5/7/08: On May 7, 2008, the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the Armed Services Committee voted out its portion of the Department of Defense authorization bill (H.R. 5658) with a provision that provides a 3.9 percent pay raise for the military.

The measure will be considered by the full House Armed Services Committee on May 14, 2008. The subcommittee’s action follows the Senate Armed Services Committee’s reported bill last week with an identical raise. NTEU has worked hard to achieve this pay raise recommendation on both sides of Congress. It is in the interest of pay parity and the basis of our work to fight for a 3.9 percent pay raise for federal employees.

NTEU's 3.9 percent recommendation is based on the increase in the Employment Cost Index (ECI), now at 3.4 percent, and an extra half percent. That longstanding principle has governed pay raises for both groups for many years. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has only requested a 2.9 percent pay raise for federal employees in its budget. The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act was enacted in 1990 to close the gap between federal and private sector pay and has never been fully implemented. Today federal employees are paid nearly 23 percent below the private sector.

The next step in the long legislative process will be the full Armed Services Committee markup. To see how you can help on this issue, please visit www.nteu.org, Legislative Action Center.