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Washington, D.C.—Approval by the House of Representatives of the 2003 Treasury Appropriations Bill that contains a 4.1 percent pay raise for federal civilian employees “is a very positive step” in efforts by the federal government to address its serious recruitment and retention problems, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers said today.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said House passage of the measure containing a pay raise greater than the 2.6 percent proposed by the administration “is important recognition” that higher pay is a critical component in making government service competitive with the private sector.

“All the evidence points to the need for higher pay if we are going to recruit quality employees to serve the needs of the public and retain the skilled and experienced men and women already in federal service,” Kelley said. She urged swift Senate passage of the measure.

The NTEU leader also applauded the House for including in the Treasury Appropriations bill an amendment that prohibits the use of numeric quotas to contract out the jobs of federal workers. She called that action “a major victory for America’s taxpayers.”

President Kelley has been leading the fight against implementation of a directive from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that agencies had to open up to the private sector by the end of fiscal 2003 15 percent of the jobs considered commercial in nature.

The House-approved appropriations bill carries a bipartisan amendment, authored by Reps. James Moran (D-MD), Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Connie Morella (R-MD) that would block OMB from continuing to enforce arbitrary quotas on agencies.

President Kelley has sharply criticized the administration’s quota approach to contracting out, emphasizing that it fails to take into account the unique missions and circumstances of federal agencies. Moreover, she has said, the better course would be for Congress and the administration to fully fund agencies and provide federal workers with the training, tools and equipment they need to perform their jobs.

“Given the resources, no one can perform the work of the federal government better than federal employees,” she said.

NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.