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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) strongly supports legislation, introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and co-sponsored by 32 members of Congress, seeking a 5.3 percent pay raise for federal employees in calendar year 2017.

Under his “Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act”, employees on the General Schedule and Wage Grade pay systems would get an across-the-board increase of 3.9 percent and a locality increase averaging 1.4 percent.

“As our economy improves, private sector wages are growing and federal workers are falling further behind,” NTEU National President Tony Reardon said. “If the government does not pay federal employees competitive wages, it will become harder and harder to attract and retain talented employees.”

The administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request seeks a 1.6 percent federal raise next year, a figure Reardon has called too small. Federal employees have had zero or miniscule raises and one small locality pay adjustment in the past six years. In that time, private wages rose by an average of 10.6 percent, according to the Department of Labor’s Employment Cost Index.

NTEU members participating in our 2016 Legislative Conference will make the case for a fair pay raise when they visit their members of Congress this week. But that won’t be the end of the union’s advocacy on this important issue, President Reardon said.

“Middle-class federal employees have been struggling for too long to meet rising costs. It’s time for Congress to give these dedicated public servants a fair pay raise for the critically important services they provide for our nation,” the NTEU leader said.

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.