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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union’s (NTEU) advocacy on behalf of federal workers paid off today with a major announcement by President Obama increasing the 2017 federal pay raise from an average 1.6 percent to an average 2.1 percent.

“When the final 2017 National Defense Authorization Act set the military raise at 2.1 percent at the end of November, NTEU contacted key members of Congress to ask them to urge the President to change his original proposal to 2.1 percent,” said NTEU National President Tony Reardon. “It was our view that the federal pay raise wasn’t a done deal and could be adjusted.”

“We appreciate the efforts of those in Congress and the Administration for making this change and providing this slightly larger increase, which reflects pay parity for federal and military employees. Federal workers deserve this recognition,” Reardon said.

On Nov. 30, almost immediately after the final military raise was set, thepresident sent his alternative locality pay plan to Congress, calling for the 1.6 percent total raise. NTEU worked to make clear that under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act, the president had time to make a change in his plan and provided information on why it was important to do so, based on fairness and on how much federal employees had contributed to deficit reduction as a result of pay freezes, low raises and higher pension contributions during the past eight years.

At the urging of pro-federal employee supporters in Congress, President Obama today issued a new pay plan providing parity between civilian and military pay raises in recognition of the fact that federal employees have contributed over $180 billion to deficit reduction and budget savings since 2011.

“Federal pay raises over the last several years have been seriously inadequate. This impacts morale and the government’s ability to attract and retain highly trained workers,” said Reardon. “While we still believe that the 2.1 percent average increase that will become effective in January should be much bigger, we believe parity with the military is an important recognition of how much our federal workforce contributes to our nation’s wellbeing.”

The NTEU leader said that while Congress could still technically take action to reduce the 2017 pay increase, NTEU does not anticipate that will happen and will fight to prevent that.

In their letter, the members of Congress noted that “our federal workforce is a critical national asset we should not take for granted” and stressed that “Federal workers are dedicated and patriotic public servants, and many of them also serve in harm’s way.”

“We thank the members of Congress who listened to our views on this issue and stepped up as champions of the federal workforce,” said Reardon. NTEU is especially grateful to House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Senator-elect Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

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