THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090260
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
White-collar federal employees in Hampton Roads will get an average 2.45 percent salary increase next year under a formula recommended by the Federal Salary Council.
The raise affects more than 30,000 federal employees in the region.
The increase that Hampton Roads' federal workers would receive under the plan is lower than that being recommended for many federal workers throughout the United States.
The plan would take effect in January if approved by President Bill Clinton and a board comprised of the secretary of labor and the directors of the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget.
Federal workers elsewhere can expect salary increases ranging from 2.12 percent to 4.27 percent next year under the proposal.
``People are never happy with the size of wage increases, but they should keep in mind that the original budget sent over in February called for 1.6 percent raises,'' said Anthony Ingrassio, acting chairman of the salary council.
Congress approved a 2 percent increase for next year. The additional adjustments recommended by the salary council are part of a formula intended to keep federal-employee salaries close to those earned by civilian workers in similar jobs in their communities.
The salary council proposed raises of 2.64 percent for workers in most areas. Some areas will get more to close the wage gap between civilian and federal workers.
``This year, in surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it turned out that the gap between federal salaries and nonfederal salaries in the Norfolk region was below the gap for what we call the rest of the United States,'' Ingrassio said.
In the past, the wage gap had been greater, so Hampton Roads was designated a separate locality and federal employees in the region got larger raises than those in areas designated ``rest of the United States.''
This year the gap was smaller. So the federal workers in this region will receive slightly less than most other federal workers throughout the United States.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics compares the salaries of comparable federal and nonfederal workers in a number of different jobs at different experience levels to determine the salary gap.
Other areas that are losing their separate designation include Albuquerque, N.M.; Memphis, Tenn.; Salt Lake City; San Antonio, Texas; and Oklahoma City.
The salary gap in Richmond grew and the council recommended federal workers there receive 2.89 percent salary increases.
New York and Los Angeles were not included in the recommendations because federal workers in those areas will get the 2 percent increase plus an 8 percent geographic adjustment authorized in 1991.
Communities recommended for locality pay, including the 2 percent general raise, were:
Miami, 4.27 percent; San Diego, 4.21 percent; Columbus, Ohio, 4.18 percent; Houston, 3.92 percent; Seattle, 3.87 percent; Detroit, 3.69 percent; Santa Barbara County, Calif., 3.63 percent; Portland, Ore., 3.60 percent; Sacramento, Calif., 3.54 percent; Chicago, 3.52 percent; New Orleans, 3.50 percent; Boston, 3.44 percent;
Also Dallas, 3.40 percent; Dayton, Ohio, 3.39 percent; Philadelphia, 3.25 percent; Washington-Baltimore, 3.21 percent; St. Louis, 3.18 percent; Denver, 3.17 percent; Cincinnati, 3.08 percent; Cleveland, 2.88 percent; Indianapolis, 2.88 percent; Atlanta, 2.78 percent; Kansas City, 2.65 percent; Huntsville, Ala., 2.27 percent; San Francisco, 2.12 percent. MEMO: (The Associated Press contributed to this report.) by CNB