AFGE is urging members of Congress to support the Department of Defense’s civilian workforce as they begin work to finalize must-pass legislation authorizing the department’s spending for the next budget year.
Both the House and Senate have marked up their own versions of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Once Congress reconvenes following the midterm elections on Nov. 3, lawmakers will need to reconcile differences in both versions and approve a compromise bill.
On behalf of the 250,000 employees AFGE represents across DoD, AFGE National President Everett Kelley recently outlined our position on key workforce provisions in the NDAA in a letter to leadership on the House and Senate Armed Services committees. AFGE’s Defense Conference (DEFCON) is amplifying AFGE National’s efforts by engaging workers and lawmakers on these issues as well.
Here are our 5 main requests:
Restore workers’ union rights: Lawmakers should retain and strengthen Section 1115 of the House bill, which would prevent DoD from enforcing President Trump’s March 2025 executive order eliminating collective bargaining rights for most federal employees.
As 13 Republican members of Congress wrote in a Sept. 29 letter to Armed Services leadership, stripping DoD workers of their union rights risks undermining the department’s mission.
“Denying these workers collective bargaining protections threatens to weaken our national security posture by damaging morale, undermining retention efforts, and removing important accountability protections” at the department, the lawmakers wrote.
Provide workers with a minimum 3.8% pay raise next year: Lawmakers should provide all federal employees, including those at the Department of Defense, with at least a 3.8% pay raise in 2027.
In August, President Trump informed Congress he was freezing the salaries of all federal employees next year except for those in law enforcement, who would receive a 3.8% increase. Trump issued a similar pay freeze for 2026, but he ultimately increased federal pay by 1% in January.
“DoD civilian employees need a pay adjustment of at least 3.8 percent to meet the higher cost of daily necessities, including gas, groceries, and housing,” President Kelley wrote. “It is vital that DoD pay competitive compensation to recruit and retain skilled employees, nearly half of whom are veterans.”
Retain the wage grade pay system: Lawmakers should strike Sections 1101 and 1102 from the Senate bill, which would eliminate the wage-grade pay system for DoD civilian employees and give the DoD secretary “sole and exclusive discretion” over pay and job grading for blue-collar workers at DoD depots, arsenals, shipyards, and plants.
Reject new demonstration projects: Lawmakers should strike Sections 1118-1120 of the House bill, which would move about 20% of DoD’s civilian workforce from the General Schedule to a pay-for-performance system like the National Security Personnel System that Congress repealed in 2009 due to negative effects on the workforce.
Preserve workforce rights for Reserve and National Guard technicians: Lawmakers should strike Section 1105 of the House bill and Section 513 of the Senate bill, which would convert more than 30,000 Reserve and National Guard civilian technicians from dual-status technicians with Title 5 rights to full-time, active-duty military members.
Read more: Click here for a one-page flyer summarizing our main NDAA priorities.
Written by OPEIU 2 AFL-CIO
AFGE’s legal fight over the Trump administration’s efforts to shutter federal agencies, fire and displace federal workers, and outlaw federal unions notched another significant victory last week when a federal judge blocked an unlawful reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Read More
New economic data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week painted a sobering picture: costs for everyday goods like gasoline, groceries, and rent are up 3.7% from this time last year.
Read More
AFGE is urging members of Congress to support the Department of Defense’s civilian workforce as they begin work to finalize must-pass legislation authorizing the department’s spending for the next budget year.
Read More
