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FEEA Offers Feds a Variety of Assistance The Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund (FEEA) has made headlines in the NTEU e-Bulletin recently because the organization's scholarship application season is now in full swing for federal employees. But with the recent tornados in Florida, storms in New Orleans and heavy snowfall in the Northeast, NTEU is reminding federal employees that FEEA also offers emergency assistance for natural disasters. Emergency grants and no-interest loans are available for eligible federal workers. For information on FEEA and applications, visit www.FEEA.org.

NTEU Intensifies Fight Against Plan to Close FDA Labs 
NTEU is stepping up pressure to block a plan by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to close more than half of its regional laboratories—and Capitol Hill is taking notice.

In advance of this morning's congressional hearing on FDA efforts to assure drug safety, NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley sent a letter to key House members asking them to probe the proposal and its impact on public safety.

"NTEU believes this proposal is seriously misguided and asks that it be halted," Kelley wrote, adding that such a plan would compromise public safety. The NTEU leader reminded lawmakers that a similar proposal was made a decade ago and dropped after FDA failed to provide proof that large labs are more efficient than medium-sized ones.

Kelley's letter comes as opposition to the FDA plan continues to grow. House members on Friday joined their Senate counterparts in calling on FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach to halt any consolidation pending a thorough review of its impact. The request was made in a letter, signed by 25 House members, sent less than two weeks after 20 senators voiced similar concerns in their own letter.

President Kelley was also critical of the manner in which FDA has dealt with its employees regarding the closures. After months of rumors circulating throughout the workplace, FDA planned—and then abruptly cancelled—employee meetings on the restructuring. 

“Employees have the right to know the facts about things that impact their lives,” she said.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/
PressRelease.aspx?ID=1034>.

On Valentine's Day, NTEU Hopes for a Break-Up Between IRS and Private Collectors
On the eve of Valentine's Day, NTEU is shedding light on a relationship that is bound to lead to heartbreak for both taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In what President Kelley called a 'sweetheart deal', the IRS has handed out contracts for private companies to collect back taxes without requiring bidders to offer their best prices. This fiscal year, private debt collectors stand to make $11 million for bringing in $46 million in tax debt payments under the IRS program.

NTEU has warned that using private companies to collect tax debts is unnecessarily costly and opens taxpayers to aggressive tactics that IRS employees are prohibited from using. In her annual report to Congress, Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson agreed with NTEU's assessment, adding that the program "diminishes the improved image of the IRS and surrenders too many valuable components of our tax administration system."

Also voicing concerns that the IRS's relationship with private collection agencies is doomed are lawmakers from the House and Senate, where bills were recently introduced that would end the privatization program.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/Press
Release.aspx?ID=1036>. For a special Valentine's Day flier, click here or visit <www.
nteu.org/documents/valdaypcas.pdf>.

Report on Building Single DHS 'Culture' Missing Employee Input
A report advising senior leaders at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on how to build a 'blended culture' is missing one essential element—employee input, President Kelley said.

Instead of addressing real problems impacting the DHS workforce, the Homeland Security Task Force, comprised mostly of members from the private industry and academic sector, delivered what Kelley referred to as 'empty gestures'. Recommendations Kelley dismissed include the idea that employees will be empowered if DHS stops referring to them as 'human capital' and hiring contractors to improve the department's culture. These will only anger and frustrate employees who are already demoralized as a result of DHS-imposed workplace policies (Read about how NTEU is challenging these policies).

Kelley was not surprised that the report was off target given that "the task force apparently was never given the opportunity to hear the views of the actual employees tasked with carrying out the mission of DHS."

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.cbpunion.org/PressRelease/Press
Release.aspx?ID=1033>.

Don't Forget Your Fellow Feds This Valentine's Day
This Valentine's Day, while you are celebrating the special people in your life don't forget to recognize a remarkable coworker by nominating him or her for a Service to America Medal, or Sammie. Awards and accompanying cash prizes will be handed out in nine categories, including Federal Employee of the Year and Call to Service.

"There are many NTEU members who have quietly made profound contributions to their agencies and to this nation," said President Kelley, who will serve on the selection panel again this year. "The Sammies provide a chance to give them the attention they deserve."

For details and a nomination form, visit www.servicetoamericamedals.org.

Headlines

Union Supports Social Security Rule Change Bill
Federal Daily, February 13, 2007
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said it supports a House bill that would eliminate two Social Security provisions—the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)—that reduce benefits for some retired federal employees.

NTEU last week announced its backing for HR 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2007, a bipartisan measure cosponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif. The Social Security Administration estimates that more than 300,000 former federal workers have had their Social Security payments reduced as a result of the GPO, NTEU President Colleen Kelley said on Feb. 9.

For the complete story, click here or visit <http://federaldaily.com/federaldaily/archive
/2007/02/FD021307.htm#a>.


New on NTEU.org

'NTEU' Bulletin Features Guest Editorial by Key Senator
Regular readers of the NTEU Bulletin will notice something different in this month's edition, now available on NTEU.org. The front page features a guest editorial by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), one of the leading cosponsors of NTEU-supported legislation that would stop the IRS tax debt privatization program. "If the IRS needs more resources to use professional IRS employees for this job, let’s see that it has those resources," Sen. Dorgan writes. "There is no good reason for the IRS to rely on heavy handed private gumshoes, pursuing only the easiest cases, and working on commission."

With the first month of the new Congress now completed, the Bulletin recaps the early bills NTEU is supporting and outlines the union's legislative agenda for the remainder of 2007. In addition, the February Bulletin provides updates on NTEU's work at agencies including the FDA; Bureau of Customs and Border Protection; Food and Nutrition Service; Securities and Exchange Commission; and the Social Security Administration.

To read the Bulletin, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/UnionOffice/NTEUBulletin/>.