILL CHANGES OFFERED TO WIN EMPLOYEE UNIONS' BACKING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP71B00364R000500120002-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2000
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: June 13, 1969
• Content Type: NSPR

WASH Sii4ll. 191UP3 (v:
THE FEDERAL SPOT q_.H
Retirement Bill Changes Offered
To Win Employe Unions' Backings
By JOSEPH YOUNG
star Staff Writers
An attempt to make the retire-
ment financing bill more attrac-
tive, to the postal and federal
employe unions was made yes-
terday in the House Civil Service
Committee.
The bill has been approved by
the committee's retirement sub-
committee and is now up for
committee action.
Rep. Robert Corbett, R-Pa.,
'offered an amendment to com-
House or Senate, the employe
leaders feel that Congress would
not be apt to veto such increases
in employe contributions.
Most union leaders indicated
they would support the bill, in-
cluding the provision to raise
employe salary contributions
from 61/z to 7 percent, if the two
amendments were approved.
ment financing formula which
will assure the retirement fund's
financial stability and prevent
it from going bankrupt.
PAY RAISE EFFECT - Most
federal classified employes will
receive the 3 to 8.8 percent pay
raise for the pay period which
begins July 14. A relatively few
will get their increases for the
pay period starting July 7.
Postal workers will get their
flat 5 percent pay raise for the
pay period starting July 13.
Under the law approved last
year by'Congress and made offi
cial by President Johnson's ex-
ecutive order on Tuesday, the
pay raises go into effect on the
start of the first payday' after
July 1.
Incidentally, the pay raises
will automatically increase the
life insurance policies of hun-
dreds of thousands of employes.
Government employe life insur-
ance policies are based on high-'
est employes' salaries, and
many will find themselves in the
highest thousand dollar bracket.
pute government annuities on
the basis of 2 percent of salary
for all years of service, instead
of the present system of 1% per-
cent of . salary for the first five
years, 13/4 percent for following
five years, and 2 percent for all
years in excess of 10 years.
Rep. Joe Pool, D-Tex., offered
another amendment to delete
The provision,in the-subcommit-
tee's bill that would give the
Civil Service Commission au-
thority to make future increases
in employe salary contributions
to the retirement fund.
The unions complained that
this could result in employes
.eventually paying _10 or more
a provision that the CSC action
in raising employe salary contri-
butions could be vetoed by either
The committee did not have
time yesterday to vote on the
two amendments and will meet
again next Thursday.
If the two amendments are
approved, it would be a good
bargain for government em-
ployes.
In return for paying one-half
percent more of their salaries
for retirement benefits, they
would get higher annuities on
retirement by virtue of getting
credit for unused sick leave,
computation of annuities on the
basis of a high three-year salary
average instead of the present
five-year average, a flat 2 per-
cent computation rate based on
years of service, unused sick
leave credit also for higher sur-
vivor annuities if the employe
dies before retirement, and sev-
eral other benefits:
One feature in the. bill long
sought by the unions would en-
able employes to credit their to-
al earnings, including premium
pay for overtime, night different-
ial, holiday pay, etc., for higher
ammuity purposes in return for
salary' contributions on these to-
tal earnings. At present only
basic annual pay is counted for
retirement computation pur-
poses.
And, finally, the most impor-
tant in the long run, is the fact
that the bill contains. a govern-
TRAINING - The H o u s e
Civil Service Committee has ap-
proved a bill designed to facili-
tate the training of government
employes.
It approved a revolving fund
of $4 million for the Civil Service
Commission to conduct its
schools and seminars for the
training of government em-
ployes.
At present, the CSC has to put
out the money and then wait a
considerable time for the var-
ious federal agencies to reim-
burse it. The bill would give the
CSC the funds it needs to carry
out the program immediately,
with the agencies still required
to reimburse the commission.
FUNERAL LEA The
rouse' Civil Service, Committee
a finstrative leave to federal
ployes to arrange' the funer-
a of their children who died
the on military duty.
The bill also would provide ad-
ditional leave up to 22 days for
federal employes in the national
guard or military serserves who
are called up to enforce the law
in riots or civil disorders. Their
civilian pay would continue and
would be reduced by the amount
of military pay.
NEW INSTITUTE HEAD -
Dr Frank P. Sherwood, director
of the University of Southern
California's school of public ad-
ministration, has been appointed
Approved For Release 2001/08/28: CIA-RDP7104064 ~iCt~'Ce nf4p 6t
I ville, Va.
