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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said today that the spending plan authored by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), which passed in the Senate by a vote of 52-46, would hurt federal employees and harm agencies’ recruitment and retention efforts.

“The Senate budget resolution would place a heavier burden on middle class federal workers, by increasing their pension contributions and continuing the draconian sequestration budget cuts,” said NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley.

The requirement that federal employees pay half the cost of their pensions would likely amount to a 6 percent increase in the amount the employee pays–essentially a 6 percent pay cut, the NTEU leader said. “We believe that further cuts to federal employee benefits are contemplated, but details are scarce,” she noted.

Federal employees have already contributed $159 billion to deficit reduction and budget savings through pay freezes and increased pension contributions.

“NTEU will oppose any diminution in the compensation or benefits of federal employees,” Kelley said. The passed resolution continues sequestration funding levels for domestic agencies but includes additional funding for the Department of Defense outside the Budget Control Act caps.

Earlier this week, President Kelley wrote to members of the House and Senate in opposition to H. Con. Res. 27, passed earlier this week in the House, and S. Con. Res. 11, stating that “balancing the budget on the backs of federal workers is unacceptable.”

Both proposals—which lack the force of law but set the spending parameters for fiscal year 2016—unfairly target federal employees, Kelley noted.

Under both budget scenarios, Kelley said, “services to the American public will suffer.”

NTEU supports an alternative proposal advanced by House Democrats, authored by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Budget Committee, which would end sequestration and adopt a policy of no further cuts to federal employee pay and benefits.

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