5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs during this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards was CHRO Securities Compliance Examiner Tom Conroy.
Tom was recognized for his work on Chapter 293's Legislative Committee. As a member of that committee, he and several other SEC employees traveled to DC for NTEU's 2011 Legislative Conference in March, where they helped to deliver a strong message on the Hill to support the SEC's critical mission as well as implementation of the... Read more ...
Union News Archive
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards was SFRO Securities Compliance Examiner Jeff Lyttle.
Jeff was recognized for his work on Chapter 293's National OCIE Reorganization Team, which is regularly meeting with management to address employee issues related to the reorganization of OCIE. His work and that of the team will have a substantial impact upon OCIE employees across the country.
"SFRO employees should be very proud to... Read more ...
Jeff was recognized for his work on Chapter 293's National OCIE Reorganization Team, which is regularly meeting with management to address employee issues related to the reorganization of OCIE. His work and that of the team will have a substantial impact upon OCIE employees across the country.
"SFRO employees should be very proud to... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards was OIA attorney Michael Moore.
Michael serves as Chapter 293's Chief Steward. He was recognized for his work on a team of representatives addressing computer forensics issues in disciplinary cases at the SEC. As a direct result of the important work of this team, the Union has been able to identify critical errors that have been made in some computer use cases, ensuring fundamental... Read more ...
Michael serves as Chapter 293's Chief Steward. He was recognized for his work on a team of representatives addressing computer forensics issues in disciplinary cases at the SEC. As a direct result of the important work of this team, the Union has been able to identify critical errors that have been made in some computer use cases, ensuring fundamental... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards were Olga Cruz-Ortiz, Cate Whiting and Ken Wijesinghe from the Division of Enforcement. These three individuals have made myriad contributions as Union representatives at the SEC during the past year.
Cate Whiting serves as one of five Union members on the SEC Labor Management Forum, which was formed as a result of President Obama's Executive Order last year on labor-management... Read more ...
Cate Whiting serves as one of five Union members on the SEC Labor Management Forum, which was formed as a result of President Obama's Executive Order last year on labor-management... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of these Leadership Awards was Al Capute of the Office of General Counsel.
In addition to his representational work as a steward, Al was recognized for his service as a Union representative on the SEC's Diversity Council, which was formed as part of Chapter 293's settlement of the national Merit Pay arbitration to address diversity issues at the agency.
"The employees in OGC should be very proud to... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards were Joel Crepea and Azam Riaz from the New York Regional Office.
Azam was recognized for serving as a Union representative on the SEC's Diversity Council, which was formed as part of Chapter 293's settlement of the national Merit Pay arbitration to address diversity issues at the agency.
Joel, who was not present at the training last week, was recognized for his work on several... Read more ...
Azam was recognized for serving as a Union representative on the SEC's Diversity Council, which was formed as part of Chapter 293's settlement of the national Merit Pay arbitration to address diversity issues at the agency.
Joel, who was not present at the training last week, was recognized for his work on several... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards were James Giugliano, Corey Jennings, Veronica Lewis, Kate McHale, Kevin Stertzel, Dean Suehiro from the Division of Corporation Finance. These individuals have made myriad contributions to SEC employees as Union representatives.
Kevin Stertzel is currently serving as one of five members of the SEC Labor Management Forum, which was formed as a result of President Obama's Executive... Read more ...
Kevin Stertzel is currently serving as one of five members of the SEC Labor Management Forum, which was formed as a result of President Obama's Executive... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs this past year. Among the recipients of these Leadership Awards was Pat Copeland of the Division of Investment Management.
Pat was recognized for her participation on a number of national teams. She is currently serving as one of five members of the SEC Labor Management Forum, which was formed as a result of President Obama's Executive Order last year on labor-management partnership. As a Forum member, Pat meets regularly with senior... Read more ...
Pat was recognized for her participation on a number of national teams. She is currently serving as one of five members of the SEC Labor Management Forum, which was formed as a result of President Obama's Executive Order last year on labor-management partnership. As a Forum member, Pat meets regularly with senior... Read more ...
