This week, key committees in both houses of Congress approved figures for this year’s federal pay adjustment, however they arrived at very different results.
Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee endorsed a 2.9 percent civilian federal employee pay adjustment for fiscal year 2010. This compares to a 2 percent pay adjustment passed earlier in the week by the same committee in the House of Representatives. Should these figures be passed in each chamber, respectively, the differences will have to be hashed out before a House-Senate conference committee before a final spending bill can be passed.
“We will continue to fight for a fair and equal pay adjustment for all federal workers,” said NFFE Legislative Director Randy Erwin. “We want to make certain the that the long-standing tradition of pay parity is maintained.”
“A slow economy does not change the fact that there is still a significant pay gap between federal employees and those doing the similar work in the private sector,” continued Erwin. “We need to do all we can to close this pay gap in order for the federal government to recruit and retain the best and brightest over the long-term.”