If they ever write a readable history of a life in the civil service, Feb. 4, 2015 — the day before yesterday — may deserve a chapter of its own.

Maybe.

Why?

Because the National Treasury Employees Union asked an important House committee chairman, and a Republican, to speak — first — at its legislative conference here in D.C. Just over 300 union members, leaders from their locals, attended.

Although he is a Republican (with a concealed carry permit in Utah) Rep. Jason Chaffetz got a polite reception. He’s chairman of the House committee that handles most legislation impacting the pay and benefits of federal workers. He was followed by the committee’s ranking minority member, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). Cummings, who has a 100 percent pro-fed track record got a rousing, standing-applause reception.

Cummings has a history with feds — his district is packed with civil servants — and he knows the issues. Chaffetz admits he has a lot to learn. He presumably knows he comes from a state with a disproportionately high number of feds, including a major IRS operation.

In recent years, some of the most stupid things said about government service have come from the mouths of Republicans. At the same time, many Democrats have been forgiven for treading on feds.

One person at the meeting said it was as if Chaffetz was on a “polite job interview” with the crowd. Cummings, by contrast, was received as a much respected, much appreciated, hero. She said it was almost like a religious moment.

So why is such a small event, in February, such a big deal? If it is a big deal. Consider:

For the past 40-plus years, federal and postal unions have treated most Republican politicians like skunks at a wedding. Whether that is right or wrong, dumb or smart, probably depends on how you voted in the last few elections.

In the mid-1970s, two powerful federal union leaders — presidents John Griner of the American Federation of Government Employees and James Rademacher of the National Association of Letter Carriers — endorsed the reelection of President Richard Nixon. Both did so as individuals, not as union leaders. Both won pay and working conditions concessions before their “private” endorsements.

(The air traffic controllers union, PATCO, backed Ronald Reagan but that didn’t end well.)

Over the past four decades, many feds have come to see Republicans as anti-government, anti-bureaucrats out to get them, and you can see why.

On the other hand, it seems that Democratic politicians have realized they have a permanent hall pass with many feds, and most unions. They can support sequestration and three years of a pay freeze then, when out of power, denounce both actions and demand a larger raise that most people realize isn’t going to happen. Republicans get the rap for pushing privatization and contacting out, but it got its jump-start and flourished during the Clinton downsizing of government. Among other things, that resulted in the privatization of many federal security background checks which, in hindsight, didn’t work out so well.

Wednesday’s bipartisan session may amount to nothing. Or it could be a turning point in relations between the unions and the GOP — at least where Uncle Sam’s career workforce is concerned.

And if you believe in a well-paid, well-staffed government (like an IRS with enough people to collect ALL the taxes), a peace treaty between the unions and the pols could be a good thing.

So enjoy what one hopes is more than 15 minutes of peace and reconciliation!

For details on the maybe, just maybe, historic session, click here.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

By Michael O’Connell

The Hundred Years’ War actually lasted 116 years.

Source: Fun Trivia

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