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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today offered its strong support for the bipartisan call for civilian-military pay parity in 2006 contained in a letter to President Bush from a number of members of the House of Representatives representing tens of thousands of civilian federal workers.

In their letter, organized by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the bipartisan House members said they “cannot express strongly enough” the importance of continuing the tradition of pay parity between military and civilian employees in the coming year.

Anything less, they wrote to the president, would send “the regrettable message that the services civilians provide to America every day are not highly valued.” The House members added: “As we fight the war on terrorism at home and abroad, both the armed services and the federal civilian workforce are integral to fulfilling the role of government for the American people.”

The representatives noted that in a rare stand-alone vote on pay last year, the House voted by an overwhelming margin of 299-126 to reiterate its long-standing support for pay parity.

In each of the past four years, the administration has proposed a smaller pay increase for civilian federal employees than for members of the military; each year, NTEU has supported the

higher raise for both sets of federal workers, and has worked with success to build strong bipartisan support in Congress for pay parity.

President Bush is expected to present his preliminary budget for fiscal 2006 early next month.

“NTEU applauds the efforts of Representative Hoyer and his colleagues in recognizing the importance to the nation of pay parity,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “There is increasing recognition in Congress of the important role played by fair and appropriate pay in helping federal agencies recruit and retain the quality employees that are so critical to providing services to the American people,” she added.

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments.