Federal employees will receive a 2.6% across-the-board pay raise in January but were denied any locality pay adjustment under an alternative pay plan President Trump sent to Congress Aug. 30.

AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. called the across-the-board pay raise a “positive step” for federal workers, who have endured years of pay freezes and incremental adjustments that have not kept pace with inflation.

“But the pay raise falls short by failing to provide any locality-based pay adjustments, which are essential if the government is ever going to make real progress is closing the wage gap between the federal and private sectors,” Cox said.

AFGE is asking Congress to approve the 3.1% pay raise passed by the House in June, which includes an average 0.5% locality adjustment. This raise also continues the decades-long tradition of providing pay raise parity between civilian and military employees.

“I call on Congress to finish what the White House has started by approving the House-passed pay raise during upcoming budget negotiations,” Cox said.