Union News Archive
03/10/2011
3/10/11: Yesterday the Senate rejected two long term spending bills that would have provided government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Senate first rejected 44-56 a House-Republican passed bill (H.R.1) that would fund government programs for the balance of FY ’11 at a level $57.5 billion below current spending, and almost $100 billion below the President’s FY ’11 request. NTEU strongly opposed H.R. 1 during House consideration of the bill because of the devastating impact it would have on the ability of federal agency’s to complete their missions and urged Senate rejection... Read more ...
03/05/2011
3/4/11: On Thursday the President signed a short term spending bill that will keep the government running for two more weeks after the current funding measure was set to expire on Friday, March 4.
The measure, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), cuts roughly $4 billion in discretionary spending while extending funding authority for the government by two weeks, from March 4 until March 18. Many of the cuts in the spending measure will be to earmarks and to programs, many of which are supported by the Administration, and thus enjoyed bipartisan support and easy passage.
The CR was... Read more ...
03/05/2011
3/4/11: Federal officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty were honored Wednesday night at a candlelight vigil held by NTEU, which represents 26,000 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees. Joining NTEU National President Colleen Kelley and hundreds of union members at the annual Vigil of Lights was Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin, along with CBP assistant commissioners. The vigil was at the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
“This year the names of two CBP Officers have been... Read more ...
02/25/2011
2/25/11: NTEU Chapter 293 today filed a national grievance against the SEC seeking to compel the agency to provide meaningful, transparent information, in a timely fashion, regarding the distribution of performance ratings to employees in connection with their performance in the last part of FY 2010.
Last July, the SEC pressed ahead with its launch of its new performance management system in the Division of Enforcement and the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. This was to be a "dry run" of the system, during which SEC managers would rate most Enforcement and OCIE... Read more ...
02/23/2011
2/22/11: Early Saturday morning the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the Continuing Resolution (CR) for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2011 that would reduce federal spending to agencies by approximately $61.5 billion below the FY 2010 levels and $96.6 billion beneath the President’s request for FY 2011. The measure passed in a vote of 235-189. NTEU opposed the measure and will work with the Senate to defeat it. The current CR expires on March 4, and unless the CR is enacted to fund federal agencies or another stopgap CR is passed while the House and Senate are negotiating, a... Read more ...
02/23/2011
2/23/11: NTEU Chapter 293 will soon be engaging in important negotiations over its Collective Bargaining Agreement with the SEC. The Collective Bargaining Agreement is the contract that the Union has negotiated on behalf of all non-management SEC employees. It contains the rights and benefits that in many ways define your work life and experience as an SEC employee, including alternative work schedules, telework, credit hours, career ladder promotion rights, the Student Loan Repayment Program, and a host of others. You can review its provisions here.
The term of our current CBA ended in... Read more ...
02/23/2011
2/23/11: As part of an agreement negotiated by Chapter 293, SEC Paralegals and Case Management Specialists across the nation will soon be receiving higher grades.
Last year, as part of the memorandum of understanding negotiated by the Union regarding the reorganization of the Division of Enforcement, the SEC agreed to conduct classification studies for Paralegals and Case Management Specialists. To conduct these studies, the SEC retained a contractor whose consultants interviewed a representative sample of position incumbents and their managers to discuss the duties they performed.
As... Read more ...
02/23/2011
2/23/11: Chapter 293 won an arbitration this month on behalf of an SEC attorney who contested the denial of his application to participate in a 4-day recurring telework arrangement under the Expanded Telework Trial Program. The federal arbitrator ruled that the SEC had violated Article 11, Section 13, of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and ordered the agency to place the employee on a 4-day telework schedule within 14 days of receipt of the order.
Division of Corporation Finance Management originally denied this employee's application for 4-day telework, supposedly because the nature... Read more ...
02/23/2011
2/23/11: If the House and Senate fail to reach a deal on the current continuing resolution by its expiration date of March 4, the federal government will shut down. SEC employees have expressed anxieties to the Union about how this could affect their compensation and benefits. A shutdown could result in a substantial loss in pay for SEC employees. It may also result in interruptions to employee benefits such as health insurance.
During a shutdown, only so-called "essential" federal employees may continue to work and be paid. "Essential" employees are typically involved with protecting... Read more ...
02/19/2011
Over the past few days, tens of thousands of Wisconsinites have been gathering in Madison to protest Governor Scott Walker’s attempt to strip the public employees’ unions in Wisconsin of their right to collective bargaining. As public employees, we at NTEU Chapter 293 stand with these middle class public employees.
It is vital to understand clearly what is happening today in Wisconsin. The Governor’s bill is the latest battle in what is shaping up to be a full frontal assault across our nation against government employees’ unions and, by extension, against all middle class workers. This... Read more ...
02/16/2011
2/16/11: NTEU has sent this letter to the entire House of Representatives urging a “no” vote on an amendment by Chairman Darryl Issa (CA), who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which would bar federal funds from being used for step increases. The Issa Amendment # 569 is to H.R. 1, the FY 2011 Continuing Appropriations bill. It could come up on the House Floor later tonight or tomorrow. This is another onerous amendment that singles out federal employees for allegedly deficit reduction purposes and diminishes the important work of government by barring these well-... Read more ...
02/16/2011
2/16/11: NTEU has sent this letter to the entire House of Representatives urging a “no” vote on an amendment by Representative Todd Rokita (R-IN), to H.R. 1, the FY 2011 Continuing Appropriations bill, now pending on the floor of the House of Representatives. The Rokita Amendment, which came up very quickly, is poorly drafted and NTEU is examining it to determine its reach. As drafted, it requires that no funds may be used to implement any increase “in the rate of salary or basic pay for any office or position” within the federal government.
