NTEU Bulletin, May 8, 2007

Inside this Issue: May 8, 2007
Top Stories: NTEU Knocks OMB Claims of Contracting Savings
Headlines: Senator Renews Push to Reduce Burden of Pension Offset
Get Involved: Support NTEU's Newest Members
New on NTEU.org: NTEU's Latest 'Bulletin' Salutes the Military
Top Stories
Support NTEU's Newest MembersSome of NTEU's newest members lack the most basic workplace right—and you can do something about it.Log on to NTEU's web site to learn how you can support provisions in legislation that would provide collective bargaining rights to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees. The right to organize and bargain collectively would give TSA workers a voice in key workplace decisions and improve morale and retention. It's a right many private screeners and most other Department of Homeland Security workers enjoy, and one TSA employees need and deserve.
Click here or visit http://capwiz.com/nteu/issues/alert/?alertid=9712871&type=CO.

NTEU Knocks OMB Claims of Contracting Savings
"Phantom" and "speculative." That's how NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley described government estimates of savings from contracting out contained in report by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). An example of this is buried in a footnote of the OMB's annual report on contracting out, released Thursday. It credited $35 million in fiscal 2006 savings to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contract with IAP Worldwide Services, which repeatedly missed deadlines leaving in-house employees to assume the work.Kelley offered several reasons for disputing OMB's projection that contracting out will save $1.3 billion over five to 10 years, including:
• OMB does not include preparation costs before a competition is publicly announced.• Often costly legal fees incurred during a competition are not counted.• Savings calculations are based on a flawed formula. NTEU questioned using a figure of $97,000 per full-time equivalent employee in the case of IRS competitions, since most involved lower-graded positions, with salary and benefits that fell well below OMB’s average figure.For the complete story and more on NTEU's fight against runaway contracting, visit www.nteu.org/ContractingOut.aspx.

2008 Pay Raise Update: House Subcommittee Passes 3.5 Percent Military Raise
A House Armed Services subcommittee approved a 3.5 percent pay boost for members of the military next year, one-half percent higher than the administration's budget request in February.
NTEU strongly supported the higher pay raise in the weeks leading up to Wednesday's markup of the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill, which contained the pay hike. The full House Armed Services Committee is expected to consider the legislation this week.The raise "reflects both the need to address the military pay gap and the continuing contributions to our nation by those in the military and their family members," said President Kelley. "The same is true for federal civilian workers, whose undeniable day-to-day contributions in serving the public warrant a similar raise."NTEU is pushing for a minimum 3.5 percent raise in 2008 for civilian employees and will continue working to secure bipartisan support for this increase for the entire federal workforce.

Bipartisan Amendment Unveiled Halting FDA Lab Closures
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle joined together last week in opposition to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) plan to close seven of its 13 regional labs and restructure its field operations. Sens. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced an amendment to the FDA authorization bill (S. 1082) preventing a reduction or consolidation in the number of FDA labs within its Office of Regulatory Affairs pending a government review that would be due by year's end.
President Kelley applauded the amendment, saying, “It seems clear, with three major food-borne outbreaks in the last 18 months that closing FDA labs endangers the health of all Americans.” The amendment was introduced the same week Sen. Specter released a letter from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority warning that closing the lab in that area would compromise public health and safety, as well as Pennsylvania's maritime commerce.For the complete story and more about NTEU's efforts to stop the FDA's reorganization plan, visit www.nteu.org/FDALabs.

Senators Urge Approval of Bill Repealing Tax Debt Privatization
Leading co-sponsors of legislation (S. 335) that would stop the IRS tax debt privatization program are urging their colleagues to sign onto the bill. In a letter to their fellow senators, Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pointed to a failed pilot program of tax privatization in the 1990s that was shut down prematurely due to high costs and inadequate safety controls."Regrettably, the IRS's current initiative is plagued by similar problems," wrote Sens. Dorgan and Murray, citing the recent firing of one of the three firms awarded contracts to collect unpaid taxes. "None of these problems are surprising, and all could have easily been avoided by simply using trained professional IRS employees."NTEU has been a leading supporter of S. 335, which currently has 18 co-sponsors, and a similar House measure, H.R. 695 with 121 co-sponsors.
For more information, visit www.nteuirswatch.org.

At NTEU's Urging, 60 FNS Employees To Earn Higher Overtime Rates
After NTEU filed a grievance, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) agreed to reclassify 60 employees in various positions that the union argued had been improperly exempted from coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). As a result, these employees will be paid at a higher overtime rate of time-and-a-half and have the choice to earn overtime pay or compensatory time off.
These changes are effective April 1, 2007, and include the positions of Investigator, Program Analyst, Program Specialist, Public Affairs Specialist, Writer-Editor and IT Specialist.
NTEU is now working on a back pay agreement and to confirm that all employees who should have been reclassified are now covered by FLSA. In addition, NTEU is continuing discussions with FNS to determine whether additional employees should be covered under FLSA.

NTEU Seeks Further TSA Action Following Data Security Breach
NTEU is urging the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to take additional steps to protect employees after the agency lost a computer hard drive containing personal data for about 100,000 current and former workers.
"NTEU would like your assurances that all possible measure are being taken to ensure that no harm will come to these government workers and that this security gap has been addressed so an event such as this is not repeated," President Kelley wrote in a letter sent yesterday to TSA Administrator Kip Hawley.
Hawley has promised to give workers one year of free credit monitoring services, but Kelley called for additional action including free credit reports, employee briefings on the breach, agency review of how employee data stored and immediate encryption of that information.
TSA said it discovered on Thursday that a hard drive containing personnel data, including Social Security numbers and payroll information, was missing from a controlled area at TSA headquarters.
NTEU recently chartered its first chapter representing TSA employees at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Headlines
Senator Renews Push to Reduce Burden of Pension Offset
GovExec, May 2, 2007
A bill reintroduced Tuesday in the Senate aims to scale back a pension offset that reduces Social Security benefits for some federal retirees.
The bill (S. 1254), introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., would ease the burden of a 1977 law that prevents certain retirees from collecting both a government annuity and spousal Social Security benefits.
Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the increasing bipartisan support for reform may mean better prospects for passage of at least one of the bills this session."Increasing numbers of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are becoming aware of the problems the GPO and WEP cause federal retirees, and I am hopeful that Congress will act to modify these laws," she said. For the complete story, click here or visit www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0507/050207b1.htm.

New on NTEU.orgNTEU's Latest 'Bulletin' Salutes the Military
NTEU members from Hawaii to North Carolina have been pulling double-duty in the hero department. Not only are they serving their country as federal employees, but also as members of the military. This month's NTEU Bulletin features a special center spread honoring these extraordinary NTEU members and their relatives.
As always, the Bulletin is filled with in-depth coverage of the month's most important federal employee news, including the latest contracting out flaws exposed, NTEU's fight for competitive salaries and respect for government workers, and the union's newest chapter (304) at the Transportation Security Administration.

To read the Bulletin online, click here or visit www.nteu.org/UnionOffice/NTEUBulletin/.
To submit your own military profile and a photo, e-mail us.

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