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Washington, D.C.—President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) applauded yesterday’s bipartisan agreement by the House Budget Committee to call on Congress to support a 4.1 percent pay raise in 2003 for federal civilian employees, a level that would provide parity with the administration’s proposed 2003 pay raise for members of the military.

The committee accepted a proposal to amend the non-binding fiscal 2003 House budget resolution to reflect a federal civilian employee pay raise which is higher than the administration’s proposal of only a 2.6 percent raise next year for civilian workers.

NTEU President Kelley has described the administration proposal as reflecting a view that somehow government recruiting and retention problems “will either simply disappear or fix themselves.”

Rep. James P. Moran (D-VA) raised the pay parity issue in Budget Committee deliberations yesterday. Earlier, Reps. Thomas Davis (R-VA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) had secured more than 80 cosponsors for a “sense of Congress” resolution calling for military-civilian pay parity.

“This action by the House Budget Committee is both responsible and important in recognizing the continuing contributions of the members of the federal workforce,” Kelley said, “and it is a key step forward in

the effort all of us must undertake to make the government a competitive employer with the private sector.”

The NTEU leader, who supports a 4.1 percent raise for the military, added that “the importance of fair pay for everyone in the service of their country cannot be overstated nor diminished.”

More than 350 NTEU leaders and activists from around the country spent three days last week meeting with their representatives and senators on a variety of issues affecting federal employees, and underscored the importance to recruitment and retention efforts of fair pay and benefits for the civilian workforce.

President Kelley again called attention to one of the administration’s own budget documents reflecting that the Treasury Department is facing serious human capital issues, including an aging workforce. Ten percent of Treasury’s workforce is eligible to retire now, the administration said in February, with the figure rising to 30 percent in five years.

Higher pay is fundamental in addressing this issue, which has a direct bearing on the ability of America’s taxpayers to get the high-quality services they want, need and deserve, Kelley said. “That’s why this recognition by the House Budget Committee is so important,” she said.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.