 WAA* per 144W (,
Approved For Release 2001/08/28 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000500120002-8
The Federal Diary '
Federal Retfremnt
Increase Is Approved
By Jerrv Kluttz i ciais, Including members of I entials for Civil Service can
? An increase from 6.5 to 7
.per cent of salary In the re-
tirement contributions made
by Federal employes was ten-
tatively approved yesterday by
the House Post Office and
Civil Service Committee.
The Committee did not com-
plete action on the bill spon-
sored by Rep. Dominick Dan-
iels (D-N.Y.), which provides
numerous neW retirement ben-
efits.
When the Committee re-
sumes its work a motion by
Rep. Joe Pool (D-Tex.) will be
in order. Pool wants stricken a
provision that would increase
contributions in the future
through the Government re-,
organization process. Under
that system, the Civil Service
Commission would recom-
mend an increase, say, from I
to 7.5 per cent, and it would
go into effect autgmaticall3
unless either the House or the
Senate opposed it by majorit,
vote within 60 days.
Several employe unions ar,
backing Pool. They want Cor
gress to retain full control o
employe contributions since it
the past Congress has been re
luctant to increase them
There was little controversy it
the Committee over.provisions
in the, bill to increase retire,
ment benefits.
The committee approved
the compassionate-leave bill
Introduced by Chairman Thad
deus J. Dulski'(b-N.Y.) to give
up to three days off to a Fed.
eral employe to arrange for
and to attend the funeral of a
son who dies in the armed
forces.
A second:. Dulski bill ap-
proved by the Committee
would give National Guardoo-
men who are called to riot
duty up to 22 days of addi-
tional leave.
Protective Parking: An In
formal and temporary ar-
rangement has been worked
out to allow 425 cars of Gov-
ernment Printing Office em-
ployes to park from 6 p.m. to
8:30 a.m. on the Capitol
grounds. -
Approved
Congress.
Lawrence S. Lewin has re-
signed from Post Office to
join Fry Consultants here to
concentrate on antipoverty
and manpower activities. He
was an assistant to former
Postmaster General Lawrence
F. O'Brien.
Cost-of-Living: Salary differ=
ployes In Alaska, Hawaii;
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Is.
lands will continue unchanged
for another year, according tt
the CSC.
The differentials are 25 pet
cent in Alaska, 15 per cent it
Hawaii, and 5 per cent it
Puerto 4ico 1no.Vie Virgin Is-
_ GPO has contracteT,V-1tli
bus operators to operate' a
shuttle during those hours be-
tween GPO and the parking
areas. The parking and the
bus service are without cost to
the employes, who threatened
to stop night work to protest
increased crime near GPO, at
North Capitol and H streets.
"Cars will be protected by
Capitol police, and the shuttle
Is considered safe. More police
have ben assigned to the GPO.
Wight GPO workers carried
their appeal for police protec.
tion to the President after)
some of them were victims of
At one point, there was con-
cern over whether GPO would
be able to continue printing
night for the day Congress
There already is a shortage
of skilled GPO workers and
thole available work 10 hours
or so overtime each week. If
any sizable group of employes
cause of the crime problem
GPO couldn't have made them
work and it couldn't have con-
tinued printing the Record on
time.
Meantime, GPO is working
with the Redevelopment Agen.
cy to clear several areas near
the GPO building to provide
Permanent parking.
.-C$C says it is "extremely
pjEased" to get a persgn of'his
professional stan n to ~per-
ate Its training
ank to fQr
hi
h-
g
r
ng exec
For Release 2001 8Q8~r~.f
AIS--" -DEATHS: Twenty
seven a ployesof the Agency
for International Development
who were either killed by
e4ekiy action or died in Viet-
naim since 1961 will gent pos-
thumous awards at an Agency
ceremony here Friday. Twenty
were.killed by enemy action.
Awards also will be given
185 other AID employes here
who ? have served at least a
year in Vietnam... President
Johnson recently directed
agencies to give civilian serv-
ice" awards to employes who.'
have service in Vietnam
Assaults: The H o u s e - ap-
proved bill to make it a Fed-
eral offense to assault postal
employes may be broadened
in the Senate to include all
Federal employes and offi-
0364R000500120002-8
 .THE FEDERAL SPOTLIGHT
Apprp d ; rr ei ay /08/28 , DP71B 031, R00050 ,20002-8
M sic fans Bill to Liberalize
U.S. Employes' Retirement Benefits
By JOSEPH YOUNG
Star Staff Writer
Rep. Thaddeus Dulski, D-N.Y.,
chairman of the House Civil
Service Committee, this week
will sponsor legislation to liber-
alize government employe re-
tircment benefits.
