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Washington, D.C.—Payments totaling some $81 million—a substantial portion of the $178 million won in a settlement with the government by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) on behalf of current and former federal special rates employees—were mailed today in the first distribution of funds in the long-running legal case.

“NTEU fought for this moment for 20 years,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “It’s not only gratifying to see these employees get the money they rightly deserve, but having the first payments delivered in the midst of the holiday season is especially satisfying.”

She said that, right from the beginning, NTEU “was determined to see this through to a successful conclusion.”

The special rates case dates to the imposition in 1983 of an illegal regulation by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The effect was to deny special rate employees all or part of pay raises to which they otherwise would have been entitled by law.

NTEU filed suit on behalf of all federal employees who were paid special rates. Special rate employees receive higher pay because their positions are particularly difficult to fill due to the nature of the work or the work location. The suit was certified as a class action, and the class ultimately grew to include some 212,000 current and former special rate employees.

After 15 years of litigation in the federal district and appeals courts, NTEU prevailed on the merits of the case. That was followed by prolonged discussions with the government that ultimately led to a settlement agreement resulting in payment of over $178 million to the class.

Under terms of the settlement, the balance of the multi-million dollar settlement will be distributed to class members at a final distribution to occur one to two years from now.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 29 agencies and departments.