'My name is Joe, and I am a fed'

OK, all you put-upon feds out there. Time to speak out.

A federal employees union is providing you with the megaphone. It’s a new blog called “I am a Federal Employee,” located, coincidentally, at www.iamafederalemployee.org.

The blog is the brainchild of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which created it to serve as a tool where feds can “counter the recent attacks levied against federal employees by members of Congress and the media.”

Here’s part of one entry: “I have worked at the San Francisco VA Medical Center for over 22 years. I am writing to address the misconception that federal employees are underworked and overpaid. In the bay area, the private sector hospitals have always paid a higher salary. So why have I stayed her for over 22 years? I have stayed because I am proud and honored to take care of our veterans …”

Early posters to the blog hold various jobs—nurse, firefighter, social worker, clinical psychologist—that defy the “faceless bureaucrat” stereotype.

We’ve talked to lots of organizations that represent feds, and one thing we’ve often heard is that feds really need to get their own stories out there as a way to combat widely held misconceptions about the federal workplace.

In other words, those who advocate for feds believe it’s important to put a face on federal workers, rather than let certain members of the press, Congress, and various think tanks do all the talking and create a caricature of who you are—to suit their own purposes.

This seems like a decent start.

So what are you waiting for?