Top Stories

NTEU Runs the Numbers This Tax Season
As the tax-filing deadline nears and Americans do their last-minute number crunching, NTEU has its own list of numbers taxpayers should know about.

From how much private debt collectors plan to profit from tax debt collection contracts to the decline in audits of high-income taxpayers, NTEU has compiled an exhaustive list of figures on the IRS budget, staffing and the ongoing tax debt privatization program.

At a tax season press conference NTEU held yesterday, President Colleen M. Kelley warned that “short-changing the IRS leads to out-of-whack enforcement” resulting in "inadequate attention being directed toward high-income taxpayers and large corporations.”

And Kelley had the numbers to prove it. While the tax gap keeps growing, both the rate of face-to-face audits and the amount of time auditors are permitted to spend on corporate cases have declined.

In another revealing set of figures, private collection agencies say they can bring in $1.4 billion over 10 years, while IRS employees could collect an additional $9 billion in tax debts in just one year with a modest boost in resources.

For the complete story and list of figures and their sources, visit www.nteuIRSwatch.org.

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Bill Promotes Teleworking Government-wide It's environmentally sound, reduces commuting costs and saves the government money. Not to mention it boosts employee morale. Despite the multiple benefits of telework and a congressional mandate to increase its use, this important program lags in the federal sector. Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) have taken action to change this by introducing legislation (S. 1000) that would require federal agencies to have a telework manager and deem all federal positions eligible for telework unless specifically exempted. To learn more about the Telework Enhancement Act of 2007, click here or visit <http: // capwiz.com/nteu/ issues/alert/?alertid= 9593821&type=CO>.

NTEU-Supported FLRA Nominee 
To Receive Recess Appointment
NTEU welcomed the president's recess appointment of Carol Waller Pope to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Pope was first appointed to the three-member board in 2000 and served until her term expired last year, leaving the Democratic seat vacant.

"Ms. Pope is extremely qualified and this appointment allows her to quickly bring her wealth of knowledge and experience to FLRA business," President Kelley said. Earlier this year, Kelley called for Pope's reappointment to the FLRA, explaining that the Authority's role is too important to leave seats open for any period of time.

Flexible Schedules Key to Feds with Dependents
The benefit federal employees are utilizing more than any other to address their dependent care needs is scheduling flexibility, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last week. Alternative work schedules are especially important to the 51 percent of employees surveyed with children, since most young kids are cared for at home. The survey found that a small portion, only 3 percent of infants, receive care in a federal center.

Is telework important to you? "Take action" in the article above to boost teleworking.

Alternative work schedules are so important to employees who care for children and elderly parents that 67 percent of those surveyed said flexibilities played a key role in their decision to stay at their agencies. Still, 11 percent of employees did not know what workplace scheduling flexibilities were offered by their agency.

The survey of 40,000 randomly-selected federal employees, conducted last spring, found that agencies also need to beef up their communication of other benefits. More than 60 percent of employees with dependents did not know about the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account. Only seven percent of employees established such an account, which allows workers to make pre-tax contributions to pay for dependent care.

The same applies to federal day care centers, a benefit less than 10 percent of employees with children are using and 39 percent know about.

At many of the agencies it represents, NTEU has negotiated alternative work schedules, telework, flexiplace and other benefits to help employees handle their needs. To find out what is available in your workplace, visit your Union Office.


Headlines

OPM Seeks Input on Proposed Nuclear Security Pay System
GovExec, April 4, 2007
A large group of employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration can expect to come under a trial pay-for-performance system beginning in January 2008, officials said at a public hearing Wednesday.

The demonstration project will encompass more than 2,000 employees across every major headquarters and field organization of NNSA, which is a semi-autonomous agency within the Energy Department.

The National Treasury Employees Union submitted comments to OPM on March 30, expressing disappointment in the project. "Taken as a whole, the proposed system fails to advance the public's interest in protecting nuclear security," NTEU wrote.

The union said it objects to the demonstration project "in its entirety," arguing that there is "dismal" evidence that pay for performance has worked in other agencies, such as the Homeland Security and Defense departments. "The proposed system lacks transparency, credibility and fairness, as it is not set by statute and is subjective, which will lead to at least the appearance of favoritism," the union wrote.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0407/
040407b1.htm>.


New on NTEU.org


New 'Status Call' Now Available Online
Members can now go online to read about NTEU's recent legal successes and current courtroom battles in the new edition of Status Call. Find out how NTEU preserved a Customs and Border Protection Officer's right to serve on his local city council and how the union protected Social Security Administration employees from fines as large as $3.5 million. Learn why NTEU is opposing the government-wide Federal Career Intern Program and supporting a former U.S. Park Police chief who lost her job.

To read Status Call, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/UnionOffice/StatusCall/>.