05/22/2011
5/22/11: During NTEU's steward training conference last week, several Chapter 293 leaders were recognized for their important work on national programs during this past year. Among the recipients of Leadership Awards were Dan Barry, James Fay, Lawrence Pisto and Paul Prata from the Boston Regional Office.
Dan Barry was recognized for serving as a co-chair of Chapter 293's Legislative Committee. In that capacity, he traveled to DC this year for NTEU's 2011 Legislative Conference, where he helped to coordinate and deliver a strong message on the Hill in support of the SEC's critical... Read more ...
05/14/2011
5/13/11: In a letter to every member of the Senate Budget Committee, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley called on that key body to reject efforts to impose drastic cuts to the federal workforce, enact a further freeze on federal pay and take other similar steps that would harm the government’s ability to provide needed services.
President Kelley criticized the disproportionate impact such proposals would have on federal employees in the name of deficit reduction. “These types of cuts will produce small savings, but will have a large and harmful effect on the civil service of our... Read more ...
05/14/2011
Click here to review updated stats from the "Evidence Based" Performance Management System ratings, including Enforcement/OCIE breakdowns by office.
05/14/2011
5/14/11: Negotiations between the Union and the SEC on the Collective Bargaining Agreement have commenced. The parties have met and reviewed the various articles of the agreement that will be on the table during the discussions. Further negotiating sessions have been scheduled through the end of the summer.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement or "CBA" is an important 200-page contract between NTEU and the SEC that sets forth a number of rights and benefits that the Union has negotiated for SEC employees. Our CBA has a three-year term that expired last fall. Upon the expiration of the... Read more ...
05/13/2011
5/14/11: Last month, NTEU Chapter 293 reported here that, due to Congress’ approval of the FY 2011 budget compromise, the SEC had agreed to implement its previous agreement with the Union to provide retroactive 1.875% merit pay awards for the performance period ending October 31, 2010, and that the awards would be effective within two pay periods. The SEC has now notified the Union that these awards will not be provided this pay period, but will instead be processed by pay period 14. The agency confirmed once again, however, that the merit pay awards will be 1.9%, that they will be... Read more ...
05/04/2011
5/4/11: NTEU National President Colleen Kelley today called on a key Senate Appropriations subcommittee to provide the agency with at least the $1.4 billion in fiscal 2012 funding contained in the administration’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
NTEU “believes that the president’s request is the minimum needed to make sure the SEC is able to do its job effectively,” President Kelley told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services.
“A $33 trillion industry of 35,000 separate entities is policed for fraud and illegal activities by a mere 3,800 employees of... Read more ...
05/04/2011
5/3/11: Unless Congress acts in the very near future, the federal government will soon come up against a statutory limitation on its borrowing authority to pay obligations it has already incurred. The Treasury Department has notified Congress that it intends to begin borrowing from federal pension funds on May 16, in order to meet financial obligations until legislation increasing the debt ceiling is enacted.
Current law allows the Treasury Secretary to use funds that are dedicated to the Civil Service Disability and Retirement Fund and the G Fund of the Thrift Savings Plan to pay debts... Read more ...
04/29/2011
4/29/11: In response to a national grievance filed by Chapter 293 in February, the SEC last week delivered to the Union a summary data set for the performance ratings that were distributed to employees in connection with the recently completed pilot of the SEC’s new, so-called “Evidence-Based Performance Management System” (the “EBP System”). Although some managers have released top-level ratings averages to some of their employees, the Union has compiled more detailed EBP System ratings data here, so that employees may place their own performance ratings into a more meaningful context by... Read more ...
04/20/2011
4/20/11: NTEU has launched an effort to obtain a mid-year increase in the mileage deduction for business-related travel to account for rising fuel prices. While it is unusual to have a mid-year adjustment, the Union will press the point that we are in unusual circumstances and that the current allowable level is inadequate for business and for government employees who use their vehicles for work. Very clear facts back us up on this.
As part of our effort, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley has written this letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who in his policy capacity has... Read more ...
