5/24/07: On Wednesday, May 23, at the end of the SEC's 52nd Annual Awards Celebration, NTEU Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman and OHR Associate Executive Director Jeff Risinger jointly accepted an award presented to the SEC in recognition of its recent ranking as the "third best place to work" in the federal government. This award was presented by John Palguta from the Partnership for Public Service. The Partnership, together with American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation, created the "Best Places to Work" rankings based on the results from last year's OPM Federal Human Capital Survey.

Mr. Palguta stated during his presentation that he felt that it was appropriate for the award to be made jointly to one representative from the union and one from management. He also noted that the SEC had ranked second overall in two categories, "Work/Life Balance" which measures the extent to which employees feel that there is a balance between their work and personal lives, and "Strategic Management" which recognizes the agency's success in recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees to achieve the agency's mission. The SEC also ranked third overall in the "Pay and Benefits" category.

Last month, Chapter 293 reported on the substantial impact that NTEU has had in bringing about changes at the SEC on a wide range of issues over the past several years, which has led directly to much improved perceptions by employees of the agency as a workplace. To review that story, click here, NTEU's Efforts Since 2000 to Make the SEC a Top Place to Work.

Mr. Risinger stated after the ceremony that "The SEC is very pleased with the designation of being the third best place to work in the federal government based on the results of the Federal Human Capital Survey. However, I am most interested in continuing to improve our performance in these rankings by working with the NTEU to learn as much as we can from the survey data and making appropriate improvements."

Mr. Gilman, who also was presented with the SEC Chairman and NTEU President's Labor-Management Relations Award earlier in the awards ceremony, said, "The SEC's invitation to NTEU to jointly accept this award from the Partnership represents a recognition by the agency of the union's critical role in improving the lives of employees. I view it as an important early step towards creating better relations between the union and management for the benefit of the employees, and I look forward to continuing to work towards that goal." Mr. Gilman went on to state, "I accepted this award on behalf of all of the dues-paying members of the union, without whose support we would be unable to accomplish anything at the agency."