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Washington, D.C. – Just as our nation’s military service members deserve adequate resources to carry out their missions, so do their civilian counterparts in the non-defense federal agencies, Tony Reardon, National President of the National Treasury Employees Union, told congressional leaders.

“Federal employees look forward to providing excellent service to this country,” Reardon wrote to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as they seek relief for nondefense discretionary programs. “However, they can’t do their jobs for the public without adequate agency funding.”

Reardon’s letter was delivered this week, and outlines NTEU’s objection to others in Congress who may want to pay for domestic spending increases by slashing the pay and benefits of federal employees.

“Recent extended pay freezes and reduced pay adjustments, combined with drastic increases in employee retirement contributions for new federal employees in both 2012 and 2013, have taken their toll on paychecks and have already resulted in federal employees contributing approximately $200 billion toward deficit reduction,” Reardon wrote.

Reardon asked the leaders to “stand with us once more” and resist proposals that weaken our civil service.

“We need to hire the best and brightest into the civil service but we can’t do that when pay and benefits are cut time and time again, particularly during a healthy economy with strong competition from private-sector employers,” he wrote.

Government appropriations lapse at midnight Feb. 8, and NTEU is urging Congress and the administration to avoid another shutdown, which only punishes federal employees and the taxpayers they serve.

NTEU represents 150,000 employees at 32 federal agencies and departments.