04/15/2011
4/15/11: Yesterday, Congress approved the FY 2011 budget compromise, which will fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. This budget, which contains $38 billion in cuts to the discretionary budget demanded by the House, includes a $74 million increase over the FY 2010 budget for the SEC. For that reason, we are pleased to announce that the SEC will now implement its previous agreement with the Union to provide a 1.875% "equivalent share" merit pay increase to all SEC employees who received an acceptable rating for the performance period ending October... Read more ...
04/14/2011
4/14/11: Federal employees knocked out of the workforce because of a job-related injury should not be forced to exchange workers’ compensation benefits for payments from a retirement plan that the injured worker never had the chance to properly fund, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley told a House subcommittee in submitted comments.
Such a result “would cause grave economic hardship to many disabled workers,” President Kelley wrote to the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce.
The subcommittee has undertaken a review of the Federal Employees... Read more ...
04/14/2011
4/14/11: Yesterday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved by voice vote H.R. 828, the “Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2011,” which requires the federal government to fire federal employees if they have a tax debt. In advance of the hearing, NTEU wrote to every member of the committee outlining our opposition to the legislation. In our letter, we noted that requiring federal employees who are already facing a two-year pay freeze and a potential unpaid furlough, to immediately pay back taxes or be terminated is unfair, especially in light of the fact that... Read more ...
04/14/2011
The civil service in the United States is one of the best in the world, but it cannot survive if drastic cuts in personnel and resources are instituted as proposed in the House Budget Resolution passed this year, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley warned in this letter to House members.
President Kelley urged members to oppose H. Con. Res. 34, the budget resolution advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee. The House is expected to vote on the resolution this week.
The document contains undisguised frontal attacks on federal workers, including proposing... Read more ...
President Kelley urged members to oppose H. Con. Res. 34, the budget resolution advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee. The House is expected to vote on the resolution this week.
The document contains undisguised frontal attacks on federal workers, including proposing... Read more ...
04/12/2011
4/12/11: Just days after federal employees dodged furloughs due to the inability of Congress to pass appropriations bills, they find themselves the unfair object of attacks on two fronts in the House of Representatives, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley said yesterday.
President Kelley was highly critical of efforts to move legislation through the House Oversight and Government Reform that would require federal employees who owe taxes to be fired, no matter the reason. The committee vote on H.R. 828—which would apply that penalty to federal employees, with members of Congress... Read more ...
04/12/2011
4/12/11: The 2011 budget legislation unveiled by lawmakers this morning has $38 billion in overall cuts, but the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will receive increases over their 2010 budgets of $74 million and $34 million, respectively. This will place the SEC's budget at $1.185 billion for FY 2011.
These budgetary increases were necessary due to the fact that the SEC and the CFTC have increased responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law that was passed by the last Congress. The SEC in particular added 300 new employees... Read more ...
These budgetary increases were necessary due to the fact that the SEC and the CFTC have increased responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law that was passed by the last Congress. The SEC in particular added 300 new employees... Read more ...
04/09/2011
4/9/11: The President has signed a short-term continuing resolution while lawmakers consider a spending bill for the remaining months of fiscal 2011 thus averting a potentially disastrous government shutdown.
Early this morning, OMB issued this memorandum to federal agency heads stating that an agreement had been reached and "at this time agencies are instructed to continue their normal operations." The President has signed a seven-day stop gap funding measure today to keep the government open until the FY 2011 spending bill is passed. Congress is expected to take action by Friday.
The... Read more ...
04/08/2011
4/8/11: NTEU National President Colleen Kelley today said NTEU is “strongly in support of” bipartisan legislation that would result in federal workers furloughed in a government shutdown receiving retroactive pay for the duration of their forced absence.
“The hundreds of thousands of federal employees who would be forced from their jobs through no fault of their own deserve this legislation, and NTEU will press hard for its enactment,” said President Kelley.
The measure is H.R. 1429, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, co-sponsored by Rep. James Moran (D-Va.), Gerald... Read more ...