GovernmentExecutive.com

A House Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday passed a 3.5 percent pay raise for members of the military for 2008.

That figure, which is half a percent higher than the raise proposed by the Bush administration, likely will give federal labor unions an edge in pushing for an equivalent raise for civilian federal employees. The subcommittee approved it as part of the 2008 Defense authorization bill.

The National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees have been pushing for a military and civilian raise larger than the Bush administration has proposed. NTEU has backed a 3.5 percent increase, while AFGE has pushed a 4 percent raise.

The fiscal 2000 and fiscal 2004 Defense authorization acts called for a 0.5 percent increase above the Employment Cost Index figure for the military. The administration followed that standard every year until 2007, when military and civilian employees received a 2.2 percent increase -- the lowest in many years.

Labor leaders also have stressed that over the past two decades, there have been equal adjustments in military and civilian pay nearly every year. NTEU President Colleen Kelley said that the "undeniable contributions" of civilian federal employees mean they warrant the same raise as military service members.

"NTEU strongly supports a minimum 3.5 percent raise in 2008 for the federal civilian workforce," she said, "and will continue our work in securing bipartisan congressional support for this increase for civilian and military employees."

COMMENTS

• You forget officers have to go to college for four years losing all the time where an enlisted person is getting paid. In addition to hardly making any money your paying thousands and thousands of dollars per year for four years. Obviously some people get their education fully funded by parents but that's not the case for me. I haven't been given a dime. John Posted August 24, 2008 2:47 AM
• I am trying to buy a house for when my husband comes back from being in a hot zone where I dont know if he will come back at all. I wanted to start the new year in a home. My husband will tell you he has been everywhere but HOME. Home is where the heart is. Having this oay raise would help us buy our house we wanted. Military doesn't get paid enough for the ammount of workthey do. You talk to any military member and they will tell you that they do other then what their true job is. When they do do their job they get pulled in 20 different areas. Then they get yelled at cause someone higher up yelled at them. I deal with the fact I may never see him again. That is what happens when you marry a military enlisted... They dont get paid nearly enough for amount of crap they have to put up with. If the president really supported us then he has to see how it is affecting men and women of the military and their familys. I am here going back and forth to the bank by myself so i can have a home to call our own again. So my husband can say he has a home and that his heart is with his family. What kind of heart does the president have? My husband may not be able to say anything about his boss. I will cause this is my family he is messing up. My future home he is taking away from us. Not him nor anyone should be able to do that to us. Corazon Posted October 18, 2007 3:20 PM
• As a father of a solider I can’t believe how under paid they are! Anyone willing to put there life on the line for our country should be fairly compensated. If you look at the military pay scales any sane person would agree! All enlisted personnel should make a minimum of $ 30,000 to $ 35,000 per year! Lets get our soldiers pay ABOVE THE POVERTY LEVEL, I encourage everyone to go to their senator and congressman and ask for their support in this area! If enough people put pressure on out elected officials this can be done! Richard Deister Posted October 14, 2007 12:56 PM