The amendment could affect performance-based... Read more ...
02/15/2011
"We are about to debate the budget from my Republican colleagues that will provide such inadequate funding for the SEC and the CFTC as to make all this academic. Agencies that are not well-funded are not going to do a good job."
-- Representative Barney Frank, Ranking Minority Member of the House Financial Services Committee
02/15/2011
2/15/11: Yesterday the President submitted his Fiscal Year 2012 budget proposal to Congress. This budget includes the administration’s proposals for the federal budget that begins October 1 of this year, and should not be confused with the Republican leadership’s proposal to cut $100 billion from the FY 2011 budget request, which is the subject of a separate report. Both measures would need to be approved by Congress.
The FY 2012 proposed budget assumes the federal pay freeze for FY 2012 which was enacted into law last fall. As to federal agency funding, the President’s budget would... Read more ...
02/15/2011
2/15/11: OPM published notices in the Federal Register (on January 28 and February 3) that an open season period will be held for new enrollments in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) from April 4 through June 24. According to the notices, active employees and their spouses or same-sex domestic partners who are not currently enrolled in FLTCIP will be eligible to apply with abbreviated underwriting. According to OPM’s web site “abbreviated underwriting” involves a determination based on few health-related questions during an application process. Nonenrolled retirees and... Read more ...
02/15/2011
2/15/11: On February 11, the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Harold Rogers (KY), introduced legislation that would slash government funding for the remainder of FY ‘11 to $100 billion below the President’s original FY ‘11 budget request. The bill is designed to replace the current Continuing Resolution set to expire March 4, and is scheduled to be voted on by the House this week.
As currently written, the legislation would drastically reduce funding for various NTEU represented agencies far below the President’s budget proposal for the remainder of FY ‘11. Funding for the... Read more ...
01/27/2011
1/27/11: On Tuesday, President Obama’s State of the Union address included a proposed five-year spending freeze on discretionary spending and plans for government reform. In this press release to the media, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley expressed grave concerns about the impact of a spending freeze when many agencies are already facing staffing shortages and insufficient resources to fulfill their missions. Additionally, Kelley said NTEU will be closely monitoring any plans for government reform to ensure the focus remains on the effective delivery of services to the American... Read more ...
01/27/2011
"We trained hard ... but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."
01/20/2011
1/20/11: Next week the House of Representatives is expected to consider a resolution that seeks to reduce nonsecurity, discretionary funding for the remainder of the fiscal year to FY 2008 levels. In advance of the vote, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley has written to every member of the House detailing the negative effects that such drastic funding reductions would have on NTEU-represented agencies’ ability to meet their missions and urging them to oppose it. Review a copy of the letter here.
While the resolution itself would not reduce discretionary funding, it would set total... Read more ...
01/14/2011
1/14/11: On Monday, January 10, NTEU legislative leaders from Union chapters across the country, including Chapter 293 Legislative Committee Co-Chair Cate Whiting from SEC Headquarters, met to discuss NTEU’s legislative program and legislative agenda for the 2011 National Legislative Conference. This NTEU Legislative Advisory Committee met with NTEU National President Colleen Kelley to make their recommendations -- which this year included a priority item for SEC employees.
During NTEU's Legislative Conference, which will occur in late February, hundreds of Union members from across the... Read more ...
01/14/2011
1/14/11: Unlike the SEC, other FIRREA agencies, as well as other federal agencies, have been moving ahead with their performance-based pay increases, which are not covered by the federal pay freeze.
OPM has made it clear that administratively determined pay increases that are based solely on an individual employee’s performance are not covered by the pay freeze, except for senior executives and senior-level employees who are covered by special pay restrictions under the pay freeze legislation. This includes performance-based pay increases provided under alternative pay systems that are... Read more ...
01/14/2011
1/14/11: On January 12, Rep. Mike Coffman (CO) introduced H.R. 270, a bill in the House of Representatives calling for two weeks of mandatory unpaid leave for federal employees. This bill would require federal employees to be furloughed for a total of two weeks in Fiscal Year 2012, which begins in October of 2011. The measure has been referred to the House Administration Committee, as well as the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and the Judiciary.
NTEU opposes this ill-advised measure and will work against it. The Union believes it unfairly singles out federal employees in... Read more ...
01/14/2011
1/14/11: The nation’s largest independent federal union joined a coalition of 15 organizations in a letter to President Obama calling on the White House to reject proposals that would cut federal civilian retirement and health benefits, freeze federal pay and reduce the federal workforce by 10 percent. See the letter here.
“These proposals send the wrong message about public service at a time when it is critical for the federal government to retain and recruit talented and knowledgeable employees to address today’s complex challenges,” said NTEU National President Colleen Kelley. NTEU has... Read more ...
01/14/2011
1/14/2011: A bill proposed in the House this week would implement drastic cuts across the federal government with little concern for resulting negative consequences and would seriously undermine critical services to the American people, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley said today.
“This legislation includes draconian measures that undermine the federal workforce,” said President Kelley. “This bill would reduce federal agencies’ abilities to meet their missions and would likely result in administrative delays, fewer staff to handle increasing workloads, longer phone waits and lines,... Read more ...
01/13/2011
With the recent inclement weather, it has come to the attention of the Union that some managers are providing inaccurate information about employees’ obligations in the event of a snowstorm. Below is a brief discussion of your obligations under our current Collective Bargaining Agreement in the event of a closure, delay or if you are not able to come to your office due to a storm.
If your office is closed or subject to a delayed opening due to a storm, you are not obligated to come in to the office to work until it reopens, and you will be given administrative leave. Pursuant to clear... Read more ...