The bill would do the follow-
ing-
0 Dicrease annuities on retire-
me8t by changing the computa-
tion formula so that when an
employe completes 10 years of
service, all past and future serv-
ice will be creditable at a flat 2
percent rate. At present, the
first five years are computed at
pay to include overtime, thereby
increasing an employe's annuity
when he retires. Employes' con-
tributions to the retirement fund
would include payment on their
overtime pay.
? Change the cost of living ad-
justment formula so that future
increases for federal retirees
would be effective when the con-
sumers price index rose by 2
percent and remained at that
figure for at least two consecu-
tive months rather than the
present formula which requires
a 3 percent increase over three
consecutive months.
Democratic Sens. Harrison Wil-
liams of New Jersey, Edward
Kennedy of Massachusetts, Jo-
seph Clark of Pennsylvania, Jo-
seph Tydings of Maryland and
Walter Mondale of Minnesota;
and Republicans Norris Cottor
of New Hampshire and Mark
IlatFeld of Oregon.
Meanwhile, the President's re?
view committee on presidential
executive order 10988 on
labor-management in govern-
ment is expected to make its
recommendations for changes in
the program by the end of next
month.
five, years at 13/4 percent.
? Increase survivor annuities t
60 percent of the annuity rathe
that the present 55 percent.
? Llberalizethe survivorshipfo
the -r.21/2 percent reduction is a
percent deducted on the fir
cent reduction is applicable 'o
all amounts over $3,600.
? 'ghange the definition of basic
Ct ' 'frerttztg ,far
Tke $unbag ,Star
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support of the powerful National
Association of Letter Carriers
and is regarded as the union's
reply to the move in Congress to
increase government employes'
present 61/2 percent of salary
contribution to 7 percent to
strengthen the financing of the
civil service retirement system.
The NALC's position is that if
the unions are to support the 7
percent deduction, then present
retirement benefits must be lib-
eralized along the lines proposed
in the bill.
LABOR HEARINGS PROM-
ISED - Hearings in May on
legislation that would give grc
ernment employe unions colllec-
tive bargaining rights h ve bee
promised Rye . D vid ende
son, D-Nchaii an h
House t ervirc~ an n
-powe l~bco i ('F
tw bill een
in the s .
addition, en s
11 ve join ni
8ter, D-Md. o-sp ;
ilar legisl in, t Sl
SILLY SEASON - The weekly
publication, Federal Times, re-
cently received a letter from
Democratic national chairman
John Bailey, which contained
the greeting: "Dear Federal."
Reminds us of the time a job
applicant wrote a letter to the
General Services Administra-
tion, with the salutation: "Dear
General."
ASSAULT PROTECTION - A
HouseCiivil Service subcommit-
tee headed by Rep. Robert Nix,
D-Pa., is expected to approve a
bill this week making it a feder-
al offense to assault postal work-
ers. The measure also provides
been an alarming increase in
assaults on mailmen.
James Rademacher, NALC
vice president, cited hundreds of
cases in which letter carriers
have been severely beaten by
thugs, thieves and disgruntled
patrons. Rademacher said that
these cases are usually handled
as misdemeanors by cities and
states.
Assistant Postmaster General
Richard Murphy has given the
administration's endorsement to
the bill.
* * *
SUPER-GRADES - T h e
House Civil Service Committee
has approved a bill giving the
government an additional 482 su-
per-grade jobs (GS-16 through
18). All the Republican members
of the committee who were pres-
ent voted against the bill - an
indication that Republicans in
the House are going to pursue an
economy course this year de-
signed to block any legislation
that costs money - even a rela-
tive~ ly &rep~,pz' 1 has
 camp a anggnardtng the
western approaches to Khe Sanh.
