October 2006: Congress recently approved a 2.2 percent pay raise for the armed forces, leaving until after the election a decision on the amount of the pay increase for federal civilian employees. The military pay raise was approved in the 2007 Defense Authorization bill, and will take effect in January. The House version of the bill had provided for a 2.7 percent increase, but House-Senate conferees opted for the smaller amount included in the Senate version. “A 2.2 percent pay increase – the smallest for our military in more than a decade – is a shameful decision during a time of war,” said an outraged NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.

In recent years, NTEU has fought successfully for pay parity between the military and the civilian workforce – an effort that has led to substantially higher raises for SEC employees. This year, President Bush recommended a 2.2 percent increase for both civilian employees and the military. The House has provided for a 2.7 percent raise for federal civilian workers in the 2007 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee also provided for a 2.7 percent raise, but the full Senate has yet to vote on the issue.

“NTEU has long supported military-civilian pay parity,” Kelley said, “and we do so again this year, particularly in light of this proposed outrage against those fighting a war under extraordinarily difficult conditions, and against their families who give so much in the way of support.” She added: “Shortchanging them in this fashion is just wrong. I would have expected and hoped for much better leadership from Congress on this important issue.” Kelley said the union, at both the national and grassroots levels, will join with other groups to seek a higher raise for members of the military. “It should not be necessary to call attention to the enormous sacrifices our men and women in uniform are making, and to their right to a fair pay raise,” she said. “But apparently it is, and we’ll be aggressive in doing just that.”