Government Employees Wages And Salaries

The Federal Reserve Board plans to peg the salaries of its 1,500 employees to "market" levels, instead of to the government pay scale as it does now. The move, which was disclosed to Fed employees last week in a memorandum, is aimed at attracting and retaining high-quality staff. It could affect the pay of everyone working at the Fed's Washington headquarters except the seven board members, whose salaries are set by law.

Despite a low unemployment rate and past troubles with recruiting, the U.S. Census Bureau says that it has found plenty of applicants willing to go door to door collecting information in most areas of Los Angeles County. Census officials said much of the success is due to the raise in pay to $14 an hour--about double the rate during the 1990 census, when officials struggled to fill the jobs statewide. That pay figure "grabbed my attention.

A proposal to form a separate transit zone in the San Fernando Valley hit its first snag Wednesday as some council members--considering a seemingly routine motion to fund more study of the idea--assailed it as a potential union-busting tactic. Although the measure was approved on an 11-2 vote, the heated debate it sparked suggested trouble ahead for the transit zone's lead proponent, Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the northeast Valley.

A consulting firm has found chronic problems in the Ventura County district attorney's office, including low pay, intense pressure to perform and managers who cause workers to fear for their jobs. "Many people in the district attorney's office feel undervalued both as professionals and as human beings," Los Angeles-based Strategic Business Ethics reported in a 17-page summary after interviews with dozens of workers in April.

A taxpayers watchdog coalition in Orange County filed a lawsuit Friday against the governor and state officials, seeking to prevent the state from paying as many as 250,000 public workers before passing a budget. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges that the state is violating state law by paying its bills and employees when the Legislature, more than three weeks after its deadline, has not adopted a state budget.

South Korea's National Assembly, controlled by the opposition, voted 127 to 102 to reinstate thousands of civil servants dismissed by former President Chun Doo Hwan. But officials of the ruling Democratic Justice Party said they will ask President Roh Tae Woo to veto the bill. The opposition lacks the votes to override a veto. Roh's government has said the former employees would receive half their salary for the past eight years, but the opposition bill would give them full back pay.

The Senate passed far-reaching legislation that would exempt up to 10% of federal workers from the Civil Service uniform pay scale and allow the Defense and Energy departments to pay 525 scientists and engineers as much as $134,250 a year. That level of compensation exceeds the $89,500 paid to members of Congress and Vice President Dan Quayle's $115,000 salary.

Over-the-year average wage gains for workers in industry have slumped to an 11-year low of 3% despite an upsurge in union pay increases negotiated in the last three months, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Both hourly wage and total compensation costs that include benefits rose at the same 3% rate from June, 1986, through last month, compared with respective gains of 3.7% and 3.8% from mid-1985 to mid-1986, the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The rivalry between the three council members who are running for mayor in the November election heated up this week when proposals that would strip two of the candidates of their city paychecks were introduced. The proposals, which came up at Tuesday's council meeting, were rejected. Incumbents Mark Leyes, Frank Kessler and J. Tilman Williams are running for the mayor's seat in the Nov. 3 election.

Despite a low unemployment rate and past troubles with recruiting, the U.S. Census Bureau says that it has found plenty of applicants willing to go door to door collecting information in most areas of Los Angeles County. Census officials said much of the success is due to the raise in pay to $14 an hour--about double the rate during the 1990 census, when officials struggled to fill the jobs statewide. That pay figure "grabbed my attention.

The time for talk, in any language, was over for nearly 200 Los Angeles County court interpreters who walked off the job Monday for the first time ever. Carrying signs and shouting rhyming slogans through microphones and bullhorns at the Criminal Courts Building downtown, the interpreters, who earn $210 a day, demanded a $50-a-day increase and better job protection.

A proposal to form a separate transit zone in the San Fernando Valley hit its first snag Wednesday as some council members--considering a seemingly routine motion to fund more study of the idea--assailed it as a potential union-busting tactic. Although the measure was approved on an 11-2 vote, the heated debate it sparked suggested trouble ahead for the transit zone's lead proponent, Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the northeast Valley.

After a year and a half of negotiations, the City Council this week approved a four-year contract for city employees that includes pay and pension increases. A mediator helped broker the contract between the city and Anaheim Municipal Employees Assn., which represents 700 city employees. The contract, retroactive to October 1996, provides for two 3% pay increases. The first is retroactive to Jan. 9, and the second will go into effect Dec. 10, 1999.

A taxpayers watchdog coalition in Orange County filed a lawsuit Friday against the governor and state officials, seeking to prevent the state from paying as many as 250,000 public workers before passing a budget. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges that the state is violating state law by paying its bills and employees when the Legislature, more than three weeks after its deadline, has not adopted a state budget.

The chairman of a taxpayers watchdog group in Orange County filed a lawsuit Friday against the governor and state officials seeking to prevent the state from paying as many as 250,000 public workers before passing a budget. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges that the state is violating state law by paying its bills and employees when the Legislature has not adopted a state budget, more than three weeks after its deadline.

The rivalry between the three council members who are running for mayor in the November election heated up this week when proposals that would strip two of the candidates of their city paychecks were introduced. The proposals, which came up at Tuesday's council meeting, were rejected. Incumbents Mark Leyes, Frank Kessler and J. Tilman Williams are running for the mayor's seat in the Nov. 3 election.

The chairman of a taxpayers watchdog group in Orange County filed a lawsuit Friday against the governor and state officials seeking to prevent the state from paying as many as 250,000 public workers before passing a budget. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges that the state is violating state law by paying its bills and employees when the Legislature has not adopted a state budget, more than three weeks after its deadline.

Los Angeles redevelopment boss John Tuite's $1.54-million golden parachute is based on a concept that's proved disastrous for the sports world, the no-cut contract. For those of you who don't read the sports pages, it works like this: A weak-minded baseball team owner, hungry for victory, offers a pitcher a few million for five years or so. The athlete gets paid whether or not he plays well.

This nation's new government, heading for its first major showdown with the Sandinista opposition, outlawed a growing strike by public employees Monday, threatened to dismiss any striker not back at work today and ordered the police to break up picket lines. "He who doesn't show up (to work) will be firing himself," Labor Minister Francisco Rosales declared at a nationally broadcast news conference after reading a decree declaring the four-day-old strike illegal.