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NTEU Prepares For LEO Status Push While Congress is on break, NTEU is hard at work seeking additional cosponsors of legislation that would provide law enforcement officer (LEO) status to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers and Revenue Officers at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Senate bill, S. 3652, has four cosponsors, while the House companion measure, H.R. 1002, has 159 cosponsors. NTEU is striving to boost these numbers during the post-election lame duck session to gain momentum for the bills when they are up for reintroduction in the next Congress. LEO status provides the option for early retirement. To learn how you can help, click here or visit <http:// capwiz.com/nteu/issues/ alert/?alertid=8906466 &type=CO>.

NTEU Files Grievance Over IRS Awards Payments
NTEU has once again filed a national grievance over the distribution of the National Performance Awards after Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees reported various errors and problems with this year’s payouts.

The grievance alleges that the IRS under-funded the awards program, incorrectly applied the formula for calculating awards and failed to pay certain employees who were due awards, among several other violations.

Since NTEU first negotiated the mandatory performance awards program in 1994, the union has closely monitored payments to ensure that all those employees who earned rewards receive them. NTEU has regularly filed national and local grievances that have resulted in millions for employees who received less than they were entitled to, and in some cases no awards.

Look for updates on NTEU’s grievance in future editions of the NTEU e-Bulletin.

Federal Retirees To Get 3.3 Percent COLA in 2007
The government on Wednesday announced next year’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for federal retirees.

Retirees in the Civil Service Retirement System will receive a 3.3 percent increase in their first annuity checks received in January 2007. Those in the Federal Employees Retirement System who are 62 or older will receive a 2.3 percent boost next year. Under both programs, recipients who have been retired for less than one year will receive prorated annuities.

The COLA is based on the rise in the consumer price index from the third quarter of one year through the third quarter of the next.

The issue of how much of a raise current civilian employees will receive next year is still being debated in Congress. The House and a Senate Appropriations Committee have both approved a 2.7 percent increase, leaving it up to the full Senate to take action on the issue when it returns from a break next month.

DOE Steps Back From Implementing New Performance Management System
The Department of Energy (DOE) has agreed to postpone implementation of a new performance management system at headquarters following a protracted dispute with NTEU. The agency’s decision leaves intact the current performance management system until Oct. 1, 2007; exactly the outcome NTEU sought.

The issue arose last October when DOE headquarters management attempted to reopen the NTEU agreement with the intention of putting in place a new performance management system. NTEU eventually filed a national grievance to bar implementation of the new system. Just last week, DOE capitulated and announced it would stick with the current system.

NTEU is now preparing to head for the bargaining table to negotiate a fair and transparent performance management system for headquarters employees.

NTEU Fights FNS Restriction on Flexiplace
NTEU is taking action against a unilateral decision by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to prohibit employees from utilizing flexiplace arrangements when working with sensitive information.

Earlier this month, FNS Administrator Roberto Salazar issued “interim guidance” requiring employees to return files with sensitive information to their official duty station and barring them from removing such files. FNS initiated this change in working conditions, which is both costly and inefficient, without giving NTEU advance notice or an opportunity to bargain as required by law. After NTEU's requests for FNS to halt implementation and bargain over the guidance were denied, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Federal Labor Relations Authority. NTEU will push for reimbursements of unnecessary travel costs and compensation for time spent commuting.

If you have been negatively impacted by this new policy or have questions, please visit your chapter’s union office.


Headlines

Back to the Drawing Board
The Washington Post, October 20, 2006
A federal district court judge has directed the Homeland Security Department and the Office of Personnel Management to revise or abandon regulations that failed to ensure that Homeland Security employees could bargain collectively and that went too far in limiting the topics that could be put on the negotiating table.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer also told the agencies to file a status report on their efforts to fix the regulations by July 17. Her request for a report should not be seen as a deadline for the agencies to complete decisions on what to do about the regulations, she said.

In August 2005, Collyer ruled in a lawsuit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union and other unions that the department had gone too far when it came up with new rules that called into question whether the department would be obligated to abide by binding contracts. She issued an injunction to block the regulations, and her ruling was upheld by a three-judge federal appeals panel in June. The government decided not to take an appeal to the Supreme Court.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content
/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901715.html>.