NTEU LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE - MARCH 3 RD-6 TH, 2008
Liz Paray
During the week of March 3 rd thru March 6 th, 2008, Chapter 58’s Legislative Coordinators, Bob Lutot, from downtown, and Liz Paray from Appletree, traveled to Washington, DC to represent IRS employees while meeting with our Congressional Representatives.
This year was a very productive year for us.
Although our particular area is fortunate to have Congressional representatives who understand and support Federal employee issues, it was still important for us to thank them for their continued recognition of the importance of our jobs as Federal employees and to address issues that still need to be worked on.
The issues we focused on this year were as follows:
DHS Personnel Issues: more specifically, ending the One Face at the Border Initiative
How does this affect you?
We live near the Canadian border, and previous to this initiative, when you went through Customs, there were three different areas of expertise, Agriculture, Immigration and Customs. Each of the officers was specialized in their fields and was able to utilize their skills, and gut instinct, while doing these inspections. Under this initiative, each person is cross-trained and knows a little about everything, but no specialization. Does this make you any safer? No. More importantly, we learned that these new agents have basically been told, “We don’t want long lines, but don’t let the wrong person in”.
Does that sound familiar??? We don’t want you on the phones long, but do your job right.
Also, Customs and Border Patrol Officers were finally awarded Law Enforcement Officer Retirement benefits, which may also pertain to IRS Revenue Agents at some point.
We worked with our counterparts at Department of Homeland Security to secure continued support on these and other DHS issues with our Representatives. They worked with us on IRS issues, as we are all Federal employees.
The next issue we focused on was Federal Employee Retiree Issues. How does this affect you?? The Government Pension Offset affects thousands of individuals who are entitled to receive a federal pension from their own work and who are also eligible for Social Security based on their spouse’s record of work.
There is also legislation out there which would allow federal and military retirees to use their pre-tax dollars to pay for their health insurance premiums as active federal employees already do.
FERS Sick Leave Credit would enable federal employees under the FERS system to a payment for their unused sick time upon retirement.
Issue 3 is the re-establishment of Labor Management Partnerships in the Federal Government . This was enacted in October, 1993 by Executive Order 12871. Shortly after taking office, President Bush revoked this Executive Order on February 17, 2001. While partnerships were in effect, labor and management were often able to identify problems and craft solutions to better serve the taxpayer. Often, issues within federal agencies were resolved before they became major obstacles.
Reinstating Labor Management Partnerships would foster a better workplace atmosphere which would enable us to better serve the public.
Issue 4 pertains to Fair and Equitable Pay for Federal Employees . This is an ongoing issue each year, which involves attempting to close the disparity between federal employees and our private sector counterparts, as prescribed by the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) which was enacted in 1990.
NTEU also opposes the “pay for performance” scheme as proposed by the Bush Administration. At a recent congressional hearing, the evidence was overwhelming that these proposals have not worked. They have been found to destroy morale, have a discriminatory impact on minorities and workers over age 40 and produce no measurable positive results. NTEU supports a minimum 3.9% pay raise for the federal workforce for FY2009.
Issue 5 is FEHBP and Health Care Affordability . NTEU continues to support increasing the federal share of premiums to 80%, thereby reducing costs to enrollees.
Issue 6 is by no means the least important, Government Privatization. In particular, this is important to IRS employees, and the private debt collection activities IRS has contracted. In the first year of this program, the IRS has confirmed that the private debt collection program LOST $50 million.
This is where we need your support and action. PLEASE CONTACT SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER AT HIS OFFICE, BY EMAIL, FROM YOUR HOME COMPUTER - senator@schumer.senate.gov . PLEASE ASK HIM TO SUPPORT S.335, INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BYRON DORGAN TO PREVENT THE IRS FROM USING PRIVATE COLLECTION AGENCIES TO COLLECT FEDERAL TAXES. ** OR ** YOU CAN LOG ON TO NTEU.ORG - FROM YOUR HOME COMPUTER TO UTILIZE CAPWIZ , WHICH WILL AUTOMATICALLY DIRECT YOUR LETTER TO SENATOR SCHUMER ON THIS ISSUE.
Senator Schumer has not yet signed on to this bill, and has not indicated that he would do so. Senator Schumer sits on the Finance Committee, and is on the IRS Oversight Committee.
He can also be contacted at 716-846-4111
Bob and I also went to a seminar on Federal Employee Health Benefits. One of the questions asked was why the USPS rates are so much lower than the rates other Federal employees pay. The reason we were given is their benefits are separately negotiated. As previously mentioned, NTEU is asking Congress to ensure that there is a larger government portion being paid for our health benefits.
The weather was beautiful, perfect for all the walking we did.
Whenever you go to visit in DC, please take the time to stop in and see your Congressional delegate. Please tell them you appreciate their support of Federal employee issues. They certainly deserve to hear that, as well as when we ask them to assist us.
If you have any questions regarding any Legislative issues, please feel free to contact Bob Lutot or Liz Paray. We will be posting the Issue Fact Sheets at each site. As more information becomes available on these and other issues pertaining to federal employees, we will keep you informed.
While we were in DC, Colleen Kelley testified before the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce regarding Paid Parental Leave. We will also post a copy of her testimony in the workplace.
Thank you for your continued support, and please contact Senator Schumer !!!!!