Civilian Defense Workforce Could See Cuts

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the Defense Supply Center in Whitehall and other facilities in Ohio could see nearly 166 million dollars in civilian payroll cuts if automatic government spending reductions kick in on March 1st. Panetta says if a deal is not reached, he may have to shorten the work week for most of the Defense Department's 800-thousand civilian workers. They'd lose one day of work per week, or 20 percent of their pay, for up to 22 weeks, starting in late April. The Pentagon's civilian payroll in Ohio for the 2012 fiscal year was nearly 2-billion dollars.The possible cuts could reduce that to an estimated 1.79 billion for the 2013 fiscal year.