Home Media Center News Releases

Washington, D.C. —The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees today voiced her strong opposition to super committee recommendations by the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that would severely impact the pay and retirement of federal employees.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) described the recommendations to the congressional super committee from Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as “counterproductive to providing the services our nation depends on.” Meanwhile, the Lieberman-Collins recommendations were refuted by the chair of the Senate subcommittee responsible for the oversight of the federal workforce.

The Lieberman-Collins recommendations were contained in a letter to members of the super committee. They propose, among other steps, extending the present two-year federal pay freeze for another year; increasing the amount of federal employees’ contributions to their pensions but without any increase in their annuity; changing the annuity formula from the present use of a ‘high-3’ average calculation to one based on a ‘high-5’ average—thus lowering the recipient’s annuity; and, while not advocating direct limits on employee staffing levels, the two senators would accomplish the same end by “capping appropriations levels and reducing missions.”

President Kelley reacted negatively. “Each of these is a bad idea,” she said. “The results would be to degrade the quality and availability of services the American people expect and depend on, put serious roadblocks in the way of agency recruitment and retention efforts, and place an unfair burden on federal workers.”

The NTEU leader emphasized it is clear that Sen. Lieberman, a one-time Democrat, does not speak for the Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee, as evidenced by a separate letter sent to the super committee co-chairs by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.

In it, the long-time senator emphasizes that through the current two-year pay freeze, federal workers already are making a significant contribution to deficit reduction of some $60 billion over the next 10 years.

“I respectfully request that the (potential) legislation not include additional measures directed at federal employee pay and benefits,” Sen. Akaka wrote, warning that further cuts in federal pay and benefits would hurt not only federal employees and their families, but would hinder the larger economic recovery.

He added: “It is worth noting that, not withstanding various studies purporting to show that federal employees are paid more than private sector employees, the president’s pay agent, under both Democratic and Republican presidents, has determined that federal employees are paid substantially less than private sector employees when comparable jobs and experience are taken into account.”

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