Obama to propose 1 percent pay hike for federal workers

President Obama will ask for a 1 percent pay raise for civilian federal workers in his 2014 budget, labor leaders briefed by the White House told CNN on Friday.

The Office of Management and Budget told federal labor unions that Obama will ask for a percentage increase in salaries in the next fiscal year.

“After all that federal workers have sacrificed the past three years, they have earned a raise,” said William R. Dougan, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, told the network. “I repeat, they have earned a raise. We are pleased to see the president take a bold stance and advocate for this badly-needed pay adjustment."

That raise would come on top of the half-point pay hike scheduled to take effect in late March, which has been delayed as part of the fiscal cliff deal struck last month. Federal salaries have been frozen since 2011. The Pentagon also announced plans to raise salaries by 1 percent earlier this week.

While union leaders agreed that it was nice to see the president fight for an increase, some voiced concern the raise was not sufficient.

“While the president’s proposal for a 1 percent pay increase for federal workers in 2014 is better than a pay freeze, I don’t feel like jumping and shouting for joy,” Carl Goldman, executive director of the AFSCME Council 26 told Government Executive.

“There are a number of unanswered questions concerning the proposal: Will there also be locality pay increases that reflect the higher cost of living in many areas? Will there be a raise in federal employees’ contributions to the health insurance program, which could have the net effect of a pay cut? It is difficult to know exactly how to react until these and similar questions are answered," he said.

The president's budget was due this week, but the White House missed the deadline to present the proposal to Congress. Any pay hike would still need to be approved by Congress.

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