Top Stories

NTEU Remembers Hurricane Katrina One year ago today, Hurricane Katrina whipped through the Gulf Region leaving behind it a path of lost lives and destroyed homes and communities. NTEU members responded quickly, donating tens of thousands of dollars to the NTEU Hurricane Fund established through the Federal Employees Education and Assistance Fund (FEEA). These contributions went directly to assist federal employees in NTEU-represented agencies who were victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as other disasters. For its part, NTEU matched the first $25,000 in donations to the fund. The need for donations remains as this year's hurricane season intensifies and last year's victims continue to return to their homes and rebuild their lives. To donate, visit www.FEEA.org

NTEU Efforts Result in Hundreds of
Articles On Tax Debt Privatization
When NTEU said it was going to take the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) tax debt privatization plan head on, it meant it. And with the roll-out date approaching, NTEU has been intensifying its efforts with an all-out media blitz.

Last week alone, NTEU's opposition to hiring private debt collectors to pursue unpaid tax debts was featured in hundreds of media outlets nationwide including USA Today, Forbes, The Washington Post, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and MSNBC.com. The articles point to NTEU's opposition to the program and the sample letter on www.nteuIRSwatch.org for taxpayers to demand that the IRS handle their case.

In fact, the issue has garnered so much media coverage that it was the topic of over a dozen newspaper editorials and was featured on NBC Nightly News and CNN's The Situation Room. Yesterday, NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley was interviewed by NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C., on the outsourcing of tax collection work. In addition, Kelley was interviewed about the issue on Boston's WBZ News Radio (NTEU members can listen to the broadcast by clicking here and logging in.)

With Congress returning next week from its August recess, NTEU will resume working with lawmakers to put an end to the costly and ill-advised scheme. For more information and to view some of NTEU's media coverage, visit www.nteuIRSwatch.org.


Kelley Meets with Treasury Secretary Paulson
President Kelley met with the newly appointed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last week to brief him on several key issues impacting IRS employees and to extend NTEU's assistance in addressing them.

Specifically, Kelley underscored the negative impact of inadequate funding on the agency's ability to hire the staff it needs to narrow the tax gap. She cited tax debt collection as an example of work that, with adequate resources for staffing, in-house employees could do for a fraction of the cost of private collection agencies.

In addition, Kelley voiced NTEU's objections to IRS plans to slash in half the number of Estate and Gift Tax Attorneys and lay off employees at submissions processing sites who can be trained to perform the worked being handed off to private debt collectors. She expressed her appreciation to Paulson for his time and will meet with the Secretary as needed in the future.

NCUA Employees Gather for NTEU Meeting
NTEU Chapter 303 took advantage of the National Credit Union Administration's (NCUA) conference in Dallas to host a reception for bargaining unit employees. Nearly 100 employees attended the meeting where the discussion focused on the long and difficult process of bargaining over a term contract, along with other workplace issues. The Aug. 22 reception was the first of two NTEU meetings taking place at the conference, with the second meeting set for today.

For more information on NTEU negotiations at NCUA, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/Members/
NCUA.aspx>.


Chapter 67 Celebrates Labor Recognition Week
NTEU members at the IRS Ogden Service Center got an early start to celebrating Labor Recognition Week when Chapter 67 hosted a Luau-themed fair on Aug. 16-17.

The two-day event, held in a park near the IRS campus in Ogden, featured several different tents where attendees did everything from registering to vote, to shopping for crafts, to learning more about NTEU member benefits. One highlight of the event was the exclusive tent where NTEU members indulged in five-minute massages, entered a members-only raffle for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree and picked up tickets for a complimentary lunch provided by the chapter.

The chapter, led by President Juanita Christensen, hosted a recruitment tent where they signed up 41 new members who got all the perks of the members-only tent, along with the daily benefits of belonging to NTEU.

Chapter 67 showed off its sense of humor with a dunk tank where chapter leaders, NTEU field representatives and managers served as the soaking wet targets. The nearly $600 in proceeds from the dunk tank and raffles went towards much-requested refrigerators and toaster ovens for employee break rooms.

For more on Labor Recognition Week, set for Sept. 25-29, visit www.NTEU.org/LRW.aspx.