Home Media Center News Releases

Washington, DC - NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley said a reported proposed pay increase of 3.6 percent for federal civilian workers in 2002 is "unconscionable," following reports that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is directing agencies to plan their 2002 budgets with a 3.6 percent raise for employees.

"In this time of great budget surplus, in recognition of the sacrifices made in pay and benefits by federal workers over the years to turn deficits into surpluses, a proposed pay raise of 3.6 percent is unconscionable and should be an embarrassment for the Administration," said Kelley.

At a minimum, the union leader said, the starting point should be 4.6 percent. Kelley has called on President Bush to fully implement the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA), signed into law by his father in 1990. The law called for closing the pay gap between the federal and private sectors over a 10-year period, beginning in 1994.

"The pay gap remains and, most importantly, it remains as the biggest obstacle in the federal government's ability to recruit and retain skilled workers," said Kelley.

NTEU supports a measure introduced by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)that calls for pay parity between "military and civilian employees of the U.S."

Announcing his legislation at a NTEU-sponsored "Rally For Fair Pay" on Capitol Hill this week, Hoyer said there is currently a 10 percent pay gap between military and civilian pay, and a 32 percent pay gap between the public and private sectors.

Kelley was also critical of the president's proposal to move headlong into contracting out federal jobs to the private sector.

"The budget acknowledges that declining staff has made it tougher for agencies to meet expanding missions. However, the proposed remedy of moving headlong, despite the costs and consequences, into wholesale contracting out is a mistake," said Kelley. The union leader said there is no foundation for the Bush budget claim that contracting out would save $14 billion over five years.

"Everyone agrees that the true size of the existing contractor workforce and the true cost of contracting out is not known," said Kelley. "It would be folly and a great disservice to the nation to move blindly down this path."

Kelley said NTEU supports the Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability (TRAC) Act, which would temporarily suspend new federal contracting out until government agencies have established comprehensive and reliable reporting systems to track the true costs of contracting out.

Kelley said the proposed budget's call for the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program to be of "high quality and cost effective" is a concept NTEU can support, if the administration plans to tackle the high cost of prescription drugs, which the Office of Personnel Management blamed for 40 percent of the increase in FEHBP premiums this year.

In addition, Kelley said, the Administration and Congress need to take a serious look at increasing the government's share of FEHBP premiums.

"Increasing health insurance costs have hit the private sector and state and local governments as well," said Kelley. "However, their response as employers has been to increase their share of premium costs. If the federal government hopes to attract and keep skilled workers, it must step up to this issue and make health insurance more affordable for federal workers and their families."