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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers said today she strongly supports a bipartisan call in the House of Representatives for continuation of the long tradition of parity in pay increases for federal civilian employees and members of the military.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) endorsed the recommendation of Washington-area House members for pay parity in 2007 contained in a letter to President Bush.

The letter, organized by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), was signed by eight House members. In addition to Rep. Hoyer, they include Reps. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Albert Wynn (D-MD) Tom Davis (R-VA), Frank Wolf (R-VA), James Moran (D-VA) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). All have been long-time and strong supporters of a fair and equitable pay raise for both federal civilian workers and the military.

In each of the last five years, the White House budget proposal has recommended a smaller raise for civilian employees than for those in the military. In each of those years, NTEU has worked with bipartisan members of Congress, including each of the signers of the Hoyer letter, to secure the higher raise for both groups of federal workers.

“Pay parity is not a new concept. We cannot express strongly enough the importance of continuing the tradition of pay parity between military and civilian employees in the coming fiscal year,” the letter stated, adding “we urge you to propose a single pay adjustment for fiscal year 2007 that recognizes the essential contributions of our nation’s uniformed and civilian employees.”

“Every year,” President Kelley said, “there is clear evidence of growing understanding by members of Congress of the importance not just of civilian-military pay parity but of the impact that fair and adequate pay has on the ability of federal agencies to recruit and retain the quality employees they want and need.”

In this very competitive environment for the best and the brightest, neither members of Congress nor leaders of federal agencies can afford to take for granted that talented employees will either choose to enter or decide to remain in public service. “The private sector wants quality people, and it is willing to go after them,” Kelley said. “Competitive pay by federal agencies is an imperative.”