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Washington, D.C. —The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) has joined in a message to President Obama from a coalition of federal and postal employee organizations in opposition to proposals that would make the federal workforce “shoulder a disproportionate portion” of debt reduction efforts as a result of any final agreement raising the nation’s debt limit.

In particular, the Federal-Postal Coalition wrote in a letter to the White House, a major concern is the proposal to require federal employees to contribute a much higher share of their salary toward their defined benefit annuity with no corresponding increase in a worker’s retirement annuity.

NTEU is a member of the coalition, whose letter to the president came just days after NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley wrote to every member of the House and Senate, warning of ‘chaos’ if the nation’s debt limit is breeched later this summer and criticizing some members of Congress who are trying to use fiscal problems to push for drastic reductions in federal agency resources and personnel.

On the matter of federal pensions, the coalition letter said increased contributions would result in “an immediate and significant pay cut” for federal workers, pointing out that it would represent “a selective payroll tax increase that could exceed 5 percent of the entire income of federal workers.”

As NTEU has done repeatedly in recent months as attacks on federal employees and their pay and benefits have mounted, the coalition letter pointed out that the federal workforce already is bearing a heavy share of the burden stemming from the nation’s financial deficit. “Federal workers are already making sacrifices, with the two-year pay freeze, and taking steps to reverse our government’s spending should not be unduly shouldered by our nation’s workers,” the coalition wrote.

Its letter added: “Reducing pay sends the wrong message to the federal workforce, whose mission is to protect the public and promote America’s progress.”

With regard to the federal workforce, the coalition called on the White House to reject the “misguided proposals” in the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform as well as those contained in the House-approved fiscal 2012 budget resolution.

Various provisions in these documents call for reductions in the number of federal employees, an expanded pay freeze, increases in the employees’ share of federal health care premium, hiring freezes, sharply lowered budgets and the like.

NTEU is the nation’s largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.