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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees today promised a continued fight to turn back legislative efforts that would result in unwarranted and serious cuts to federal workers’ compensation insurance payments.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) expressed her disappointment at yesterday’s Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approval of a bill that would reduce such benefits to injured federal employees by as much as one-third.

The committee marked up S. 1486, postal reform legislation, containing the proposed government-wide changes to the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA). An NTEU-supported amendment, offered by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), would have eliminated the section in the bill significantly undercutting FECA, but it failed by a single vote.

Kelley said NTEU will continue to work with Sen. Tester and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) in the House on potential legislation there. “We need to ensure that provisions harmful to federal workers injured on the job are not adopted,” she said.

Prior to the Senate committee markup, the NTEU leader sent a letter supporting the Tester effort. “The Tester amendment corrects the controversial and harmful proposal in the bill to cut insurance benefits for workers injured on the job who are older or who have family obligations,” Kelley wrote.

She added: “These benefit cuts would impose a substantial and unfair income reduction on federal employees who simply came to work one day ready to serve their country, but tragically suffered an injury that took away their ability to ever work again.”

Moreover, the NTEU leader noted that a Government Accountability Office study in 2013 offered further proof that age-based cuts in FECA payments would be particularly harmful to lower wage workers and those injured early in their working lives.

For injured federal workers with dependents, FECA provides a modest additional payment “so former family breadwinners can still provide some material support” for their families, Kelley reminded senators.

NTEU has been an advocate for various improvements in FECA, but has been steadfast in its opposition to insurance benefit cuts for workers injured in the service of their country.

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