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Washington—The final chapter in the 22-year battle by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) for economic justice for tens of thousands of current and former special rate federal workers will be played out this week as checks totaling more than $78 million are put in the mail.

This payout is the second and final installment of the multi-million settlement won by NTEU in its long-running class action legal effort to ensure that special rate employees were properly paid by the government. The class ultimately numbered 212,000 current and former federal employees and the first payout, totaling some $81 million, was made in December 2003.

“I am very pleased that the long wait is over and all those employees denied their rightful pay by the federal government will finally receive the money they are due,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. “This final payout justifies the past 22 years of legal challenges, settlement discussions, and payout administration. NTEU said from the beginning of this battle that we would see it through to a successful conclusion, and now we have done that. I am gratified at the result and proud of NTEU for its effort and success on this issue.”

The special rates case was launched in 1983 to challenge an illegal regulation put in place in 1982 by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The impact of that regulation was to deny many special rate employees all or part of pay raises to which they were entitled. Special rate employees receive higher pay because their positions are difficult to fill due to the nature of the work or the work location itself.

The final distribution includes the second installment check to those class members who received their first payment in December 2003; full payments to those who had successfully challenged their initial award figures; full payments to those who submitted a claim between October 2003 and October 2004; and full payments to all eligible successors of the deceased class members.

In all, payments will have been made to more than 80 percent of eligible class members, an unusually high percentage for a class action lawsuit.

Full information on the special rates case is available via the NTEU Special Rates Settlement web site, http://www.specialratessettlement.com/.