Union News Archive
04/18/2010
4/17/10: On April 15, in a joint press conference call with four former SEC Chairmen and Senator Chuck Schumer (D. NY), SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro pushed for self-funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Senator Schumer agreed, stating, “When you have a measure that shifts significant funding to an agency, you can't be too careful. I would hope to avoid a fight on this issue and I think this call could help that happen.”
Schapiro and Schumer are right. Stagnant budgets during the final years of the Bush presidency made it difficult for the SEC to keep pace with the Wall... Read more ...
04/18/2010
4/16/10: NTEU has submitted comments to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on proposed regulations clarifying the meaning of a defense in certain cases brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Disparate impact claims are made under the ADEA when an employment practice has the effect of discriminating against older employees, whether intentional or not. To avoid liability for disparate impact discrimination, an employer must show that the disproportionately adverse effect on older employees is the result of “reasonable factors other than age” (RFOA). The... Read more ...
04/18/2010
4/15/10: This week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved two bipartisan measures increasing telework opportunities for federal employees and potentially boosting their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts. “These are solid measures for federal employees and I am pleased to see this approval,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).
One of the bills, H.R. 1722, would expand telework opportunities for greater numbers of federal workers by ensuring that all those eligible for telework could do so at least 20 of the hours they... Read more ...
04/02/2010
4/2/10: NTEU applauded a victory for federal workers it has been pursuing for seven years—a return to the definition of ‘inherently governmental’ work contained in federal law that clearly identifies the work of the public that should remain in the hands of federal employees. A 2003 Circular had improperly narrowed this definition.
NTEU had strongly recommended the adoption, as the sole definition of inherently governmental, of the statutory language contained in the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998. The FAIR Act language defines inherently governmental as “a... Read more ...
03/30/2010
3/30/10: In signing H.R. 4872 into law, the FEHBP provisions that NTEU advocated, are now final. Importantly, the integrity of FEHBP has been preserved. As you will recall from earlier Union reports, there were amendments proposed early in the process to open up FEHBP to additional groups without separate risk pools, or to require federal employees and retirees to buy their health insurance through the health insurance exchanges. Fortunately, we were able to convince the congressional committees and members of Congress to defeat or withdraw those proposals. The integrity of the FEHB program... Read more ...
03/30/2010
3/30/10: If you left government service as a FERS participant and received a refund of your money, and are now back in government, a law passed last fall at NTEU’s urging will give you the opportunity to redeposit the amount refunded, plus interest and in return that time will be credited in your retirement computation. OPM’s Service Credit System is in the process of being modified to correct some technical issues and to include a FERS Redeposit module. Once the testing is completed and the new version is ready for production, OPM will begin processing FERS redeposits.
In the meantime,... Read more ...
03/23/2010
3/30/10: On March 22, the House of Representatives passed a broad health care reform bill, H.R. 3590, that had previously passed the Senate last December. The President signed that legislation into law last week. In addition, the House and Senate also passed H.R. 4872, a budget reconciliation bill, making amendments to H.R. 3590.
There were a number of issues that NTEU weighed in on that could impact FEHBP enrollees in these laws. First was the issue of maintaining the integrity of the FEHBP as a separate plan providing coverage to federal employees, retirees, and their families. That was... Read more ...
03/15/2010
3/15/10: Last week, NTEU Chapter 293 and the SEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reflecting an agreement on certain aspects of the Enforcement Division’s ongoing reorganization effort. The principal features of this agreement deal with the creation of five new “specialized units,” the promotion of a number of supervisory Grade 15 branch chiefs to Grade 17 assistant director positions, the conversion of the remaining Grade 15 branch chiefs to bargaining unit frontline investigative staff, the use of a seniority-based selection process for staffing the new AD Groups, and new more... Read more ...
03/04/2010
3/3/10: A congressional resolution condemning the recent suicide attack on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees in Austin, Texas, and praising agency employees for their dedicated service to their country drew the strong support of the NTEU.
Introduced by Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D), the resolution recognizes the immediate actions of IRS employees, citizens on the ground and emergency personnel in responding to the attack. Additionally, it honors IRS employee Vernon Hunter, who died in the attack, as well as Shane Hill, a Texas state government employee who suffered severe injuries... Read more ...
