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Washington, D.C. — The president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today called on the House to defeat a politically disingenuous bill that would freeze the pay of the federal workforce for a third year, calling it a “political ploy.”

“Clearly, this bill, which also includes a provision to extend the pay freeze on Members of Congress, is a political ploy setting up a Hobson’s choice that would require Representatives to vote against extending the freeze for themselves in order to lift the freeze on federal employees,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said.

Today, Kelley sent a letter to every member of the House of Representatives asking them to reject H.R. 3835, introduced by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), which seeks to extend the pay freeze for members of Congress and federal employees. Kelley noted that the House has already voted to extend the pay freeze for federal employees through 2013 as an offset for the payroll tax holiday extension.

“While many in Congress are bending over backwards to protect billionaires and millionaires, they continue to attack hard-working, dedicated frontline employees who guard our borders, protect our air and water, safeguard our food and drug supplies, keep watch over our retirement, assist our veterans, and so much more,” the NTEU leader said.

Kelley said that, through the current pay freeze, federal workers are making a $60 billion contribution over 10 years to shrinking our deficit, even as the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Employment Cost Index reports that private sector wages have increased 4.7 percent over the last three years.

“And while some in Congress continue to make it a priority to protect the wealthiest Americans from contributing anything to deficit reduction, they are moving to cut another $26 billion from this one group of middle class workers by extending the pay freeze through 2013,” Kelley wrote.

The NTEU leader also objected to the process that allows the bill to come up on the suspension calendar. Using this method, House leadership avoids public hearings on the topic—which would allow for a full airing of viewpoints—and prohibits any amendments to the legislation.

“The President has indicated that he will include a very small pay raise proposal in his FY 2013 budget submission,” Kelley wrote. "The 2013 federal employee pay increase should be handled within the context of the rest of the 2013 budget."

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