These had come in from Laos
along EaA"rDlll l ID0-Rel
More tanks were spotted Just
50 miles northwest of Saigon on
heb. 20, when a force of South
Vietnamese irregulars and their
Special Forces advisers came
on an enemy battalion with three
tanks. and a half-tracked ar-
mored personnel carrier near
the Cambodian border. After
the fighting, In which none of
the tanks fired the enemy broke
aPeQN[AQClC0hW0QN?tAd1"00
Foes' Off ices Raided
PANAMA (AP) - National which is commanded by Brig.,
G u a r d s in e n, supporting im- Gen. Bolivar Vallavilao, an
peached President Mario A. Ro- nounced it "cannot support" the
bles, smashed the headquarters As decision and said it
of his chief opponent today and
arrested an opposition leader would await an opinion from the
ores of demonstrators af- Supreme Court, due to recon-
I ..u
contact and fled to the West., ter the National Assembly swore verse next Monday.
presumably to Cambodia. in a new president. Witnesses said the guardsmen
The troops moved in two hours smashed windows and doors and
New Highway Used moved in behind a barrage of
after twice deposed ex-President tear gas bombs shortly after 2
The tanks . in the Hue region Arnulfo Arias called for nation
today apparently traveled on wide civil resistance -' under- ters at the two-story hUnion, r
a new high speed highway the stood to mean a general strike I fivea the National to
North Vietnamese have built - in support of the assembly's fiv-par rty coalition opposed, posed t
n
across the A Shau Valley from decision to -~-invict Robles of un Robles' government. The union
Laos 30 , miles below the Khe constitutionax oolitical activity includes Arias' Panamenista
Sanh fortress. The Communists and oust. him from office. party and four other parties sup-
drove a Green Beret unit out The assembly swore in First porting his candidacy in the May
of the valley a year ago in Vice President Max Delvalleas 12 election.
III Ilildegranao Nocosia, the un-
R
o es
heavy fighting. the new president, but
In the Saigon area, a spokes- said he would ignore the ouster, i o n s secretary-general, was
man today reported U.S. troops and a make-or-break showdown among scores of demonstrators
had killed 114 more guerrillas seemed imminent. reported arrested in front of the
in a clash northwest of the cap- The 4,000-man National Guard, headquarters. Nicosia told news-
See VIETNAM, Page A-3 the nation's only military force, See PANAMA, Page A-6
Army Admits Gas Is Suspect
In 6,400 Utah Sheep Deaths
delegation, Stone said that a
nerve gas had been sprayed.
from the air before the catas-
trophe, but that the agent has
been tested without accident for
about 6 years.
It is a persistent or slow-
to-evaporate chemical, he ex-
plained, and extensive safety
precautions are associated with
its use. There is no evidence that
any of these was , ignored, he
said.
Star Staff Writer
The Army admitted today that
a gas, used in tests at Dugway
Proving Ground. in Utah is
"highly . suspect" in the death of
thousands of sheep near the
area, but said there is now too
little evidence to make it an
open-and-shut case.
Brig. Gen. William W. Stone,
office director of research and
laboratories,. U.S. Army Materi-
el Command, told an, informal
hearing in the office of Sen. Wal-
lace F. Bennett, R-Utah, that
"we and many others are work-
ing literally day and night until
we find the answer to what hap-
ened
"
.
p
Sheep in the remote Skull Val-
ley area - 27 to 35 miles from
Dugway began dying March
14, a day after nerve gas tests
were conducted. Since then, the
Army has suspended tests of bio-
logical warfare agents sprayed
by plane at Dugway.
Both state and federal experts
are being consulted in the mat-
ter, Stone said. Blood tests, soil
analyses and other relevant fac-
tors are being considered, he
added.
In answer to questions submit-
ted by the Utah congressional
Although he declined to identi-
fy the agent for "reasons of se-
curity," Stone said that it is an
organo-phosphorous substance
that acts on the central nervous
system by destroying an enzyme
Gen. Stone added that the
sheep suffered from some, but
not all, of the symptoms ob-,
served when experimental ani-
mals are exposed to the gas. He
said, however, that the Army
had never used sheep in its
tests.
Witnesses at the hearing said
there are 40 to 50 people living in
the area where the sheep have
died, and that all are being
blood-tested for evidence of ill
effects.
The estimated loss to Utah
sheepmen to date is $300,000.
that in turn stops the transmis-
sion of nerve impulses.
One of the confusing aspects
of the Utah situation is that
chemicals similar to those in the
nerve gas are also a component
of many pesticides, weed-killers
and treated feeds.
A spokesman for'the Agricul-
ture Department said that no
traces had been found of such
pesticides or weed-killers but
that the possibility of the feeds
as culprits remained.