02/23/2010
2/23/2010: In an interview with Fox News, Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.) commented on the plane that was deliberately flown into IRS offices in Austin last week saying that he understood the mindset of the man whose actions cost the life of a dedicated IRS employee. Click here for a response to his comments that NTEU National President Colleen Kelley sent yesterday to the media urging Senator Brown to rethink his response to the Austin incident and to instead use his position as a U.S. Senator to help ensure the safety of all federal employees.
02/23/2010
2/23/10: NTEU National President Colleen Kelley testified before a key House subcommittee today in favor of legislation that would take steps to address rising health insurance costs under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). You can review her testimony here.
President Kelley told the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce that H.R. 4489, if approved, would improve the pricing and contracting for prescription drugs in order to achieve better savings for taxpayers and federal enrollees. The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Stephen F.... Read more ...
02/23/2010
2/23/10: Yesterday, President Obama announced his health care reform proposals that include improvements over the Senate-passed excise tax provisions that are proposed to offset some of the cost of the health care reform package. NTEU opposed using the excise tax from the beginning and, as we reported last month, we were successful in having FEHBP enrollees exempt from the tax, originally scheduled to take effect around 2013, until 2018. We successfully argued it could have resulted in higher costs and lower benefits for our members in the federal health program.
Under the President’s... Read more ...
02/23/2010
2/23/10: NTEU applauds the proposal in the White House fiscal 2011 budget blueprint for a return to parity in pay raises for the government’s civilian workforce and members of the military.
“Parity in pay raises has been an important tenet of federal pay policy for most of the past two decades,” said NTEU National President Colleen Kelley. “The administration earlier said it would return to pay parity after moving away from it for the 2010 raise. I am glad to see its adherence to the commitment.”
As to the blueprint’s proposal for a 1.4 percent pay raise for the civilian workforce and... Read more ...
02/23/2010
2/23/10: Last week, NTEU submitted these comments in response to the request of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has proposed changes to its federal sector complaint processing regulations. NTEU made clear in the comments that it believes that more far-reaching reforms are necessary in the federal sector EEO process. Nevertheless, the Union generally support the changes proposed by the EEOC at this time, finding most of them to be improvements to the current regulations.
The changes addressed in the comments include a requirement that agencies provide employees with a... Read more ...
The changes addressed in the comments include a requirement that agencies provide employees with a... Read more ...
02/08/2010
2/8/10: This afternoon, the Union filed a national grievance against the SEC seeking to compel the agency to provide documents and information regarding the employee focus group process that was conducted over the summer in response to the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey results. In the grievance, the Union alleges that the SEC has violated federal labor statutes by failing and refusing to provide the information to the Union. The Union requests copies of the documents and information, as well as a briefing on the focus group reports provided by the consultants who ran the groups.
The... Read more ...
The... Read more ...
02/05/2010
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will be conducting the 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) at the SEC from February 8, 2010 through March 19, 2010. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to complete this survey. The results will help shape the Union’s dialogue with SEC management on your behalf regarding a wide range of issues such as merit pay, telework and flexible work schedules.
What Is the FEVS?
As you may already know, OPM’s survey is a tool that measures federal employees’ perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions characterizing successful... Read more ...
02/03/2010
2/3/10: During an appearance on “This Week” on ABC, Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-MA) said federal employees earn twice as much as those who work in the private sector.
Click here to read an open letter that NTEU National President Colleen Kelley sent to the media and to Senator-elect Brown in the wake of those comments, setting the record straight about the ongoing gap between public and private sector pay—now set at some 26 percent in favor of the private sector.
In the letter, Kelley points out that the only appropriate way to make a fair pay comparison is to compare similar jobs with... Read more ...
Click here to read an open letter that NTEU National President Colleen Kelley sent to the media and to Senator-elect Brown in the wake of those comments, setting the record straight about the ongoing gap between public and private sector pay—now set at some 26 percent in favor of the private sector.
In the letter, Kelley points out that the only appropriate way to make a fair pay comparison is to compare similar jobs with... Read more ...
02/01/2010
2/1/10: In keeping his commitment to NTEU and congressional leaders, President Obama requested pay parity in his budget recommendation for 2011 for both the military and federal civilian personnel. NTEU has long supported pay parity between federal employees and military personnel, a principle that has been followed for most years in the past two decades.
