October 2006:

In what has become a late summer ritual at the SEC, the agency recently distributed annual Merit Pay step increases to employees. Unlike in the past, however, this year the Executive Director’s Office sent an e-mail message to all employees notifying them that the overall funds available for Merit Pay increases were limited this year. Some senior managers also have notified their employees that, as a result of the limited funding, although the average Merit Pay increase in prior years was approximately two steps, this year the average increase was closer to one step. NTEU has filed a national grievance challenging this change in the agency’s past practice, as well as an information request regarding the distributions.

October 2006: During the month of September, the membership elected new Chapter 293 officials who will serve for three-year terms, through September 30, 2009. The election was held by mail, and the ballots were collected and counted in Washington on September 28, 2006, by the Election Committee with the assistance of NTEU Field Representative Michael Piacsek.

October 2006: During the first week of October, NTEU and SEC negotiators met once again in Washington to continue bargaining over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NTEU bargaining team, which is comprised of NTEU negotiator Jurmell James and volunteers Greg Gilman, Veronica Lewis, Katie Nix, Dean Suehiro and Simmenetta Williams, continued their work on a number of issues of importance to SEC bargaining unit employees.

October 2006: As previously reported, NTEU continues to await decisions from both the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) and the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) related to its negotiations with the SEC over a new Compensation Agreement covering pay and benefits for agency employees.

October 2006: On October 11, 2006, NTEU and the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund (“FEEA”) announced the creation of an endowed college scholarship fund providing annual educational grants for federal families.

October 2006: Congress recently approved a 2.2 percent pay raise for the armed forces, leaving until after the election a decision on the amount of the pay increase for federal civilian employees. The military pay raise was approved in the 2007 Defense Authorization bill, and will take effect in January. The House version of the bill had provided for a 2.7 percent increase, but House-Senate conferees opted for the smaller amount included in the Senate version.

October 2006: In October, President Greg Gilman created a new Support Staff Committee and named Vice President Veronica Lewis as chair. This working committee will be comprised of Chapter members who want to take on a representational leadership role on a broad range of issues that affect the support staff, by gathering views from employees and making recommendations to Chapter leadership and bargaining teams. Some issues that Lewis anticipates will be considered by the committee include career ladder promotions, upward mobility and in-house training opportunities.

October 2006: In August 2006, NTEU filed a national grievance challenging the SEC’s recent unilateral changes to the Student Loan Repayment Program. Under the terms of this popular program, the agency repays up to $10,000 of the student loans of eligible employees per year, up to a maximum amount of $60,000. In return for this repayment, the recipient must sign a service agreement in which he or she agrees to remain at the Commission for an additional three years.

October 2006: On June 26, 2006, representatives from the SEC and NTEU argued before Arbitrator Joseph Sharnoff over the agency’s 2005 decision to eliminate Direct PLUS Loans from the list of loans that are eligible for repayment under the Student Loan Repayment Program. Direct PLUS loans are loans that are taken out by parents to pay for the education of their children.

October 2006: As a result of NTEU's continued efforts, all SEC Paralegals will now be eligible to receive higher pay rates for overtime work. On November 5, 2002, NTEU filed a grievance with the SEC alleging that the Commission had improperly exempted certain positions from coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The SEC’s classification of these positions as FLSA-exempt caused employees working in the positions to receive compensatory time or overtime pay at a "capped" rate.