Posted on 09/18/2014 12:10:19 AM PDT by grundle
Many people have probably never seen an elevator operator these days. Jobs like elevator operator and bathroom attendant seem to be extinct. However, if you should happen to become a United States Senator, get used to having someone push the elevator buttons for you.
Over the last five years, Uncle Sam has paid out over $1.2 million to pay operators who man the Capitol’s senators-only elevators. The longer the elevator operator pushes the right buttons, the more money they will rake in. The longest tenured elevator operator has seen a salary increase each of the last five years. That operator has earned over $210,000 over those five years, giving them an average salary of around $42,000 a year.
So why can’t Senators just select their floor on their own? The Senate sergeant at arms office, which employs the operators, defended the presence of the elevator operators by saying that they provide services to the Senators besides the obvious. They listed nine roles and responsibilities of the operators that are separate from the physical operation of the automated elevators. Many of these other responsibilities deal with providing a clear and safe path for Senators to move through quickly, pointing confused tourists in the right direction, and working in the galleries during Senate recesses. The sergeant at arms office also noted that all elevator operators are certified in first aid and CPR.
In 2011, the sergeant at arms office decided that elevator operators would be among the furloughed nonessential staff. However, even after the Senate identified the taxpayer-funded operators as nonessential, no evidence exists to suggest that they plan on eliminating or reducing the funding for those positions. So if you hate pressing the buttons on elevators on your own, all you have to do is become a Senator!
“...giving them an average salary of around $42,000 a year.”
42k may seem like a lot too some, but not for one that must live in the DC area. But, like all jobs in all markets, their job has its ups and downs.
Meanwhile, in the same city:
Obama Caps Military Pay for Second Year
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3205049/posts
Heaven forbid that Senators ride in an elevator with lowly scum like a taxpayer.
Senators make big bucks pressing the buttons of those who elevate them.
you so miss the point....it’s a union protected job that shouldn’t even exist - it’s not needed. It’s like some big union cities still have union “horseshoers” even though those cities no longer have horses.....
...not bad.....not bad at all......
I’m not missing the point, but I understand that the Senate elevator operations are as useful and necessary as 75% of the federal workforce.
In addition, while unlike most federal employees and very much like those in the private sector, the Senate elevator operations do have to contend with the ups and downs of the economy and DC politics.
Elevator operators went out over 40 years ago. It’s a waste of money.
This is Washington where no excess is un welcomed.
It’s a luxury for our fat but Senators.
I suspect elevator buttons are normally a very germ rich surface.
We sure wouldn’t want those worthless senators coming down with any kind of illness from having to push their elevator buttons.
Whoa....pushing a button is beneath their position....
They are our overlords....I’m sure Lords of past times would have button pushers in their kingdom...if they had elevators....!
Should we expect anything less....?
How much for pensions and benefits?
Harry Reid might not be able to find his floor were it not for the elevator ops. The Senate is his nursing home.
Because some animals are more equal than others.
Seriously - could Thad Cochran or Hary Reid figure out an elevator by themselves?
This article makes me curious. Do the “high and mighty” Senators have commode flushers too?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Few in the Federal workforce are as OBVIOUSLY unnecessary as the elevator ops, or as the city horseshoers etc.
And since they’re on the gummint dole, why are they like the private sector in the ups and downs????
Why stop with elevator operators?
Think of the money to be saved and healthful exercise to be gained if there were no elevators and they had to use the stairs.
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