While the level of the proposed average raise ― 1.4 percent ― is low this year, it does reflect the change in the Employment Cost Index (ECI) in wages and salaries for private sector workers as measured by the Bureau of Labor statistics of... Read more ...
While the level of the proposed average raise ― 1.4 percent ― is low this year, it does reflect the change in the Employment Cost Index (ECI) in wages and salaries for private sector workers as measured by the Bureau of Labor statistics of... Read more ...
01/12/2010
1/12/10: More than half of the eight million-plus active federal employees and retirees covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) eventually could face the effects of taxes of thousands of dollars a year if an excise tax on high-value health insurance policies is part of a final health care reform bill, a coalition of organizations representing federal employees and retirees said today.
In a letter to key lawmakers helping fashion final legislation on this important subject, the coalition, which includes NTEU, said the proposed excise tax would hit “the average blue... Read more ...
12/30/2009
12/30/09: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued proposed regulations that would require agencies to conduct periodic reinvestigations (PRIs) of all “public trust” employees at least once every five years. NTEU has submitted these comments in response to that proposal to register NTEU’s opposition to any PRIs and its reasons for believing that, if a PRI is necessary, a ten-year cycle would be sufficient.
Federal employees hold positions that are generally categorized as either “nonsensitive,” “public trust” or “national security” positions. Until now, public trust employees were... Read more ...
Federal employees hold positions that are generally categorized as either “nonsensitive,” “public trust” or “national security” positions. Until now, public trust employees were... Read more ...
12/17/2009
12/17/09: The General Services Administration (GSA) has informed NTEU that they are proposing a decrease in the privately-owned vehicles mileage reimbursement rates for federal employees effective January 1, 2010, to match the rate cap imposed by the IRS.
Recently, the IRS issued a report and decreased the 2009 mileage reimbursement rate from $0.55 to $0.50 cents per mile, effective January 1, 2010. In addition, the IRS is setting reimbursement rates for privately-owned motorcycles at $0.47 and for aircraft at $1.29. The IRS sets these rates for tax purposes (not as the employer for IRS... Read more ...
Recently, the IRS issued a report and decreased the 2009 mileage reimbursement rate from $0.55 to $0.50 cents per mile, effective January 1, 2010. In addition, the IRS is setting reimbursement rates for privately-owned motorcycles at $0.47 and for aircraft at $1.29. The IRS sets these rates for tax purposes (not as the employer for IRS... Read more ...
12/17/2009
12/17/09: On December 16, 2009, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs marked up S 1102, the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act. This legislation, introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee, respectively, would extend to same-gender domestic partners many of the benefits and obligations currently available to married couples. Since this is not a matter that can be resolved in contract negotiations, NTEU is seeking legislation that would extend these important benefits to same-... Read more ...
12/15/2009
12/15/09: The Union and the SEC have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) settling a national grievance that Chapter 293 filed last year in response to the imposition of an attire policy by Lori Richards, the erstwhile Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). Under the MOU, SEC examination staff will no longer be compelled to wear business attire on all examinations.
Ms. Richard's 2008 attire policy for OCIE examination staff provided that all employees were required to wear formal business attire whenever they were on examinations, even in cases... Read more ...
Ms. Richard's 2008 attire policy for OCIE examination staff provided that all employees were required to wear formal business attire whenever they were on examinations, even in cases... Read more ...
12/09/2009
12/9/09: Last night, on December 8, the House Appropriations Committee announced agreement among conferees on the major spending package for Fiscal Year 2010, including the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, which includes the federal pay raise. The package provides funds to agencies whose budgets are set to expire on December 18. Under this bill, which will not be subject to amendment, federal employees will receive an average 2 percent raise. While NTEU is disappointed with this low amount, we were able to persuade the congressional negotiators to follow... Read more ...
12/09/2009
12/9/09: NTEU National President Colleen Kelley today welcomed a White House executive order setting the stage for the meaningful pre-decisional involvement of frontline federal employees in the operations of their agencies and paving the way for longer-term gains for taxpayers. NTEU played a lead role in encouraging the Obama Administration to adopt this program.
“This executive order, establishing labor-management forums, sends a positive message of change to both federal workers and managers, and represents a welcome, more productive way of doing business that will benefit taxpayers and... Read more ...
“This executive order, establishing labor-management forums, sends a positive message of change to both federal workers and managers, and represents a welcome, more productive way of doing business that will benefit taxpayers and... Read more ...