News

3/9/09: The chairman of a key House subcommittee dealing with federal employee issues last week promised prompt action on a measure to provide paid parental leave, and left the door ajar for potential changes in the administration’s recommendation concerning federal pay in 2010.

2/26/09: NTEU national President Colleen Kelley today characterized as very positive her initial face-to-face meeting with new agency chair Mary Schapiro, during which they discussed ways in which the agency workforce can contribute to the successful accomplishment of its mission.

2/26/09: NTEU national President Colleen Kelley yesterday applauded House approval of a fiscal 2009 omnibus appropriations measure that would take definitive steps to rein in runaway federal contracting.

2/11/09: A House measure introduced yesterday to provide annuity credit for unused sick leave to federal employees covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) would be an important step toward employee equity in the government, said NTEU national President Colleen Kelley.

President said the union is ready to help Congress deliver for FERS-covered employees the same credit for unused sick leave already provided to their Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) colleagues. The bill was introduced by Rep. James Moran (D-Va.).

2/9/09: During a speech at the SEC Speaks conference last week, new SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro announced the end of two policies of former Chairman Chris Cox in the Enforcement Division.

First, she has ended the two-year "penalty pilot" experiment. The staff will no longer be required to seek advance approval of penalties from the Commission in connection with settlement discussions. Second, she is moving back to routine review and approval of formal orders, to ensure that enforcement investigations can move forward more quickly.

1/23/09: Last week, Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman and SEC Associate Executive Director of Human Resources Jeff Risinger signed a memorandum of understanding on a number of diversity iniatives at the agency. This agreement followed the broader settlement agreement regarding the Merit Pay system which was signed late last year, and which resolved national arbitrations involving discrimation against African-Americans and employees over the age of forty in the administration of the SEC's pay for performance system.

1/22/09: A bipartisan measure introduced this week in the House of Representatives would provide federal workers with four weeks of paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child and bring the government’s approach to this key benefit closer to that of the private sector and many other industrialized nations, said NTEU National President Colleen Kelley, who applauded the bill’s introduction.

1/21/2009: This month, NTEU joined with a number of organizations in the FAIR coalition in sending a letter to President Obama expressing the position that future White House initiatives to reform the nation’s health care should not unintentionally jeopardize the integrity of FEHBP. The FAIR coalition is comprised of a number of organizations that represent current and retired federal employees and postal workers. Click HERE to review a copy of the letter.

1/15/09: In the first legislative victory for working Americans in the 111th Congress, last week the House of Representatives passed HR 11, the NTEU-endorsed “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.”

Over the past seven years, some SEC managers and employees have suffered from a fundamental misconception regarding how it was that Congress passed Pay Parity, leading to substantially higher compensation levels for SEC employees. According to their version of events, although NTEU provided some small assistance in the process, the “heavy lifting” was done by SEC management. This is revisionist history. It is important to understand what really happened so that you will appreciate the union’s vital role at the SEC.