Autopsies on some of the 6,400
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 WAevot
Approved For Release 2001/08/28 CIA-RDP71 B00364R000500,120002-8
THE. FEDERAL SPOTLIGHT-
House Panel Adds Liberal. Credits
To Bill Raising Retirement Funding
By JOSEPH YOUNG
Star Staff Writer
The House Civil Service Re-
tirement subcommittee has add-
ed more "goodies" to the bill
increasing retirement financing
to make it more palatable to
federal and postal employes.
In return for increasing an
employe's present contribution
from 6Y percent of his salary to
7 percent and for a provision
that could make this even higher
in the future, the subcommittee
has approved several provisions
,more liberal than it originally
had intended.
One feature would allow em-
ployes to count their earnings
from overtime, night differential
and holiday premium pay as
part of total earnings to bolster
their annuities on retirement. At
present, total earnings counted
toward retirement are limited to
basic annual salaries.
Employes, would, of course,
have to pay their share of salary
Approved For Release
to the retirement fund for the
extra credit on total earnings.
Sick Leave Credit
Unused sick leave would be
credited as additional length of
service when an employe be-
comes eligible for retirement.
The added credit also would
be. applied to survivor annuities
if the employe died before be-
coming eligible for retirement.
Combined with the bill's other
liberalizations, the measure's
sponsors hope these credits will
persuade the big postal and fed-
eral employe unions to support
the bill.
The other features include
computing annuities on the basis
of an employe's high three-year
salary average rather than the
present high five-year average;
giving retirees a 1 percent bonus
in addition to the 3 or more
percent increase whenever the
cost of living rises 3 percent or
more; and permitting widows 60
or over whose husbands died or
retired before 1966 to remarry
and still retain their survivor
annuities.
The bill's sponsors say such
fears are not well founded. Only
.ien Congress approves future
substantial 1312era_lization 0f_civj1
service retirefent b e n e f i s
House group that such future
increases would not go into ef-
fect if within 60 days the House
or Senate disapproved of such
an increase.
Payments on Liability
Perhaps the bill's most impor-
tant provision is automatic
Treasury contributions to pay
the interest on the $52 billion
unfunded liability which would
begin in 1970 and thus assure
that the retirement fund won't
go. bankrupt in 1987.
Employe groups like this fea-
ture. But they are balking at
raising employe contributions to
7 percent unless they get more
liberalizations.
What worries them even more
is that the bill gives the Civil
Service Commission authority to
raise e m p l o y e contributions
even higher in the future if it
feels this is necessary to assure
the fund's stability. Employes
are not satisfied with the com-
promise worked out by the
along with the government's
contributions, they declare.
NO PAY DELAY- Rep. Mor
ris Udall, D-Ariz., chairman o
the House Civil Service Compen
sation subcommittee, says ther,
will be no delay of either thi
year's or next year's federal an,
postal employe pay raises.
"Don't believe the rumors yo,
hear," he told the Society fo
Personnel Administration's an
nual conference. "The pa;
raises will go into effect July
this year and on July 1; 1969, a;
scheduled."
MORE TEMPORARY PRO
MOTIONS - The Civil Service
Commission has asked govern.
ment agency and employe unions
to comment on its proposal de-
signed to give federal employes
greater opportunities for tempo-
rary promotions.
The CSC pointed out that there
now are numerous instances
where employes are detailed to
higher job duties but they re-
ceive no increase in pay. This is
because when an employe is giv-
en a temporary promotion and
the assignment is ended, the
agency has to take adverse ac-
tion to reassign him to his old
job.
The commission pointed out
that this leaves a blot on the
e in p l o y e's personnel record,
with the implication that he had
not performed his job satisfacto-
rily. Consequently, a g e n c i e s
have hesitated to make tempo-
rary promotions.
The CSC's proposes that after
an employe completes his tem-
porary assignment he be reas-
signed to his old job without any
adverse action procedure. And
during the time he spends in his
temporary promotion, he would
get higher pay, including higher
retirement coverage, life and
health insurance and within-
grade pay increases, as well as
consideration for permanent
promotion.
The CSC previously had asked
agencies to stop the practice of
detailing employes to higher-
grade jobs ithout giving them
at least temporary promotions.
but the agencies pointed out that
the present rules made this diffi
cult on employes when the3
'4$10-8?lc