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Washington, D.C.—The alarming cost of continuing attacks on the pay and benefits of federal employees was sharply underscored today by results in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the leader of the nation’s largest independent federal union said.

“While federal employees continue to exhibit an extraordinary commitment to the missions of their agencies, it is clear that the failure of Congress to do its job and the resulting lingering budget uncertainties are taking a serious toll on the federal workforce,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.

While the 16-day government shutdown in October was not factored into these survey results, Kelley said it is clear that “all the political maneuvering that led up to that unnecessary and costly shutdown is reflected in these results.”

Some of the more troubling results captured in the survey include:

• Only 53 percent of employees are satisfied with their pay;

• Less than half of employees believe they have sufficient resources; and

• Fewer than two-thirds would recommend their organization as a good place to work.

“These are dismal numbers and anyone concerned with the ability of our government to recruit and retain the thoughtful, innovative and dedicated people we need to take on challenges now and in the future should be alarmed,” said President Kelley. “Congress cannot continue to attack federal employees and starve agencies of resources and expect to keep the people they have. The morale of the federal workforce continues to drop and that signals serious consequences for our country.”

Those thoughts were echoed by the newly-installed OPM Director Katherine Archuleta in her message at the beginning of the report: “Despite the tremendous strengths and dedication shown by federal employees, the 2013 responses demonstrate a significant drop in employee satisfaction and continue last year’s decline across the majority of questions, which are cause for concern.”

“Federal employees continue to be under the gun,” Kelley said, noting that the House-passed budget for fiscal 2014 includes an additional $181 billion in cuts directly affecting federal employees, including pension contribution increases of about 5 percent—which really means a pay cut—as well as a proposed reduction by 10 percent in the number of federal workers.

“Enacting this budget would be an outrage,” the NTEU leader said, “and would constitute piling on the one group that already has done more than any other to reduce the federal deficit.” In addition to the $114 billion already contributed by federal workers through a three-year pay freeze and higher pension contributions from new hires, many have faced unpaid furlough days because of sequestration.

Tight agency budgets have limited hiring, leaving employees with expanding workloads. Just yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget released a report on the costs of the government shutdown and warned of a long-term impact on the ability of federal agencies to attract and retain the skilled and driven workforce that the federal government needs.

“Federal employees deserve a measure of respect from our elected leaders. They do not deserve to be used as a means to a political end. This survey clearly shows that the current hostile environment for federal employees is doing irreparable harm,” President Kelley said. She added that even as federal workers are trying to recover from the recent government shutdown, they have a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety arising from the possibility of yet another shutdown if Congress fails to do its job by Jan. 15.

The ongoing dedication of federal workers has never been an issue, President Kelley said. The OPM survey shows that with an overwhelming 95 percent of employees are willing to put in extra effort to get the job done.

“This is not a game and federal employees are not pieces to be moved around a board. They are people who want to serve our country and take care of their families. Congress must make sure they can do both,” Kelley said.

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