Meetings address possible shift in federal workers' pay
Advertiser Staff
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Federal workers' compensation will be the subject of public informational meetings across the state next week by a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka's Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce will take up matters such as recent proposals to phase out cost-of-living adjustments and phase in "locality pay" for federal employees in Hawai'i, Alaska and U.S. territories.
About 19,500 federal and Postal Service employees in Hawai'i receive cost-of-living allowances, amounting to up to 25 percent of their pay. "Locality pay" is tied to prevailing private-sector wages.
Specialists, including staff from the Senate Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Office of Personnel Management, Department of Defense and U.S. Postal Service, will go over the various proposals and answer questions.
Additionally, a formal subcommittee field hearing chaired by Akaka will be held 1 p.m. May 29 at the O'ahu Veterans Center in Honolulu.
The specialists will hold meetings at the following locations and times:
Panel members will include Akaka; Charles "Chuck" D. Grimes, deputy associate director of Performance and Pay Systems in the Office of Personnel Management; Bradley Bunn, program executive officer for the Defense Department; and Jo Ann Mitchell, manager of accounting services for the U.S. Postal Service.