Obama proposes pay hike for federal workers

President Obama wants to give raises to people collecting federal paychecks. Federal employees and union leaders expressed tepid support for the pay raise Monday, noting as they often do that lower pay levels could deter potential applicants from seeking federal employment or encourage current workers to look for jobs in the private sector.

In addition, making workers pay more out of pocket for retirement “will have a serious impact on the retirement security [that] federal employees were promised,” National Federation of Federal Employees President William R. Dougan said in an e-mail to reporters.