Press Releases

Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government passed a bill that included language from U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright’s Wage Grade Employee Parity Act.  Rep. Cartwright is a member of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. The bill now goes before the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

The Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Department of the Treasury, the Judiciary and federal courts system, the Executive Office of President (EOP), the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Federal Labor Relations Authority, among other agencies.

The Wage Grade Employee Parity Act would guarantee that the percentage increase in the prevailing wage for Wage Grade, or hourly, employees is equivalent to the percentage increase received by General Schedule, or salaried, federal employees.

"I am thrilled that language from the Wage Grade Employee Parity Act was once again included in the appropriations bill passed out of the Subcommittee,” said Rep Cartwright. “Federal employees have been underappreciated and undervalued for far too long. Blue-collar workers deserve the same pay increase that white-collar workers receive.”

This language will affect nearly 2,000 hourly employees at Tobyhanna Army Depot, the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, and at the Social Security Administration office located in Pennsylvania’s 17th District.

Language from the Wage Grade Employee Parity Act was also included in FY15, FY16, and FY17 spending bills that were signed into law.