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Washington, D.C.— Federal employees would receive a 3.2 percent pay raise next year under legislation introduced in the Senate and endorsed by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act is sponsored by Sen. Brian Schatz, (D-Hawaii), Sen. Sherrod Brown, (D-Ohio), Sen. Patty Murray, (D-Wash), Sen. Ben Cardin, (D-Md.), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.), and would apply to federal employees across the board, starting in 2018.

A similar version was introduced in the House by Rep. Gerry Connolly, (D-Va.), which NTEU also supports.

“Wages for federal employees have not been keeping up with the private sector, and this proposal would start to narrow that salary gap,” said NTEU National President Tony Reardon. “Dedicated civil servants around the country have endured pay freezes, small raises, furloughs and sequester cuts for the last several years, so NTEU plans to work hard to help this legislation become law.”

 NTEU expects other efforts in Congress to try and limit federal employee pay and benefits, and the current hiring freeze will only lead to increased workloads.

 “These highly trained and educated public servants work hard every day in jobs that benefit all Americans,” said Reardon. “They should not have to face continual attacks on their rights and benefits.”

The raise would take effect next year and follows the average 2.1 percent increase granted in 2017.

“We applaud the senators for introducing legislation that is respectful of the work federal employees perform each and every day,” Reardon said.

The legislation is S. 255 and has been assigned to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.