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NTEU Recognizes IRS Employees on Tax Day
Last year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collected $2,268,895,122 in taxes and processed 228,985,300 returns.

These staggering figures make the IRS one of the world's most efficient tax administrators, an accomplishment that would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of IRS employees.

With the tax filing deadline here, NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley thanks IRS employees for their year-round work collecting taxes and helping Americans meet their tax obligations.

NTEU is honored to represent IRS employees and is committed to ensuring that they are given the resources necessary to continue being successful. As recently as Thursday, President Kelley brought this message to Congress when she submitted testimony to the Senate Finance Committee for a hearing on the IRS budget and 2007 tax filing season. Adequate resources would enable tax collection, inherently governmental work, to remain in the hands of IRS employees who each tax season continue to prove their efficiency, Kelley said.

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Save the FDA Labs The effects of the FDA's reorganization plan extend beyond the seven cities with labs marked for closure. This plan impacts the safety and well-being of Americans nationwide. For example, the Detroit FDA lab tests imported food and drug samples from Canada and medical supplies provided to the military, among other duties. If this facility is closed, food and drugs that would have been tested locally will have to be shipped to other facilities around the country, delaying testing and jeopardizing the integrity and safety of the samples. To learn more about what the FDA labs do and how you can protect them, click here or visit <www.nteu .org/FDALabs/FDALabs.aspx>.

NTEU Hosts Congressman's Tour of Detroit FDA Lab
NTEU Chapter 230 on Friday hosted Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) in a tour of the Detroit Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lab, one of seven regional facilities slated to shut down by 2009.

"We are still waiting for the FDA to explain how it is serving the public interest by shutting down more than half of their labs at a time when we are experiencing life threatening food outbreaks," said Rep. Dingell, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce which has jurisdiction over food and drug safety.

Rep. Dingell has demanded an explanation from the FDA regarding its lab closure plan, a component of the proposed Office of Regulatory Affairs reorganization, and has asked that it be suspended pending committee review.

“This proposal would compromise efforts to protect the safety of the nation’s food and drug supply,” said Kelley. “With the serious food-related illness issues that have arisen recently – pet food, peanut butter, spinach – the FDA needs to bolster its resources, not deplete them.”

Also on Friday, NTEU held a telephone lunch-and-learn to update FDA employees on the union's efforts to stop the consolidation. Among the participants were NTEU members in Toledo, Brunswick and Cincinnati, Ohio; Indianapolis; and Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Mich.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/
PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1079>.

DHS Regulations a 'Litany of Failures,' Kelley to Testify Thursday
President Kelley will address several key issues negatively impacting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees when she testifies Thursday before a House Homeland Security subcommittee exploring the agency's morale crisis.

Kelley singled out the DHS personnel regulations as a "litany of failures" that will only add to the agency's "abysmal morale and extensive recruitment and retention challenges" and further undermine its national security mission.

DHS recently announced plans to move forward with certain segments of its regulations dealing with adverse actions, appeals and performance management. At NTEU's urging, the House Homeland Security Committee approved an amendment repealing the DHS personnel rules in its markup of the agency’s fiscal 2008 authorization bill.

Other serious issues Kelley will raise in her testimony include inadequate staffing at the nation’s land, sea and airports; DHS plans to implement a new pay-for-performance system; the “One Face at the Border” program; and the pressing need to extend law enforcement officer status to Customs and Border Protection Officers.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/
PressRelease.aspx?ID=1080>.


NTEU Wins Back Pay For NPS Employees Performing Higher-Graded Duties
Seven National Park Service (NPS) employees who were not appropriately compensated for performing higher-graded duties will share more than $37,000 in back pay and interest under a settlement reached by NTEU Chapter 296.

"We are very pleased that these employees will finally receive their due pay for serving in higher-graded positions for extended periods of time," said Chapter 296 President Timothy McKeown, who filed two grievances on behalf of the employees.

NTEU Chapter 296 represents nearly 800 employees affiliated with the NPS headquarters office.

NTEU Fights IRS Limitations on Flexiplace Locations
The IRS had no right to limit employees' flexiplace locations to their commuting area, an arbitrator ruled in a case brought by NTEU. The IRS attempted to impose that limitation during the last round of term bargaining, but NTEU successfully kept it out of the contract.

The arbitrator agreed with NTEU that many employees suffered from this limitation and gave the parties 180 days to reach agreement on correcting the harm. At the hearing, one employee testified that she had to decline a promotion because management denied her request to work at a flexiplace location outside the position's post of duty.

In his ruling, the arbitrator required that IRS Commissioner Mark Everson sign and post a notice on all official bulletin boards for 60 days stating that the agency will not refuse to comply with the statute requiring bargaining over workplace changes and will not enforce the March 2006 memorandum limiting flexiplace locations.

NTEU is awaiting word on whether management will appeal the decision. If an appeal is not filed, NTEU will immediately begin settlement negotiations with the IRS and pursue retroactive promotions, reinstatements and back pay with interest for impacted employees.


Headlines

Mail Replaces Many Face-to-Face IRS Audits
USA Today, April 13, 2007
American taxpayers are more likely to face IRS audits, but they will probably undergo examination by mail, rather than in face-to-face meetings, new reports show.

IRS audits more than doubled over the last six years, increasing from 617,765 in 2000 to nearly 1.3 million in 2006, according to an analysis by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

But while the number of face-to-face audits grew by just over 20% during that time, the rate of what the IRS refers to as correspondence audits increased from 71% in 2000 to 82% in 2006, the analysis found.

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, contended this week that increasing use of mail audits result from "staffing problems at the IRS."

"Congress needs to give the IRS the money needed to do its job," said Kelley, whose union represents IRS workers. "They do need more funding. They need more staffing."

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2007-04-12-irs-sidebar-usat_N.htm>.


New on NTEU.org


Plan Your Summer Vacation on NTEU.org
It may be cool and blustery where you are, but spring is officially here and that means it's time to plan your summer vacation. Before booking any reservations, visit the Member Benefits section of NTEU.org to find out how you can save on rental cars and stays at popular hotels nationwide. Then, visit NTEU's online shopping web site for savings on photo development, sporting goods, music, books, toys and other necessities for a summer family road trip. Click here or visit <www.nteu.org/Member
Benefits/OverviewMem.aspx>.