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Research Dental, Vision Plans Online Federal employees and retirees, for the first time, are able to sign up for government-sponsored dental and vision benefits. The enrollment deadline for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program is Dec. 11, but NTEU members who have not yet selected a plan need not fret. NTEU members can make an informed decision without spending hours comparing plans and rates using a free online tool. The non-profit Consumers’ Checkbook allows members to compare the new dental and vision offerings, as well as other insurance plans under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program. To start comparing plans, click here or visit <www. nteu.org/MemberBenefits/ OverviewMem.aspx>.

IRS Contractor Fails to Deliver — Again
Yet another contractor hired to do the work of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has failed to deliver on its agreement, leaving employees to once again pick up the pieces. This time, the contractor hired to manage taxpayer files, IAP Worldwide Services, will fall short of its obligation to take over work at seven IRS call sites by Dec. 1, IRS employees have been told. Instead, IAP will manage the submission processing files function at only two of the sites for at least another six months. This leaves the IRS just days to find staff to perform the sensitive work after months of transitioning employees out of their jobs.

This latest contractor failure comes after IRS employees originally won the A-76 competition in August 2005, only to have the agency reopen the competition in response to a protest from a losing private sector company. Upon reexamining the bids, IAP was awarded the 5-year, $103 million contract.

In 2001, IRS employees in Massachusetts reconstructed tens of thousands of tax returns and worked with taxpayers to get proper payments after an IRS contractor, Mellon Bank, destroyed the documents and $1 billion in checks.

For the complete story, click here or visit <http://www.nteu.org/PressKits/ PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=989>.

NTEU To Pursue Grievance Against DOE Delay of Bonuses
NTEU is strongly opposing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to delay bonuses and promotions for employees until Congress acts on the department’s fiscal 2007 appropriations bill. The union intends to file a national grievance calling for bargaining unit employees to receive the awards they earned plus interest. In addition, NTEU will work to enforce the rights of employees to career ladder promotions on due dates. “Employees should not be made to suffer in any fashion for the failure of DOE management to plan adequately and budget appropriately,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. To read NTEU’s statement on the issue, click here or visit <http://www.nteu.org/PressKits/ PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=986>.

Senators Call for SSA Funding to be Restored
More than half the members of the U.S. Senate have urged their leaders to restore substantial proposed funding cuts to the fiscal 2007 budget for the Social Security Administration (SSA)—a move strongly supported by NTEU.

In a letter advanced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)—both members of the Senate Finance Committee—54 senators warned that a proposed cut of some $401 million in SSA funding for administrative expenses in this fiscal year would only worsen staffing shortages and related problems that have “seriously lessened the quality of service our constituents have come to rely on.”

In September, NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley sent a letter to senators expressing her deep concern that unless SSA is funded at a higher amount than has been allocated by the Appropriations Committee, SSA will be forced to furlough its employees for ten days and make other harmful cutbacks in hiring, overtime and agency operations.

For the complete story, click here or visit <http://www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=990>.

NTEU Spotlight—Listen to This Week’s Report
If you have 60 seconds, NTEU will give you the news. Join thousands of your colleagues who have tuned to Federal News Radio for President Kelley’s weekly updates since their debut earlier this month. The NTEU Spotlight has so far tackled such hot federal employee topics as outsourcing, workplace rights, pay and benefits.

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.

NTEU Cautiously Views IRS Decision to Cancel A-76 for Seat Management
NTEU is viewing cautiously the IRS decision not to move forward with a public-private competition for its Seat Management work, but the union remains concerned about the agency’s future plans for the work and who will perform it.

After wasting time and money and creating anxiety among employees, the IRS announced last week that it was calling off the A-76 study impacting more than 2,000 Modernization and Information Technology Services (MITS) workers. In an e-mail to employees, the IRS said it plans to provide the Treasury Department and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with an analysis of alternative with timelines for all Seat Management activities by the end of the year.

NTEU will closely monitor the IRS’s next steps and continue to press management for more information so that MITS employees can make informed decisions about their futures. In the meantime, NTEU will carry the message to the Treasury Department, OMB and Capitol Hill that no one can perform MITS work better than in-house employees who are given the tools and resources they need.

Headlines

The surprising rebound of unions
Federal Times, November 27, 2006

In the early days of President Bush’s administration, it appeared federal unions were in for hard times.

The administration — abetted by a supportive Congress — took steps that seemed squarely aimed at marginalizing the unions. It disbanded the labor-union partnerships that existed across the government. It announced an aggressive campaign to open tens of thousands of federal jobs to contractor competition. It replaced all the members of the federal panel that resolves labor impasses with people whom unions viewed as hostile. It barred unions from the new Transportation Security Administration. And in 2003, it began efforts to dismantle the government’s 45-year-old collective bargaining rules at two of the biggest departments: Homeland Security and Defense.

But the unions fought back — in the federal courts, in Congress and, most recently, at the ballot boxes. And instead of finding themselves on the ropes, federal unions have scored an impressive string of successes that have convinced many they still have an important say over federal workplace matters.

[NTEU National President Colleen M.] Kelley said her union has been occupied with lawsuits and court battles for much of the last six years, trying to get the Bush administration to simply honor its agreements. Kelley cited as one example NTEU’s 58-month struggle to get Customs and Border Protection to pay officers for an extra sixth day of work when they attend training sessions.

“I file more national grievances to enforce contract language than ever before,” Kelley said. “Those take a huge toll on morale of the work force and make people question if this is where they want to work.”

For the complete story, click here or visit <http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2384212>.

 

New on NTEU.org

NTEU Helps Cut Through the Locality Pay Confusion
As federal employees know, figuring out the amount of your annual pay raise is a two-step process. First, the across-the-board portion of the increase is set, then the locality pay portion kicks in. This system was established by the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA) but because that law has never been fully implemented there are often questions about how it works.

To help NTEU members understand how this law operates, and what happens behind-the-scenes, NTEU has posted a Fact Sheet on the topic. To read the Fact Sheet, click here, or visit <http://www.nteu.org/Documents/FactSheetonLocalityPay.doc>.