In the News

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey have again introduced the Locality Pay Equity Act, a bill designed to close the pay gap at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

Pay for hourly employees is based on 1950s military installation placements, while salaried workers are paid based on metropolitan markets — in this case, the New York City region. Hourly employees are considered part of the lower-earning Scranton wage area.

Last year, the bill was passed by the House for the first time, but did not make it into the final version of the defense bill agreed to by both chambers of Congress. The Pennsylvania Democrats introduced the bill again in the House and Senate on Tuesday.

The bill would raise wages for hourly employees while leaving salaried employees at current rates.

“Every worker at the Tobyhanna Army Depot helps make our military the best and most innovative in the world,” said Rep. Cartwright in a press release. “But the outdated and unfair federal pay system has disadvantaged workers at Tobyhanna for years. This is a simple fix that ensures all Tobyhanna employees are paid fairly for their work, regardless of whether they are paid a salary or by the hour.”

The hourly skilled trade workers perform “very complex” work, manufacturing and repairing electronic weapons systems, Jacqueline Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees union, told the Pocono Record in 2019 during a previous attempt by Cartwright and Casey to get the bill passed.

“They do a lot, they have a lot of responsibility,” yet might make $20 per hour for labor that isn’t comparable to much private sector work, Simon said.

The AFGE has endorsed the legislation.

“Currently, salaried and hourly federal employees can work side-by-side in the exact same location yet be treated as though they work in different locations when it comes to determining their locality pay,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a press release Wednesday. “Federal employees in the skilled trades commute along the same routes and face the same living costs as their salaried coworkers, and there is no rational reason why the government pretends they are in different locations once they arrive at work.”

In 2016, Ned George, who was then the vice president of AFGE Local 1647, told the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee: “Every day, we paint assets and material that keep us right here in this office safe. I put down infrared coatings on Humvees.”

The disparity affects workplace culture, he continued, saying that “a lot of our workers, they almost feel like they’re fighting against each other, and it’s because of the pay inequity that’s going on at that point.”