Well, as one of those "well-paid" government employees, I can honestly
say that I make $18,000 a year, and, at least at this base, there are NO
bonuses, NO comp time, and NO annual adjusted increments.  The federal
govt is cutting down the civilian work force at atrocious rates, because
there is no money. Everytime sometimes gets RIF'd (reduction in force),
the ones left behind have to take up all the slack, and we get paid no
more.  The only raises we've had are the ones like we got last January,
which was an across the board 1.8% raise for all civilian employees.  It
was 25 cents for me.  A 25 cent raise after 2 years of increasing
responsibility.  So, its probably not much better in the govt than it is
in the private sector.
Cheers!


Lauri L. Bartlema
Curatorial Assistant
Conservation Division
Directorate of Environment
Fort Bliss, Texas

> ----------
> From:         Olivia S. Anastasiadis[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Museum discussion list
> Sent:         Wednesday, November 18, 1998 10:32 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: experience
>
>  <snip>Sadly, no one ever taught us to
> negotiate our salaries while in college nor grad school, and for what
> I
> have seen, government jobs now pay better than the private sector,
> even
> paying bonuses, compensation time and an adjusted increment that comes
> annually!  Only a good network or a friend can get you into one of
> those
> jobs.
>
> Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator
>
>
> On Wed, 18 Nov 1998 07:33:50 -0700 "Bartlema, Lauri, L."
> <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> >Educational requirements ARE ratcheting higher and higher, but not
> >just
> >in the Museum-job world.  It's popping up everywhere.  My mother is a
> >nurse, and has been a nurse for many years.  She has a Bachelors in
> >nursing.  She has worked for the same city institution for YEARS, yet
> >they have just decided that they will no longer hire any nurses that
> >do not have a Masters in nursing. And that all their current nurses
> must
> >earn a Masters, in their own copious spare time, by the year 2002, or
> >they will be let go.  This is one instance where experience matters
> >not a bit.
> >
> >I personally think that in a society where more and more people are
> >going straight to college after high school, there has been created a
> >pool of "higher educated" people for companies to choose from.  Since
> >more and more people are getting more education, the
> >companies/institutions can and have raised their expectations as far
> >as the requirements of entry level and higher positions are
> concerned.
> >What most haven't raised is their salary rate.  I agree with the
> >people who have stated that as long as there are people who are
> willing to
> >work for the ridiculously low wages, then the wages will not go up,
> at
> >least not until the Federal Govt forces them up with an increase in
> minimum wage. In my opinion, this goes on the list of "sad but true"
> things.
> >
> >
> >Lauri L. Bartlema
> >Curatorial Assistant
> >Conservation Division
> >Directorate of Environment
> >Fort Bliss, Texas
>
>