Yesterday, NFFE and 25 other members of the Federal Postal Coalition came together to send a letter to Capitol Hill urging elected officials to take pay freeze extensions and workforce reductions off the negotiating table.
The letter – mailed to both party leaders in the House of Representatives – comes at a critical point in the legislative calendar, as Congress is scheduled to leave for the holiday season in just over a week. Among other essential priorities, Congress must find a way to extend the Social Security payroll tax cut and appropriate funds for several federal agencies. An earlier proposal by Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) would have extended the federal pay freeze through 2015 and slashed 200,000 federal jobs over the next decade.
Though that bill was soundly defeated by a 20-78 vote last week, the prospect of similar proposals appearing between now and the holiday recess is very high. In anticipation of another attack, federal worker organizations sprung into action:
“On behalf of the 4.6 million federal and postal workers and annuitants represented by the national member organizations of the Federal-Postal Coalition, we urge you to reject federal pay freezes and staffing reductions to finance the extension of a reduction in the Social Security payroll tax,” the letter begins.
Continuing, “A key purpose of the payroll tax holiday is to stimulate the economy and encourage discretionary spending. Freezing federal pay and cutting federal jobs to offset a payroll tax reduction will only undermine those aims and hinder our economic recovery.”
The impact of an extend pay freeze or large-scale workforce reduction would be devastating for federal workers and the American people they serve. NFFE will continue to partner with other federal employee organizations – labor or management – to ensure that federal workers don’t pay an even higher price for a debt problem they didn’t create.