Officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have proposed a new salary plan for Border Patrol agents that could cost them an average of $7,000 a year in lost pay and spark what some say would be an exodus of veteran agents to higher-paying agencies.
The still-pending proposal by CBP to convert Border Patrol agents from a pay program known as “Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO)” to an alternative plan called “Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP)” has been described by rank-and-file agents as “unwarranted” and comes at a time the agency has significantly increased its presence along the Southwest border to combat skyrocketing crime by brutal drug cartels.
“Every day, Border Patrol agents along Americas border put their lives on the line to keep our nation safe,” said Chris Bauder, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents more than 17,000 of the agency’s non-supervisory agents. “They deserve the pay they receive, and any reduction is an insult to the efforts and sacrifices of the men and women of the Border Patrol.”
Mr. Bauder, a veteran agent himself, said the “compensation reform” package offered by CBP would force agents to “work for free” by eliminating pay for any work beyond 10 hours, the normal workday; would cost a GS-12 agent between $6,600 and $8,600 in salary a year, depending on their experience; and would lower “the already very low morale” within the agency.
5 comments:
That's because Obama's stimulus went to the popular unions.
Better that all congressman and senators who are millionaires usually, be docked their pay for a couple years. Grrrrrr most of them need to be locked up. (or have been locked up)
All the millionaire politicos in DC ought to have their pay and benefits docked for a couple years instead of those giving their lives protecting them. Grrrrr
that is a fair wage
it's not a war zone or bank lobby
there are plenty of gun fetishing idiots that would do it for free
and we might actually get results
I think the key here is OT pay. I'm all for protecting our borders and I applaud the men and women who do. That being said, how much "AUO" is actully "uncontrollable" or necessary? Think about it like this, if an agent works 26.5 hrs of "AUO" he or she has doubled teir salary. I know people who routinely work 65-70 hrs and don't recieve any additional income. Not to mention that they don't make $86K. Figure out how to cover the extra hrs without paying above avg salaries. This shouldn't be too difficult, it's simple economics.
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