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Stop the Furloughs at SSA   Congress is currently working on the FY2007 Labor/HHS Appropriations bill. If lawmakers do not increase the funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA) above the amount proposed by the Appropriations Committee, employees at SSA will face a two-week furlough. This will severely harm the ability of SSA employees to complete their work and will result in delays for beneficiaries.  Please click here to find out how you can help stop the furloughs at SSA.

White House Sends 2.2 Percent Raise to Congress

NTEU harshly criticized a very disappointing alternative pay plan for 2007 that the White House last week sent Congress. The plan provides an average 2.2 percent federal pay raise, but changes the formula for how the locality portion is distributed. The president has put in place a plan that will give roughly half the federal workforce a raise of only 1.8 percent. Those employees are located in what is called the “Rest of the U.S.” locality area and will bear the brunt of what is the smallest federal raise in 18 years.

Under federal pay law if the president had not issued an alternative pay raise plan then the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) would have kicked in and employees would have received an average 8.6 percent increase. FEPCA provides a loophole for setting a raise smaller than called for in the law by declaring a national emergency. Every president has used the loophole to avoid the higher raises outlined in FEPCA.

In mid-October the Federal Salary Council joined with NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley in rejecting this change in formula because the full range of information from a newly reconstituted survey process on the wage gap done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is not yet available. The Council’s rejection of this approach coupled with the small amount of money in the overall raise should have indicated to the White House that this was not the year to change the formula but the administration apparently was uninterested in this reasoning.

The president’s pay plan also ignores congressional action on the federal increase. NTEU’s efforts at securing a higher 2007 increase resulted in approval by both the House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committee of a 2.7 percent raise for federal civilian workers. NTEU will continue to pursue a fair 2007 pay raise for civilian employees and members of the military—who also received only a 2.2 percent increase—when Congress completes its 2007 appropriations work early next year. At that time the union will also begin to address the question of federal pay for 2008.

“Overall, the action by the White House is a disservice to the talented, dedicated and experienced federal employees who serve the public every day. When you consider the sacrifices military families are making and the important contributions of the civilian workforce in the fight against terrorism, this 2.2 percent pay raise is simply unacceptable,” Kelley said.

Kelley Slams Gingrich Remarks
NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley issued a sharp rebuke to a former Speaker of the House of Representatives for disparaging remarks he made about the competency and dedication of federal employees. In a letter to former Speaker Newt Gingrich, President Kelley took issue with his characterization of the capabilities of employees at both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Election Commission (FEC).

“I would have thought that with your years and experience in public service,” Kelley wrote, “you would have more respect for federal employees. As president of the union representing the bargaining unit employees at both these agencies, including many of the attorneys, I know what every other informed observer knows—that these public servants are among the hardest working and most competent employees that would be found in any public or private sector organization.”

”Just as tax lawyers always succeed in out-thinking the (Internal Revenue Service) because they stay after five and the IRS goes home, the private-sector lawyers will always out-think the (Federal Election Commission) because they stay after five and the FEC goes home,” Gingrich told about 400 people at the Nackey Scripps Loeb First Amendment Awards dinner Monday. Associated Press, Nov. 29, 2006

Speaking at a dinner in New Hampshire last week, Gingrich pushed for elimination of federal campaign finance restrictions, which are enforced by the FEC. He also took a shot at IRS attorneys—who are widely acknowledged to be some of the most accomplished professionals in the legal community—arguing that they do not work long enough hours to be truly effective.

President Kelley pointed out in a letter to Gingrich that federal employees are “highly qualified men and women who have advanced degrees, experience and credentials that equal those in private sector circles.”

These are the people who serve our country by advancing the mission that Congress has given them, Kelley wrote. “Along with the other NTEU-represented federal workers such as the Department of Homeland Security employees that protect our border, the Food and Drug Administration employees that ensure the safety of our food, drugs and medical devices, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation employees that guard the soundness of our banks, the employees of the IRS and FEC are dedicated and highly skilled. They are a valuable asset to the federal service and it is unfortunate when they are wrongly belittled,” Kelley said.

To read President’s Kelley’s letter, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/documents/LtrtoGingrich.pdf>.

NTEU Spotlight—Listen to This Week’s Report
If you have 60 seconds, NTEU will give you the news. This week President Kelley addresses the federal pay raise and the administration’s alternative pay plan that provides only a 2.2 percent increase and urges listeners to contact their member of Congress to fully fund the Social Security Administration.

In the Washington, D.C., area you can hear President Kelley’s NTEU Spotlight on Federal News Radio (1050 AM). For those outside the D.C. area, you can listen online at www.federalnewsradio.com.

To get an exclusive preview of tomorrow’s report, click here.

 

Headlines

As IRS Scales Back Outsourcing, Union Remains Skeptical
Washington Post, November 30, 2006
It’s not easy changing the way you do business, especially if you are the Internal Revenue Service and your workload surges from January to April each year as taxpayers file returns and await refunds.

With that in mind, the IRS this month modified a $103 million contract, awarded six months ago, for the management of paper tax returns. The original plan to turn over the filing, storage and retrieval activities at seven IRS centers to a contractor Dec. 1 was altered so that, for now, the outsourcing will occur at just two centers.

[David Grant, IRS director of procurement] said the IRS and the contractor, IAP Worldwide Services, “mutually agreed” to limit the rollout of the contract to two centers, which he described as the best prepared for the workforce change. “No one has failed to perform on either side,” he said.

But the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents most of the agency’s rank-and-file workers, faulted the IRS for choosing to rely on a contractor rather than its employees and portrayed the agency as scrambling to reassign to other IRS jobs put in transition by the contracting decision.

To read the complete story, click here or visit <www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112901515.html>

 

New on NTEU.org

NTEU Deepens the Discounts at BJ’s Wholesale Club
The benefits of NTEU membership now extend from the corridors of federal buildings to the aisles of one of America’s favorite wholesale clubs. Just in time for the holiday shopping season, NTEU is offering members discounted membership fees, special rewards and other incentives for shopping at BJ’s Wholesale Club. These include:

• $30 annual Inner Circle Membership Fee (new or renewal). A savings of $15 off the normal membership fee.
• $65 Rewards Membership Fee (new or renewal). A savings of $15 off the normal membership fee.
• 15-month membership on both the Inner Circle and Rewards memberships. This means you get 3 extra months for free!
• Free second membership card for one household member.

Enrollment is limited to four designated open periods a year. The current enrollment period for applications runs through Dec. 15. NTEU will alert members about future open enrollment periods in the e-Bulletin and on our web site. For more information, or to find a BJ’s Wholesale Club near you, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/MemberBenefits/DiscountsMem.aspx>.