Following House and Senate passage, President Biden signed the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund agencies at current FY 2023 levels through either January 19, 2024, or February 2, 2024, depending on the agency. The SEC is funded through February 2.
Congress must now work in earnest to reach an agreement on FY 2024 funding levels as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that he will not pass another short-term spending bill, raising the stakes for a shutdown given the fact that House Republicans continue to push for significant cuts to agency funding levels and controversial policy riders.... Read more ...
Union News Archive
11/16/2023
Last night, the Senate passed the “laddered” Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend government funding at current levels and avoid a government shutdown. The bill now goes to the President, who is expected to sign it before funding under the current CR expires Friday night.
The “laddered” CR keeps funding at current levels until January 19, 2024, for agencies and programs funded by the Agriculture, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD appropriations bills. The NTEU-represented agencies facing the January 19 deadline are USDA, FDA, DOE, and NRC. Agencies and... Read more ...
The “laddered” CR keeps funding at current levels until January 19, 2024, for agencies and programs funded by the Agriculture, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD appropriations bills. The NTEU-represented agencies facing the January 19 deadline are USDA, FDA, DOE, and NRC. Agencies and... Read more ...
11/01/2023
During open season in November, NTEU members will again have access to Consumers’ Checkbook’s online Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees and Annuitants. All NTEU members who currently or are planning to participate in Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) plans or the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) will find this online tool useful when making decisions regarding maintaining or changing health and dental insurance plans. The guide compares and ranks plans based on total costs including account premiums and estimated out-of-pocket costs (e.g.,... Read more ...
11/01/2023
The NTEU union chapter at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) obtained an important win at the Federal Service Impasses Panel on telework. The union successfully fought off an arbitrary, restrictive and unsupported agency proposal to force employees back in the office more often.
FEC employees were required to report to the office just three times per pay period, as part of an NTEU-negotiated pilot program. Despite the program’s success over an 18-month period, the FEC wanted employees to report to the office an additional day per pay period.
The union relied upon management’s own records... Read more ...
FEC employees were required to report to the office just three times per pay period, as part of an NTEU-negotiated pilot program. Despite the program’s success over an 18-month period, the FEC wanted employees to report to the office an additional day per pay period.
The union relied upon management’s own records... Read more ...
11/01/2023
Government funding is still set to expire on November 17, but little progress has been made since Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) at the end of September.
The Senate is currently considering a minibus appropriations package that consists of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill, and the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies appropriations bill. The funding levels in this package passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on a... Read more ...
The Senate is currently considering a minibus appropriations package that consists of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill, and the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies appropriations bill. The funding levels in this package passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on a... Read more ...
09/09/2023
NTEU joins the nation in commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October15.
08/31/2023
"May I offer my congratulations to the members of organized labor on this 1960 Labor Day. American labor has insisted upon, and won, the highest wages and best working conditions in the world. You have not been content to sit still and let well enough alone.You have shown that high living standards can be won within the context of freedom. "
--John F. Kennedy, Special Labor Day Message, 1960
As we approach Labor Day weekend, we often receive messages wishing us well, and reminding us to have a nice barbecue with our families and friends. We just wanted to take the opportunity this Labor Day... Read more ...
--John F. Kennedy, Special Labor Day Message, 1960
As we approach Labor Day weekend, we often receive messages wishing us well, and reminding us to have a nice barbecue with our families and friends. We just wanted to take the opportunity this Labor Day... Read more ...
06/27/2023
"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom."
--Albert Einstein
The leadership of NTEU Chapter 293 wish you and yours a safe and happy Independence Day! On the Fourth, let us keep those who fought for our freedom—standing and fallen—at the forefront of our minds. Have a great weekend and stay safe!
--Albert Einstein
The leadership of NTEU Chapter 293 wish you and yours a safe and happy Independence Day! On the Fourth, let us keep those who fought for our freedom—standing and fallen—at the forefront of our minds. Have a great weekend and stay safe!
