Top Stories

Port Security Bill Boosts CBP Staffing, Training
NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley called on the Senate to approve legislation that would increase staffing and training for frontline employees of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The Port Security Improvement Act of 2006 (S. 4954) addresses a number of serious issues impacting border security and trade flow. Among other things, the bill would:

• Authorize the hiring of at least another 725 CBP Officers;

• Improve training programs for targeting and inspecting containers by specifically defining for the first time the scanning, screening and search tasks;

• Add at least 50 employees each year for the next three years to validate security plans for shippers of U.S.-bound cargo under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT); and

• Require CBP to complete resource allocation models to determine the optimal staffing for its commercial and revenue-generating functions.

NTEU worked closely with lawmakers to ensure that the concerns of CBP employees were met. Debate on the measure is expected to continue through the week.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/Press
Release.aspx?ID=956>.

Lawmakers Fight Even Harder as Tax Debt Privatization Program Begin
As the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began handing off thousands of taxpayer cases to private debt collectors, lawmakers intensified their opposition to the outsourcing program.

Say No to Tax Collection Outsourcing Although the IRS began assigning taxpayer cases to private debt collectors last Thursday, it's not too late to stop this outrageous program. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) introduced legislation (S. 3887) that would suspend this program in 2007 and beyond. For more on the bill, click here or visit <http:// capwiz.com/nteu/ issues/alert/?alertid= 9009491&type=CO>.

On the eve of Thursday's launch, three senior senators— Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)—wrote letters to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson calling on him to suspend the program. In their letters, the lawmakers said the work can be done at less cost by federal employees and giving taxpayer information to private collectors puts them at risk for identity theft.

Sen. Dorgan went a step further, introducing legislation (S. 3887) that would prohibit the IRS from granting any future contracts to private collection agencies. The amendment, which has eight co-sponsors, would be added to the Treasury-Transportation appropriations bill; the House version contains language prohibiting the IRS from using appropriated funds in fiscal 2007 to implement the private tax collection initiative.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.nteu.
org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=955>.

President Kelley Meets with FDIC Head Bair
NTEU President Kelley recently met with Sheila Bair, the newly-confirmed chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), to introduce herself and discuss some common concerns expressed by employees. Among the issues Kelley raised are:

• The constant pressure examiners are under to reduce examination hours is having a negative impact on the quality of examinations they perform.

• Plans to cross-train employees to perform many different jobs—brought about by recent downsizing at FDIC—threatens workers' expertise and their ability to produce quality work.

• Any pay-for-performance system FDIC implements must be fair, credible, and transparent. Employees and NTEU do not see the FDIC system as such.

• Low morale in the workplace has become a problem because employees feel that management is not interested in their input. For example, at NTEU’s urging, the FDIC held an Organizational Assessment Survey in 2001, but action plans were never completed and implemented.

Kelley described the meeting as very positive and expressed optimism that NTEU will forge a productive and collaborative relationship with Bair.


Headlines

Kelley Blasts IRS Outsourcing Plan on CNN
"I'm beginning to wonder if some extraterrestrial has removed the common sense of the people we send to represent us in Washington."

That's how Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary began her scathing article about the IRS tax debt privatization plan. The Sept. 7 article, which also ran in multiple publications nationwide, is just one of NTEU's many media hits last week. The Associated Press covered lawmakers' attempts stop the IRS program even hours before its scheduled rollout in an article that was featured in Business Week, MSN Money and The Houston Chronicle, to name a few media outlets.

In addition to the print media, NTEU made its mark on television where President Kelley was interviewed on Friday's Paula Zahn NOW on CNN. "If these private collection agencies collect zero dollars, they will earn zero dollars," Kelley said. "So there has to be a collection made, and that is going to invite, very inappropriate, I believe, and overly aggressive collection tactics that you would not see being done by IRS employees."

For the latest on NTEU's efforts to stop tax debt privatization, visit www.nteuIRSwatch.org.