U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today introduced legislation to establish pay parity among all federal employees working on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL). 

    “The Joint Base’s missions are vital to our national security and could not be carried out effectively without the skills of the men and women stationed there, and those working in civilian support roles,” said Smith. “JB MDL is one installation and the men and women who work there are part of one workforce.  It is time to fix the outdated policy that pays some workers at a lower rate for the same jobs performed across the base.” 

    Smith’s bill, the "Joint Base Pay Parity Act," would designate the wage grade employees on the former-McGuire Air Force Base (AFB) and Fort Dix in the same locality pay area as their Lakehurst counterparts to ensure equal pay. 

    The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) created 12 Joint bases, including what is now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.  The Secretary of Defense proposed joint basing as a cost saving tool for installations that “share a common boundary with minimal distance between the major facilities or are in near proximity.”

    While the wage grade employees on the former-McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix remain in the Philadelphia locality area despite their common boundary and close proximity, the overwhelming majority of employees at the Joint Base are included in the New York pay locality area. 

    “These employees work on the same installation—not only as the salaried employees in the higher pay locality area, but as the wage grade employees on the former-Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station—but they are paid 7% less than their counterparts for the same work,” Smith continued. 

      After the Joint Base was formally established in 2009, Smith and the New Jersey Delegation lobbied the Office of Personal Management (OPM) to move the McGuire AFB and Fort Dix employees into the New York region to establish parity on the installation.  OPM responded by designating the General Schedule employees for better locality pay but this regulation did not include the wage grade employees.

    “Joint basing has been successfully implemented at McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst but there remains an outstanding issue of gross unfairness for some employees,” Smith said. “Roughly 800 civilians on JB MDL, 20 percent of the workforce, still do not receive equally earned pay.”

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