Employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development work every day to provide housing to the homeless, battle housing discrimination, ensure the integrity of housing projects, and much, much more. Click here to see a touching video of what they do for America each and every day.
My name is Deanna Sanchez and I am 41 years old. I am employed as a Munitions Handler/material handler at the Yakima Training Center. I was a member of the National Guard for six years and spent one year deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in support of operation Enduring Freedom and my country. My husband has been a member of the US Army for over 17 years.
I am writing to address the recent attacks on federal employee’s character, benefits, pay and retirement. I have completed my military duty and have entered federal service for the Department of the Army as a federal employee to continue my support of the military. In my short times as a civilian career, I have experienced the attacks that has come upon federal employees through threats of eliminating benefits, freezing our pay, reducing our rights through collective bargaining, reductions in force and indefinite furloughs.
I have spent the past two years as a material handler in a Troop Issue Substance Agency, where three of us are responsible for all the warehouse operations for providing food to military units training and preparing for deployment. In an 18-month period, we support over 35,000 military members. We are held accountable for quality, security and accuracy of unit accounts and the food products consumed by our fighting force. We are understaffed, yet through our commitment to our military, we find a way to make sure our Units do not go hungry. We are neither lazy, nor wasteful, though this is the general characteristic being sold to the public about federal employees. And this is one of the justifications being used to reduce or eliminate our benefits. We work hard for our pay. We work hard for our benefits. We work hard for our military.
Our standard of work is high; our training to do our job is much higher. We must know as much as any person in the private sector as well as how our military runs to be able to coordinate with them, and in most cases, assist in training them according to their standards. Federal employees give much of themselves to ensure the soldiers we are training and supporting have every possible tool they need to complete their mission and come home safe. Now Congress wants us to give our livelihood, our retirement security, our jobs, and our rights.
Please, in support of our Nation, in support of those who support our military, and in support of those who will take our place when we retire, help us retain our rights to fair bargaining in our employment; pay us fairly and in line without private sector counterparts; ensure our security for retirement; and provide us the tools and manpower to support our military in the manner they deserve.
I invite you to come see the hard work and work load we have and the invaluable service we provide to our military in their preparations for deployment to combat the next time you are in Yakima, Washington.
My name is Mathew Kolodzie and I am a Federal Employee.
I started working for the federal government in 2003 as a firefighter for the Department of Army. What I didn’t know at the time was that we federal firefighters work many more hours than the municipal firefighters. We are required to work 72 hrs a week, whereas the private sector works a 40 hr week. Those extra hours keep me from my family.
Now everyone claims as a federal employee that I am compensated very well for these extra hrs… I make actually less money than a five year employee at FDNY, than with my 8 years of service with Uncle Sam. The attacks on federal employees have to stop! People really need to do their homework before thinking we are all just fat cats rolling in money.
Now with my pay frozen I will be even more behind in pay than the other local firefighters. Just another blow to the federal workforce in general if you ask me. As a federal firefighter I am protecting those who serve America! Why am I getting made out to be no good, when I am doing so much for those who serve America?
Federal Employees are often paid a bit more because they spend years of their own time and money to obtain a degree, be it advanced or otherwise. Much of federal government work requires hiring credentialed professionals. The disconnect is that those who have not made similar sacrifices don’t understand how the fed government dot’s are connected.
Even before suggested downsizing, many federal government employees were already doing the jobs of 2 or 3 people. Increased downsizing can mean even longer wait periods for customers. Careful what you ask for! Many of my co-workers already work (off the clock) 1-3 hours each day trying to keep up while more is still being asked of them.
The federal government employee is not big-government. He/she is your next door neighbor, high school or college graduate, husband/wife, son/daughter, soccer mom, or the person you sit next to in church. Their paycheck rekindles local economies and helps the overall tax base, same as everyone else. After twenty-seven years in the military, and fifteen years in the federal government (V.A.) I can tell you there’s no silver spoons handed out.
The special interest and anti-government campaigns harboring a we-versus-them mentality, merely serve to further degrade our economy and inflame myths about the federal government.
My name is Donny Haberski and I am a Federal Firefighter.
I started my federal service when I was 17 years old as a recruit at Great Lakes, Illinois at the Naval Basic Training Center. After proudly serving 10 years of military service in both the Navy and the Air Force (both active and reserve duty) I decided to leave the military and attend college.
After completing my degree, my career in the Federal Fire Service began. I presently work for the Dept. of the Army as a Firefighter/EMT/Hazmat Technician. I chose the federal fire service for many reasons. Our motto of ” Protecting those who defend America” shows the pride that Federal Firefighters have for those we have sworn to protect and the love we share for our country. Pride, patriotism, protecting and service to my country are some of the reasons I chose my career path.
I could have worked for a municipal Fire Dept. and made more money, but for me, being a federal employee is far more rewarding. Being a member of the Federal Employee family I have the opportunity to serve with some of the hardest working, patriotic, and generous Americans our country has to offer. Why work anywhere else?
I work on an Air Force base. I’m tired of being vilified and insulted by politicians and the media. I started my career in 1995 after serving my country in the Air Force for 20 years and retiring in 1990.
I was hired as a manager and have a job description that states what is expected of me. What most people do not realize is the “fine print” on the last page that reads “other duties as required”. This means that in addition to what I was hired to do, I’m expected to be a budget planner and analyst, a security specialist, facility manager, equipment custodian responsible for $1.5 million dollars of equipment, computer equipment custodian responsible for $2 million of computer equipment, plus when the troops deploy, I’m expected to accomplish their jobs as well. A person hired by a commercial company is generally hired to do a specific job. If they are required to do jobs beyond what they were hired for they expect and get compensation
for those extra duties. Government employees do not.
It amazes me that the very politicians that voted for budgets that made it possible for us to get paid are the same ones that blame us for the deficit. I’m proud of my 30 + years to my country, but will be glad to retire.
My name is Renee Crawford and I have been a federal employee since 1983. I currently work for the Payette National Forest as a Budget Analyst. I started my government career during my senior year of High School with the Defense Mapping Agency, DOD, and then went to the Internal Revenue Service for a few years before transferring to the Forest Service in 1989. I am married and have 2 children. My husband also works for the Payette National Forest. Since we are a dual career family we are both very interested in the detriments that some members of Congress have planned for us, the Federal Employees.
Some may look at my husband and I as “raking in the dough” but after paying for retirement and other benefits we only bring home about 60% of our salary to raise our family on. I love working for the Forest Service. I believe in its mission and I think this Agency employees high quality people with a passion for what they do. I see people working more than 40 hours a week and some of them working for free. Some members of Congress want to abolish or downsize many agencies but they don’t look at the entire picture and how some of these agencies need others. I have been studying some of the Bills that members of Congress are introducing and many of them are just a slam to Federal Employees, they don’t save the government any money.
I believe everyone has a choice in life, a choice of their future. I made the choice to be a federal employee back when it meant something and you could be proud and there wasn’t anyone attacking us. I feel that we are being punished because we made a choice to serve as a government employee. I read comments made by the public about how worthless government employees are, how we have it made, and how we are SO overpaid. Well, those individuals have choices as well and they can just as easily apply for a government job like we did. I don’t like to be stereotyped as a “worthless overpaid” individual because I made an important and worthwhile career choice. I am PROUD to be a federal employee!!!
