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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

'Federal pay, benefits cuts left out of debt deal'

from federaltimes.........

"The deal to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for massive spending cuts will not now hit federal employees' pay and benefits — but it could in a few short months.

The first stage of spending cuts — about $1 trillion in discretionary spending caps over the next decade — would not hike employees' pension contributions, switch them to a high-5 system for setting pensions, or adjust the method for determining pensions' future cost-of-living adjustments. But federal employee unions expect those proposals will return as part of the second stage of cuts, in which a commission made up of lawmakers from both parties must find $1.5 trillion in additional savings by Nov. 23.

"We're happy there are no cuts to federal pay and pensions, but moving forward, we're still facing a slippery slope," said Matt Biggs, spokesman for the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE). "We still remain very leery on what [the commission] will do".................READ MORE

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