Volume I, Issue 6 (August 2007)

At the end of June, the SEC terminated the employment of a twenty-year attorney in the Division of Corporation Finance. According to the Decision on Proposed Removal, the primary basis for this firing was the allegation that this veteran SEC employee failed to complete all of her examinations by their assigned deadlines, despite the fact that management conceded that the quality of the employee’s work was not at issue.

NTEU recently sought arbitration in a case involving the involuntary reassignment of several Corp Fin employees in violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Article 17, Section 6. Under this provision, unless a reassignment is directed at specific employees for “legitimate management considerations,” the SEC is required to follow a few simple procedures prior to involuntarily reassigning employees. Volunteers are supposed to be solicited from a pool of qualified employees.

In July, Chapter 293 and the SEC entered into a memorandum of understanding regarding two compensation issues that will affect hundreds of employees. First, the SEC agreed that all employees in grades with 31-step pay ranges will now be eligible to progress to the top of the pay range for their grade, without continuing to impose a ceiling at Step 27.

This month, Chapter 293 Works interviewed James Fay, an NTEU member who works as an enforcement attorney in the Boston Regional Office. James was born outside of Boston, but grew up in Florida. He received a BA and an MA in history from Providence College, and he considered pursuing an academic career in history. He ultimately received a JD from Boston College Law School and became an attorney.

Greetings everyone! I am Katie Nix, the Chief Steward of Chapter 293. I work as a staff accountant in a relatively new office, Corporation Finance Information Technology. As Chief Steward, I coordinate the representational work of NTEU Chapter 293 stewards at the SEC.

Why did I answer the call to serve as the Chief Steward? Throughout my 37 years of service to the SEC, staff members have come to me with problems they have encountered at work. The union now provides a vehicle through which management and the union can work together to resolve those problems.