June 7, 2013
By Neal Tepel
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the federal government will be proposing a one percent pay raise for federal employees in 2014.
In a response to the information, AFGE National President J. David Cox said “It is not enough to allow workers, most of whom earn very modest salaries ranging from $24,000 to $70,000, to maintain living standards. And it is not enough to send a message with any kind of clarity that the administration values the federal workforce and doesn’t believe it should continue to bear an enormously disproportionate share of deficit reduction.”
Upon hearing the offer by the feds, Colleen Kelley, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said a 1 percent raise would be inadequate. “When compared with wage growth in the private sector, federal workers and members of the military will fall further behind, making it more difficult for the government to attract and retain qualified personnel,” Kelley said.
While Obama is pushing for a federal employee pay raise, several leading Republican lawmakers want to extend the pay freeze further — possibly as far as through 2015.
