Alfred Stewart
May 25, 2007Yvonne Knudsen- Smith
June 1, 2007The past 18 months have been the most challenging time period for our state in nearly a century. Lives have been uprooted, careers have been interrupted and hopes have been dashed.
In many cases, the employees of our state’s agencies were personally, physically and financially challenged while they were meeting the needs of the jobless, homeless, and infirm. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
As chairman of the Civil Service Commission, I would like to say thank you to those loyal civil servants.
I have many examples of their dedication — the 42 Department of Social Services employees who worked for days in the nightmare of the Superdome; the Wildlife and Fisheries employees who piloted their personal boats to rescue people from the uncharted waters of New Orleans; the Department of Corrections employees who moved and housed over 8,000 inmates; the Department of Public Safety employees who directed the evacuation of more than 500,000 vehicles with families from the New Orleans area by Sunday, Aug. 28, and the stories go on.
Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed much of South Louisiana, there has been a 6.3 percent increase in the state’s cost of living, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This increase is double the national CPI. The competition to hire and retain a well qualified, skilled labor force for the state is increasingly challenging.
It is from this vantage point that the seven-member Civil Service Commission has unanimously recommended a $1,500 annual across-the-board pay raise for the state’s 59,000 classified employees. The funding is included in the 2007 State Appropriations budget now in Legislative Committee.
When the funding is approved, it will be the first such raise in the past 17 years for rank-and-file civil servants.
The Civil Service Commission authorizes pay raises and the governor has final approval of the raises. The legislature provides the funding to the various state agencies to pay the workforce salaries.
The commission is a seven-member body that has final authority over the administration of the Civil Service system.
State salaries average 25 percent less than those of comparable jobs in Louisiana’s private sector and nearly half of our classified employees earn less than $30,000 annually. Sixteen percent of those employees actually make less than $20,650, the federal poverty level for a four-person household.
Higher wages are needed to recruit and retain skilled workers to deliver quality service to the citizens of this state
Classified or civil service employees are regular, on-going employees who are not impacted by election changes in the governor’s office or the legislature. Examples are: correctional officers, park rangers, wildlife agents, engineers, IT technicians, social workers, food service workers, accountants, secretaries, nurses, psychiatric aids, lab technicians and custodians.
This raise will be financially important to these employees, and it will boost the morale of a very dedicated labor pool.
Thank you for this opportunity to tell you how proud we are of our state employees and that this raise represents only a small portion of our gratitude for their commitment to the well-being and success of the great state of Louisiana.
Sincerely,
James A. Smith
Chairman, State Civil Service Commission