06/24/2023
This week, Republicans on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), which determines funding for the Treasury Department, including the SEC, IRS and other NTEU-represented agencies, and has jurisdiction over government-wide employee issues, approved their FY 2024 FSGG appropriations bill. Democrats on the subcommittee all opposed the bill due to, among other things, the significant funding cuts included in the bill that go beyond the cuts agreed to in the debt limit deal earlier this month. The bill now moves to the full Appropriations... Read more ...
06/13/2023
If there was a silver lining to the pandemic at the SEC it was this: over three years, frontline staff demonstrated beyond any doubt that the Agency is able to meet its mission successfully working almost 100% remotely. Nevertheless, Chair Gensler’s irrational hostility to telework continues to be a source of frustration for hardworking frontline staff. Last week, SEC senior management summarily denied the first grievance filed by the Union over a denial of an employee’s request to participate in the new Remote Telework Program. In so doing, senior management fabricated an improper standard... Read more ...
06/12/2023
Juneteenth National Independence Day is Monday, June 19. NTEU will join the nation in celebrating this important holiday marking the end of slavery.
05/09/2023
Under Article 22, Section 18, of the union’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement at the SEC, the union has established a Joint Working Group with management to explore ideas on how the SEC can best support employees through the processes of adoption, surrogacy, and infertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization procedures. The union is pleased to announce that the union’s team for this Joint Working Group will be: Lance Alworth, Dan Barry, David Cohen, Neil Fazel, Trisha Sindler Fuchs, Greg Gilman, Betsy Lamirand, Julie Preuitt, and Michael Watson. Our team is looking forward to... Read more ...
04/29/2023
This week, the House of Representatives approved legislation that would temporarily increase the debt limit in exchange for, among other things, capping FY 2024 funding to last year’s level, severely limiting future increases, and rescinding more than $71 billion of the $80 billion provided to the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA).
The bill, H.R. 2811, would have a devastating impact on the ability of NTEU-represented agencies to provide critical services to the American people. Following years of budget cuts that led to staffing shortages and hampered the ability of many... Read more ...
The bill, H.R. 2811, would have a devastating impact on the ability of NTEU-represented agencies to provide critical services to the American people. Following years of budget cuts that led to staffing shortages and hampered the ability of many... Read more ...
04/04/2023
Now that Return to Office has occurred, the union is receiving questions from employees who are assigned to the SEC’s Headquarters in DC regarding office assignments. Some of you are SP3 employees who will be losing your SP3 office space soon. Others are newer employees who have no office assignment yet. Still others are employees with more seniority who want the option to move to a better office than they currently occupy. This update is intended to provide you the best information currently available to the union on HQ office assignments.
We want you to know that the union has been working... Read more ...
We want you to know that the union has been working... Read more ...
02/08/2023
Yesterday, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) introduced the Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act. This important legislation would update existing law by providing federal employees with up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for themselves or an immediate family member dealing with a serious illness. NTEU is proud to join the long list of federal employee advocates endorsing this legislation.
Under current law, if a federal employee needs to be away from work for an extended period for a covered event (such as a health condition), that employee can... Read more ...
Under current law, if a federal employee needs to be away from work for an extended period for a covered event (such as a health condition), that employee can... Read more ...
02/02/2023
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 221-206 to pass the so-called SHOW UP Act (H.R. 139). NTEU opposes this legislation and urged members of the House of Representatives to vote no on this bill. We are grateful for those members of Congress who voted with NTEU.
The legislation would require every federal agency to return to the telework policies in place in 2019, without regard to either collective bargaining agreements or the proven positive results based on actual telework experience. Given that some federal agencies are reducing leased space or have already signed leases... Read more ...
The legislation would require every federal agency to return to the telework policies in place in 2019, without regard to either collective bargaining agreements or the proven positive results based on actual telework experience. Given that some federal agencies are reducing leased space or have already signed leases... Read more ...
02/02/2023
Representative Gerry Connolly (VA) and Senator Brian Schatz (HI) have introduced the NTEU-supported FAIR Act, which would provide an average 8.7 percent pay increase for federal employees in 2024. The legislation consists of a 4.7 percent across-the-board increase and an average 4.0 percent for locality pay. Under the compensation agreement negotiated by the union, this increase would be a component of SEC employees' raise.
The Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA, 5 USC 5303) indicates that federal employees should receive a 4.7 percent pay raise in 2024, prior to any amount being... Read more ...
The Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA, 5 USC 5303) indicates that federal employees should receive a 4.7 percent pay raise in 2024, prior to any amount being... Read more ...
02/02/2023
This month, the outstanding debt of the United States reached the statutory limit. The Treasury Department has begun taking “extraordinary measures” to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its financial obligations. This includes suspending investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund as well as reinvestment of Treasury securities held by the TSP’s G-Fund until Congress acts to raise the debt limit. By law, the funds will be made whole once the debt limit has been raised. Federal employees will not be affected by these actions.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin has urged... Read more ...
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin has urged... Read more ...
11/03/2022
The SEC has notified the union that it will not be extending the lease for Station Place 3 (SP3) at SEC Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (HQ), and that it intends to move the almost 400 non-management employees currently located there into temporary, doubled-up spaces in SP1 and SP2, apparently so that they can be included in Chairman Gensler’s “Return to Office” plan this winter. The union has demanded formal bargaining over this misguided decision, which will result in an unnecessary and wasteful expenditure of public funds for repetitive HQ office moves in 2023, as well as a further... Read more ...
10/23/2022
Last week, Chair Gensler’s disagreements with the union over negotiations for our new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and pandemic return to office (RTO) issues both went to litigation before the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP).
After five all-day mediation sessions before a federal mediator at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), Chair Gensler’s team refused the union’s efforts to reach a compromise on any of the primary areas of disagreement remaining in our CBA dispute. For example, the Chair continues to make unreasonable demands regarding telework,... Read more ...
After five all-day mediation sessions before a federal mediator at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), Chair Gensler’s team refused the union’s efforts to reach a compromise on any of the primary areas of disagreement remaining in our CBA dispute. For example, the Chair continues to make unreasonable demands regarding telework,... Read more ...
09/30/2022
WHEN: On Tuesday, October 25, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Eastern, NTEU Chapter 293 will hold its annual member meeting. Due to the SEC's current office status, the meeting will be held via WebEx. The union's panel will appear live at the Station Place Auditorium. WebEx connection information will be sent out to union members prior to the event.
NONMEMBERS: Over 75% of bargaining unit (non-management) employees at the SEC are members of the union. Any bargaining unit employee who is not yet a member of the union who would like to attend the meeting may join the union by filling out boxes 1, 2... Read more ...
NONMEMBERS: Over 75% of bargaining unit (non-management) employees at the SEC are members of the union. Any bargaining unit employee who is not yet a member of the union who would like to attend the meeting may join the union by filling out boxes 1, 2... Read more ...
09/28/2022
Today, SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s management team and the union are commencing mediation sessions at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) regarding our stalled Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations. The parties remain in disagreement over numerous aspects of our basic employment agreement, such as how our pensions are funded, existing limitations on the Student Loan Repayment Program, how our annual leave is accrued, and what our post-pandemic telework program will look like. As the CBA talks edge closer towards litigation, it is important to understand the basic... Read more ...
09/13/2022
A number of SEC union members have asked the union about our positions on telework during our negotiations with Chair Gensler’s management negotiating team over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) during the summer. NTEU Chapter 293 does not typically take positions during bargaining, but instead seeks to identify the important interests of both parties in an effort to narrow areas of disagreement. In keeping with that strategy, late last spring the union’s CBA negotiating team made the following PowerPoint presentation to SEC management regarding important interests related to... Read more ...
08/11/2022
The union is receiving an increasing number of inquiries about the status of the union’s bargaining over the SEC’s plan to return all staff to the office for mandatory in-person work (“RTO”) in January. We regret to inform you that management notified the union this week that Chair Gensler has opted to immediately take the matter to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (“FMCS”). Mediation at FMCS usually constitutes the first step towards bringing a bargaining “impasse” to the Federal Service Impasses Panel (“FSIP”) for resolution through litigation.
Chair Gensler’s decision to go... Read more ...
Chair Gensler’s decision to go... Read more ...