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A two-year pay freeze for federal employees is set to apply also to those employees whose salaries are set by federal agencies rather than Congress – and could well apply to employees at NCUA.

NCUA in late November said it was waiting for more guidance from the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management but has yet to update that. One issue is whether federal employees subject to collective bargaining will be affected (The Washington Post, Dec. 27).

In November, NCUA's board approved a 12 percent budget increase for 2011. That increase provides for, among other things, an average 5 percent pay hike for agency staff. Part of that is for locality pay differentials, and the other part was set in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement, which comes up for review again this year.

NAFCU opposed NCUA's budget hike during this period of continued economic difficulty and ongoing assessments by NCUA for corporate credit union stabilization and to pay for share insurance fund losses. The average pay hike for NCUA's staff is more than twice the raise being given to military personnel on combat duty.

NAFCU President Fred Becker wrote the NCUA Board Nov. 18, the day of the budget action, urging that the agency roll back its 2011 budget to 2010 levels.